diff --git a/npy-matlab/readNPY.m b/npy-matlab/readNPY.m
index 9095d00..b8a7ed0 100644
--- a/npy-matlab/readNPY.m
+++ b/npy-matlab/readNPY.m
@@ -15,12 +15,16 @@
     fid = fopen(filename, 'r', 'b');
 end
 
+ishalf = strcmp(dataType, 'half');
+if ishalf; dataType = 'uint16'; end
+
 try
 
     [~] = fread(fid, totalHeaderLength, 'uint8');
 
     % read the data
     data = fread(fid, prod(shape), [dataType '=>' dataType]);
+    if ishalf; data = half.typecast(data); end
 
     if length(shape)>1 && ~fortranOrder
         data = reshape(data, shape(end:-1:1));
diff --git a/npy-matlab/readNPYheader.m b/npy-matlab/readNPYheader.m
index 7776de5..d013cb4 100644
--- a/npy-matlab/readNPYheader.m
+++ b/npy-matlab/readNPYheader.m
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@
 
 try
     
-    dtypesMatlab = {'uint8','uint16','uint32','uint64','int8','int16','int32','int64','single','double', 'logical'};
-    dtypesNPY = {'u1', 'u2', 'u4', 'u8', 'i1', 'i2', 'i4', 'i8', 'f4', 'f8', 'b1'};
+    dtypesMatlab = {'uint8','uint16','uint32','uint64','int8','int16','int32','int64','half','single','double','logical'};
+    dtypesNPY = {'u1', 'u2', 'u4', 'u8', 'i1', 'i2', 'i4', 'i8', 'f2', 'f4', 'f8', 'b1'};
     
     
     magicString = fread(fid, [1 6], 'uint8=>uint8');