diff --git a/nibabel/nicom/dicomwrappers.py b/nibabel/nicom/dicomwrappers.py
index 329a12b8c4..505d8446e5 100644
--- a/nibabel/nicom/dicomwrappers.py
+++ b/nibabel/nicom/dicomwrappers.py
@@ -356,6 +356,14 @@ def _scale_data(self, data):
         # depending on pydicom and dicom files, values might need casting from Decimal to float
         scale = float(self.get('RescaleSlope', 1))
         offset = float(self.get('RescaleIntercept', 0))
+        if scale == 1 and offset == 0:
+            mpseq = self.get('RealWorldValueMappingSequence',None)
+            if mpseq == None: # compatibility with pydicom < 0.9.7 ????
+                mpseq = self.get('RealWorldValueMappings',None)
+            if mpseq != None and len(mpseq)>0:
+                mpseq = mpseq[0]
+                scale = mpseq.get('RealWorldValueSlope',1)
+                offset = mpseq.get('RealWorldValueIntercept',0)
         # a little optimization.  If we are applying either the scale or
         # the offset, we need to allow upcasting to float.
         if scale != 1: