diff --git a/Lib/matlab/matlabuserdir.swg b/Lib/matlab/matlabuserdir.swg
index ebb11b3a584..7bc4a9a5ee5 100644
--- a/Lib/matlab/matlabuserdir.swg
+++ b/Lib/matlab/matlabuserdir.swg
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@
  *  Special user directives
  * ------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
+/* ------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+/* Inserting MATLAB code */
+#define %matlabcode  %insert("matlab")
+
 /* ------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 /*
   Implicit Conversion using the C++ constructor mechanism
diff --git a/Source/Modules/matlab.cxx b/Source/Modules/matlab.cxx
index e93b81443f2..cfb2ae5e09c 100644
--- a/Source/Modules/matlab.cxx
+++ b/Source/Modules/matlab.cxx
@@ -2609,7 +2609,9 @@ int MATLAB::insertDirective(Node *n) {
     String *code = Getattr(n, "code");
     String *section = Getattr(n, "section");
 
-    if (Cmp(section, "matlabsetup") == 0) {
+    if (Cmp(section, "matlab") == 0) {
+      Printv(f_wrap_m, code, NIL);
+    } else if (Cmp(section, "matlabsetup") == 0) {
       Printv(f_setup_m, code, NIL);
     } else {
       Language::insertDirective(n);