diff --git a/src/main/org/openscience/cdk/smiles/SmilesParser.java b/src/main/org/openscience/cdk/smiles/SmilesParser.java
index 91627786292..3c0be73971e 100644
--- a/src/main/org/openscience/cdk/smiles/SmilesParser.java
+++ b/src/main/org/openscience/cdk/smiles/SmilesParser.java
@@ -549,7 +549,7 @@ private String getElementSymbol(String s, int pos)
 		// first, the two char elements
 		if (pos < s.length() - 1)
 		{
-			String possibleSymbol = s.substring(pos, pos + 2);
+            String possibleSymbol = ("" + s.charAt(pos)).toUpperCase() + s.charAt(pos + 1);
 			logger.debug("possibleSymbol: ", possibleSymbol);
 			if (("HeLiBeNeNaMgAlSiClArCaScTiCrMnFeCoNiCuZnGaGeAsSe".indexOf(possibleSymbol) >= 0) ||
 					("BrKrRbSrZrNbMoTcRuRhPdAgCdInSnSbTeXeCsBaLuHfTaRe".indexOf(possibleSymbol) >= 0) ||