diff --git a/README-CHANGES.xml b/README-CHANGES.xml
index ab563d2d..0524b249 100644
--- a/README-CHANGES.xml
+++ b/README-CHANGES.xml
@@ -6,6 +6,13 @@
     <c:date>2017-01-09</c:date>
     <c:version>0.6.0</c:version>
 
+    <c:item>
+      <c:date>2017-01-09</c:date>
+      <c:type-code-change/>
+      <c:ticket>29</c:ticket>
+      <c:summary>Allow redundant use of the metadata command.</c:summary>
+    </c:item>
+
     <c:item>
       <c:date>2017-01-09</c:date>
       <c:type-code-change/>
diff --git a/io7m-smfj-format-text/src/main/java/com/io7m/smfj/format/text/SMFTV1BodyParser.java b/io7m-smfj-format-text/src/main/java/com/io7m/smfj/format/text/SMFTV1BodyParser.java
index 5f0a4b85..0f7fda3a 100644
--- a/io7m-smfj-format-text/src/main/java/com/io7m/smfj/format/text/SMFTV1BodyParser.java
+++ b/io7m-smfj-format-text/src/main/java/com/io7m/smfj/format/text/SMFTV1BodyParser.java
@@ -51,7 +51,8 @@ final class SMFTV1BodyParser extends SMFTAbstractParser
   private Map<SMFAttributeName, Boolean> attributes_ok;
   private Map<SMFAttributeName, Boolean> attributes_attempted;
   private long parsed_triangles;
-  private long parsed_metas;
+  private long metas_parsed_count;
+  private boolean metas_started;
 
   SMFTV1BodyParser(
     final SMFTAbstractParser in_parent,
@@ -131,7 +132,7 @@ private void onEOF()
 
   private void failMissedMetadata()
   {
-    if (this.parsed_metas != this.header.metaCount()) {
+    if (this.metas_parsed_count != this.header.metaCount()) {
       this.fail("Too few metadata elements specified", Optional.empty());
     }
   }
@@ -577,13 +578,16 @@ private void parseMetas()
   {
     LOG.debug("parsing metadata values");
 
-    if (this.header.metaCount() == 0L) {
-      super.fail("No metadata was expected.", Optional.empty());
+    if (this.metas_started) {
+      super.fail(
+        "A metadata command has already been specified.",
+        Optional.empty());
       return;
     }
 
-    this.parsed_metas = 0L;
-    while (this.parsed_metas != this.header.metaCount()) {
+    this.metas_started = true;
+    this.metas_parsed_count = 0L;
+    while (this.metas_parsed_count != this.header.metaCount()) {
       if (this.parserHasFailed()) {
         return;
       }
@@ -614,7 +618,7 @@ private void parseMetas()
         }
       }
 
-      this.parsed_metas = Math.addExact(this.parsed_metas, 1L);
+      this.metas_parsed_count = Math.addExact(this.metas_parsed_count, 1L);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/io7m-smfj-specification/src/main/resources/com/io7m/smfj/specification/text.sdi b/io7m-smfj-specification/src/main/resources/com/io7m/smfj/specification/text.sdi
index 0c61346c..00e9b784 100644
--- a/io7m-smfj-specification/src/main/resources/com/io7m/smfj/specification/text.sdi
+++ b/io7m-smfj-specification/src/main/resources/com/io7m/smfj/specification/text.sdi
@@ -278,10 +278,9 @@ The command takes no arguments.
 [paragraph]
 The command may only appear in the file after all
 [link [target smft.data.commands.triangles] triangles] and
-[link [target smft.data.commands.attribute] attributes] have been received.
-
-
-
+[link [target smft.data.commands.attribute] attributes] have been received. If
+the file does not have metadata, the command may be omitted. If the file does
+have metadata, the command must be specified exactly once.
 
 [subsection [title Data - meta] [id smft.data.commands.meta]]
 [paragraph]
diff --git a/io7m-smfj-tests/src/test/java/com/io7m/smfj/tests/format/text/SMFFormatTextTest.java b/io7m-smfj-tests/src/test/java/com/io7m/smfj/tests/format/text/SMFFormatTextTest.java
index 0d572d2d..8d6c2ffc 100644
--- a/io7m-smfj-tests/src/test/java/com/io7m/smfj/tests/format/text/SMFFormatTextTest.java
+++ b/io7m-smfj-tests/src/test/java/com/io7m/smfj/tests/format/text/SMFFormatTextTest.java
@@ -2896,6 +2896,182 @@ public void testSerializerAttributeNotFinishedSerializingPrevious()
     serializer.serializeData(SMFAttributeName.of("y"));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testMetaNoneNotOmitted(
+    final @Mocked SMFParserEventsType events)
+  {
+    final StringBuilder s = new StringBuilder(128);
+    s.append("smf 1 0");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("schema 696F376D A0B0C0D0 1 2");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("coordinates +x +y -z counter-clockwise");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("attribute a integer-unsigned 1 32");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("vertices 1");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("triangles 1 16");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("data");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("attribute a");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("0");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("triangles");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("0 0 0");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("metadata");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+
+    final SMFAttribute attribute = SMFAttribute.of(
+      SMFAttributeName.of("a"),
+      SMFComponentType.ELEMENT_TYPE_INTEGER_UNSIGNED,
+      1,
+      32);
+
+    final SMFHeader.Builder header_b = baseHeader(List.of(attribute));
+    header_b.setTriangleCount(1L);
+    header_b.setVertexCount(1L);
+    final SMFHeader h = header_b.build();
+
+    new StrictExpectations()
+    {{
+      events.onStart();
+      events.onVersionReceived(SMFFormatVersion.of(1, 0));
+      events.onHeaderParsed(h);
+      events.onDataAttributeStart(attribute);
+      events.onDataAttributeValueIntegerUnsigned1(0L);
+      events.onDataAttributeFinish(attribute);
+      events.onDataTrianglesStart();
+      events.onDataTriangle(0L, 0L, 0L);
+      events.onDataTrianglesFinish();
+      events.onFinish();
+    }};
+
+    runForText(events, true, s);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testMetaNoneOmitted(
+    final @Mocked SMFParserEventsType events)
+  {
+    final StringBuilder s = new StringBuilder(128);
+    s.append("smf 1 0");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("schema 696F376D A0B0C0D0 1 2");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("coordinates +x +y -z counter-clockwise");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("attribute a integer-unsigned 1 32");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("vertices 1");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("triangles 1 16");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("data");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("attribute a");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("0");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("triangles");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("0 0 0");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+
+    final SMFAttribute attribute = SMFAttribute.of(
+      SMFAttributeName.of("a"),
+      SMFComponentType.ELEMENT_TYPE_INTEGER_UNSIGNED,
+      1,
+      32);
+
+    final SMFHeader.Builder header_b = baseHeader(List.of(attribute));
+    header_b.setTriangleCount(1L);
+    header_b.setVertexCount(1L);
+    final SMFHeader h = header_b.build();
+
+    new StrictExpectations()
+    {{
+      events.onStart();
+      events.onVersionReceived(SMFFormatVersion.of(1, 0));
+      events.onHeaderParsed(h);
+      events.onDataAttributeStart(attribute);
+      events.onDataAttributeValueIntegerUnsigned1(0L);
+      events.onDataAttributeFinish(attribute);
+      events.onDataTrianglesStart();
+      events.onDataTriangle(0L, 0L, 0L);
+      events.onDataTrianglesFinish();
+      events.onFinish();
+    }};
+
+    runForText(events, true, s);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testMetaTwice(
+    final @Mocked SMFParserEventsType events)
+  {
+    final StringBuilder s = new StringBuilder(128);
+    s.append("smf 1 0");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("schema 696F376D A0B0C0D0 1 2");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("coordinates +x +y -z counter-clockwise");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("attribute a integer-unsigned 1 32");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("vertices 1");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("triangles 1 16");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("data");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("attribute a");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("0");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("triangles");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("0 0 0");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("metadata");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+    s.append("metadata");
+    s.append(System.lineSeparator());
+
+    final SMFAttribute attribute = SMFAttribute.of(
+      SMFAttributeName.of("a"),
+      SMFComponentType.ELEMENT_TYPE_INTEGER_UNSIGNED,
+      1,
+      32);
+
+    final SMFHeader.Builder header_b = baseHeader(List.of(attribute));
+    header_b.setTriangleCount(1L);
+    header_b.setVertexCount(1L);
+    final SMFHeader h = header_b.build();
+
+    new StrictExpectations()
+    {{
+      events.onStart();
+      events.onVersionReceived(SMFFormatVersion.of(1, 0));
+      events.onHeaderParsed(h);
+      events.onDataAttributeStart(attribute);
+      events.onDataAttributeValueIntegerUnsigned1(0L);
+      events.onDataAttributeFinish(attribute);
+      events.onDataTrianglesStart();
+      events.onDataTriangle(0L, 0L, 0L);
+      events.onDataTrianglesFinish();
+      events.onError(this.withArgThat(
+        new ParseErrorMessageStartsWith("A metadata command has already been specified.")));
+      events.onFinish();
+    }};
+
+    runForText(events, true, s);
+  }
+
   private static class ParseErrorMessageStartsWith extends TypeSafeMatcher<SMFParseError>
   {
     private final String message;