diff --git a/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbDEFImporter.cc b/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbDEFImporter.cc
index bc29cf01b..cc2010c58 100644
--- a/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbDEFImporter.cc
+++ b/src/plugins/streamers/lefdef/db_plugin/dbDEFImporter.cc
@@ -914,6 +914,11 @@ DEFImporter::do_read (db::Layout &layout)
 
             std::string ln = get ();
 
+            if (test ("+")) {
+              expect ("MASK");
+              get_long ();
+            }
+
             std::vector<db::Polygon> &polygons = geometry.insert (std::make_pair (ln, std::vector<db::Polygon> ())).first->second;
             polygons.push_back (db::Polygon ());
             read_polygon (polygons.back (), scale);
@@ -922,6 +927,11 @@ DEFImporter::do_read (db::Layout &layout)
 
             std::string ln = get ();
 
+            if (test ("+")) {
+              expect ("MASK");
+              get_long ();
+            }
+
             std::vector<db::Polygon> &polygons = geometry.insert (std::make_pair (ln, std::vector<db::Polygon> ())).first->second;
             polygons.push_back (db::Polygon ());
             read_rect (polygons.back (), scale);