diff --git a/lisp/org-babel.el b/lisp/org-babel.el
index dba933112..8b3572909 100644
--- a/lisp/org-babel.el
+++ b/lisp/org-babel.el
@@ -414,15 +414,15 @@ non-nil."
 
 (defun org-babel-read (cell)
   "Convert the string value of CELL to a number if appropriate.
-Otherwise if cell looks like a list (meaning it starts with a
-'(') then read it as lisp, otherwise return it unmodified as a
-string.
+Otherwise if cell looks like lisp (meaning it starts with a
+\"(\" or a \"'\") then read it as lisp, otherwise return it
+unmodified as a string.
 
 This is taken almost directly from `org-read-prop'."
   (if (and (stringp cell) (not (equal cell "")))
       (or (org-babel-number-p cell)
           (if (or (equal "(" (substring cell 0 1))
-                  (equal "'" (substring cell 0 2)))
+                  (equal "'" (substring cell 0 1)))
               (read cell)
             (progn (set-text-properties 0 (length cell) nil cell) cell)))
     cell))