diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/TypeWriter.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/TypeWriter.java
index 3f0f488002..c88e98d07b 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/TypeWriter.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/TypeWriter.java
@@ -169,8 +169,22 @@ public class TypeWriter
 
 
 
-
-
-
+    /**
+     * <p>Writes a double value value to an output stream.</p>
+     *
+     * @param out The stream to write to.
+     * @param n The value to write.
+     * @exception IOException if an I/O error occurs
+     * @return The number of bytes written to the output stream. 
+     */
+    public static int writeToStream(final OutputStream out, final double n)
+        throws IOException
+    {
+        final int l = LittleEndian.DOUBLE_SIZE;
+        final byte[] buffer = new byte[l];
+        LittleEndian.putDouble(buffer, 0, n);
+        out.write(buffer, 0, l);
+        return l;
+    }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/VariantSupport.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/VariantSupport.java
index 081e7f4dd4..b9ab14ffca 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/VariantSupport.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hpsf/VariantSupport.java
@@ -169,6 +169,15 @@ public class VariantSupport extends Variant
                 value = new Long(LittleEndian.getUInt(src, o1));
                 break;
             }
+            case Variant.VT_R8:
+            {
+                /*
+                 * Read an eight-byte double value. In Java it is represented as
+                 * a Double object.
+                 */
+                value = new Double(LittleEndian.getDouble(src, o1));
+                break;
+            }
             case Variant.VT_FILETIME:
             {
                 /*
@@ -394,6 +403,12 @@ public class VariantSupport extends Variant
                           ((Long) value).intValue());
                 break;
             }
+            case Variant.VT_R8:
+            {
+                length += TypeWriter.writeToStream(out, 
+                          ((Double) value).doubleValue());
+                break;
+            }
             case Variant.VT_FILETIME:
             {
                 long filetime = Util.dateToFileTime((Date) value);
diff --git a/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/hpsf/basic/TestWrite.java b/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/hpsf/basic/TestWrite.java
index bec47c737f..3fa12d83f6 100644
--- a/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/hpsf/basic/TestWrite.java
+++ b/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/hpsf/basic/TestWrite.java
@@ -411,6 +411,7 @@ public class TestWrite extends TestCase
             check(Variant.VT_CF, new byte[]{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, codepage);
             check(Variant.VT_I2, new Integer(27), codepage);
             check(Variant.VT_I4, new Long(28), codepage);
+            check(Variant.VT_R8, new Double(29.0), codepage);
             check(Variant.VT_FILETIME, new Date(), codepage);
 
             check(Variant.VT_LPSTR,