diff --git a/src/adjmat/AdjacencyMatrixBase.cpp b/src/adjmat/AdjacencyMatrixBase.cpp
index 8439f73b43..970c9f91ea 100644
--- a/src/adjmat/AdjacencyMatrixBase.cpp
+++ b/src/adjmat/AdjacencyMatrixBase.cpp
@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@ AdjacencyMatrixBase::AdjacencyMatrixBase(const ActionOptions& ao):
 {
   std::vector<unsigned> shape(2); std::vector<AtomNumber> t; parseAtomList("GROUP", t );
   if( t.size()==0 ) {
-      parseAtomList("ATOMS", t);
-      if( t.size()>0 ) warning("using depracated syntax for contact matrix.  You are strongly recommended to use GROUP instead of ATOMS");
+    parseAtomList("ATOMS", t);
+    if( t.size()>0 ) warning("using depracated syntax for contact matrix.  You are strongly recommended to use GROUP instead of ATOMS");
   }
 
   if( t.size()==0 ) {
diff --git a/src/adjmat/ContactMatrixShortcut.cpp b/src/adjmat/ContactMatrixShortcut.cpp
index 915b45e14d..47d63a0ce0 100644
--- a/src/adjmat/ContactMatrixShortcut.cpp
+++ b/src/adjmat/ContactMatrixShortcut.cpp
@@ -90,23 +90,23 @@ ContactMatrixShortcut::ContactMatrixShortcut(const ActionOptions& ao):
   Action(ao),
   ActionShortcut(ao)
 {
-  std::vector<std::string> grp_str; std::string atomsstr=""; 
-  std::vector<std::string> atomsvec; parseVector("ATOMS",atomsvec); 
+  std::vector<std::string> grp_str; std::string atomsstr="";
+  std::vector<std::string> atomsvec; parseVector("ATOMS",atomsvec);
   if( atomsvec.size()>0 )  {
-     for(unsigned i=0; i<atomsvec.size(); ++i) {
-         Group* gg = plumed.getActionSet().selectWithLabel<Group*>( atomsvec[i] );
-         if( gg ) grp_str.push_back( atomsvec[i] );
-     }
-     if( grp_str.size()!=atomsvec.size() ) { 
-         grp_str.resize(0); 
-         atomsstr = " ATOMS=" + atomsvec[0]; for(unsigned i=1; i<atomsvec.size(); ++i) atomsstr += "," + atomsvec[i];
-     }
-  } else { 
-     std::string grp_inpt; 
-     for(unsigned i=1;; ++i) {
-       if( !parseNumbered("GROUP",i,grp_inpt) ) break;
-       grp_str.push_back( grp_inpt );
-     }
+    for(unsigned i=0; i<atomsvec.size(); ++i) {
+      Group* gg = plumed.getActionSet().selectWithLabel<Group*>( atomsvec[i] );
+      if( gg ) grp_str.push_back( atomsvec[i] );
+    }
+    if( grp_str.size()!=atomsvec.size() ) {
+      grp_str.resize(0);
+      atomsstr = " ATOMS=" + atomsvec[0]; for(unsigned i=1; i<atomsvec.size(); ++i) atomsstr += "," + atomsvec[i];
+    }
+  } else {
+    std::string grp_inpt;
+    for(unsigned i=1;; ++i) {
+      if( !parseNumbered("GROUP",i,grp_inpt) ) break;
+      grp_str.push_back( grp_inpt );
+    }
   }
   if( grp_str.size()>9 ) error("cannot handle more than 9 groups");
   if( grp_str.size()==0 )  { readInputLine( getShortcutLabel() + ": CONTACT_MATRIX_PROPER " + atomsstr + " " + convertInputLineToString() ); return; }
diff --git a/src/adjmat/Sprint.cpp b/src/adjmat/Sprint.cpp
index 456c3c1ecd..2dca7f097e 100644
--- a/src/adjmat/Sprint.cpp
+++ b/src/adjmat/Sprint.cpp
@@ -103,17 +103,17 @@ Sprint::Sprint(const ActionOptions& ao):
   Action(ao),
   ActionShortcut(ao)
 {
-  std::string matinp; parse("MATRIX",matinp); 
+  std::string matinp; parse("MATRIX",matinp);
   if( matinp.length()==0 ) {
-      readInputLine( getShortcutLabel() + "_jmat: CONTACT_MATRIX " + convertInputLineToString() );
-      matinp = getShortcutLabel() + "_jmat";
-  } 
+    readInputLine( getShortcutLabel() + "_jmat: CONTACT_MATRIX " + convertInputLineToString() );
+    matinp = getShortcutLabel() + "_jmat";
+  }
   std::vector<unsigned> nin_group; unsigned ntot_atoms=0;
   for(unsigned i=1;; ++i) {
-      std::string inum; Tools::convert( i, inum );
-      ActionWithValue* av = plumed.getActionSet().selectWithLabel<ActionWithValue*>( matinp + inum + inum );
-      if( !av ) break ;
-      unsigned natoms = (av->copyOutput(0))->getShape()[0]; nin_group.push_back( natoms ); ntot_atoms += natoms;
+    std::string inum; Tools::convert( i, inum );
+    ActionWithValue* av = plumed.getActionSet().selectWithLabel<ActionWithValue*>( matinp + inum + inum );
+    if( !av ) break ;
+    unsigned natoms = (av->copyOutput(0))->getShape()[0]; nin_group.push_back( natoms ); ntot_atoms += natoms;
   }
 
   // Diagonalization
@@ -133,8 +133,8 @@ Sprint::Sprint(const ActionOptions& ao):
     readInputLine( sort_act );
     readInputLine( getShortcutLabel() + jnum + ": SORT ARG=" + getShortcutLabel() + "_selection" + jnum );
     for(unsigned n=0; n<nin_group[j]; ++n) {
-        std::string knum, nnum; Tools::convert( kk, knum ); Tools::convert( n+1, nnum ); kk++;
-        readInputLine( getShortcutLabel() + "_coord-" + knum + ": COMBINE ARG=" + getShortcutLabel() + jnum + "." + nnum + " PERIODIC=NO" );
+      std::string knum, nnum; Tools::convert( kk, knum ); Tools::convert( n+1, nnum ); kk++;
+      readInputLine( getShortcutLabel() + "_coord-" + knum + ": COMBINE ARG=" + getShortcutLabel() + jnum + "." + nnum + " PERIODIC=NO" );
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/tools/Grid.cpp b/src/tools/Grid.cpp
index a0257b6581..f539aeb3f7 100644
--- a/src/tools/Grid.cpp
+++ b/src/tools/Grid.cpp
@@ -527,8 +527,22 @@ std::unique_ptr<GridBase> GridBase::create(const std::string& funcl, const std::
   std::vector<int> gbin1(nvar); std::vector<unsigned> gbin(nvar);
   std::vector<std::string> labels(nvar),gmin(nvar),gmax(nvar);
   std::vector<std::string> fieldnames; ifile.scanFieldList( fieldnames );
+
 // Retrieve names for fields
-  for(unsigned i=0; i<args.size(); ++i) labels[i]=args[i]->getName();
+  for(unsigned i=0; i<args.size(); ++i) {
+    labels[i]=args[i]->getName(); bool found=false;
+    for(unsigned j=0; j<fieldnames.size(); ++j) {
+      if( labels[i]==fieldnames[j] ) { found=true; break; }
+    }
+    // This is a change to ensure that we can deal with old style names for multicolvars
+    std::size_t und = labels[i].find_first_of("_");
+    if( !found && und!=std::string::npos ) {
+      labels[i] = labels[i].substr(0,und) + "." + labels[i].substr(und+1);
+      for(unsigned j=0; j<fieldnames.size(); ++j) {
+        if( labels[i]==fieldnames[j] ) { found=true; break; }
+      }
+    }
+  }
 // And read the stuff from the header
   plumed_massert( ifile.FieldExist( funcl ), "no column labelled " + funcl + " in in grid input");
   for(unsigned i=0; i<args.size(); ++i) {
@@ -546,7 +560,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<GridBase> GridBase::create(const std::string& funcl, const std::
       gbin[i]=gbin1[i]-1;  // Note header in grid file indicates one more bin that there should be when data is not periodic
       plumed_massert( pstring=="false", "input value is not periodic but grid is");
     }
-    hasder=ifile.FieldExist( "der_" + args[i]->getName() );
+    hasder=ifile.FieldExist( "der_" + labels[i] );
     if( doder && !hasder ) plumed_merror("missing derivatives from grid file");
     for(unsigned j=0; j<fieldnames.size(); ++j) {
       for(unsigned k=i+1; k<args.size(); ++k) {
@@ -570,7 +584,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<GridBase> GridBase::create(const std::string& funcl, const std::
       ifile.scanField( "nbins_" + labels[i], gbin1[i]);
       ifile.scanField( "periodic_" + labels[i], pstring );
     }
-    if(hasder) { for(unsigned i=0; i<nvar; ++i) { ifile.scanField( "der_" + args[i]->getName(), dder[i] ); } }
+    if(hasder) { for(unsigned i=0; i<nvar; ++i) { ifile.scanField( "der_" + labels[i], dder[i] ); } }
     index_t index=grid->getIndex(xx);
     if(doder) {grid->setValueAndDerivatives(index,f,dder);}
     else {grid->setValue(index,f);}