diff --git a/include/armadillo_bits/SpMat_meat.hpp b/include/armadillo_bits/SpMat_meat.hpp
index 880572e7..3369d44c 100644
--- a/include/armadillo_bits/SpMat_meat.hpp
+++ b/include/armadillo_bits/SpMat_meat.hpp
@@ -4856,6 +4856,7 @@ SpMat<eT>::load(const csv_name& spec, const file_type type)
   const bool   no_header    = bool(spec.opts.flags & csv_opts::flag_no_header  );
         bool with_header    = bool(spec.opts.flags & csv_opts::flag_with_header);
   const bool  use_semicolon = bool(spec.opts.flags & csv_opts::flag_semicolon  ) || (type == ssv_ascii);
+  const bool strict         = bool(spec.opts.flags & csv_opts::flag_strict     );
   
   arma_extra_debug_print("SpMat::load(csv_name): enabled flags:");
   
@@ -4863,6 +4864,9 @@ SpMat<eT>::load(const csv_name& spec, const file_type type)
   if(no_header    )  { arma_extra_debug_print("no_header");   }
   if(with_header  )  { arma_extra_debug_print("with_header"); }
   if(use_semicolon)  { arma_extra_debug_print("semicolon");   }
+  if(strict       )  { arma_extra_debug_print("strict");      }
+  
+  if(strict)  { arma_debug_warn_level(1, "SpMat::load(): option 'strict' not implemented for sparse matrices"); }
   
   const char separator = (use_semicolon) ? char(';') : char(',');