diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/MergeCellsRecord.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/MergeCellsRecord.java
index 62bbafbfa..0d0b2684d 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/MergeCellsRecord.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/MergeCellsRecord.java
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
 package org.apache.poi.hssf.record;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Iterator;
 
 import org.apache.poi.util.LittleEndian;
 
@@ -327,7 +328,12 @@ public class MergeCellsRecord
         MergeCellsRecord rec = new MergeCellsRecord();
         rec.field_1_num_areas = field_1_num_areas;
         rec.field_2_regions = new ArrayList();
-        rec.field_2_regions.addAll(field_2_regions);
+        Iterator iterator = field_2_regions.iterator();
+        while (iterator.hasNext()) {
+           MergedRegion oldRegion = (MergedRegion)iterator.next();
+           rec.addArea(oldRegion.row_from, oldRegion.col_from, oldRegion.row_to, oldRegion.col_to);
+        }
+        
         return rec;
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/TestMergeCellsRecord.java b/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/TestMergeCellsRecord.java
index 5ca60b7bf..9adc17a72 100644
--- a/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/TestMergeCellsRecord.java
+++ b/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/TestMergeCellsRecord.java
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ package org.apache.poi.hssf.record;
 
 import junit.framework.TestCase;
 
+import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.MergeCellsRecord.MergedRegion;
+
 /**
  * Make sure the merge cells record behaves
  * @author Danny Mui (dmui at apache dot org)
@@ -73,6 +75,15 @@ public class TestMergeCellsRecord extends TestCase {
       MergeCellsRecord clone = (MergeCellsRecord)merge.clone();
       
       assertNotSame("Merged and cloned objects are the same", merge, clone);
+      
+      MergedRegion mergeRegion = merge.getAreaAt(0);
+      MergedRegion cloneRegion = clone.getAreaAt(0);
+      assertNotSame("Should not point to same objects when cloning", mergeRegion, cloneRegion);
+      assertEquals("New Clone Row From doesnt match", mergeRegion.row_from, cloneRegion.row_from);
+      assertEquals("New Clone Row To doesnt match", mergeRegion.row_to, cloneRegion.row_to);
+      assertEquals("New Clone Col From doesnt match", mergeRegion.col_from, cloneRegion.col_from);
+      assertEquals("New Clone Col To doesnt match", mergeRegion.col_to, cloneRegion.col_to);      
+      
       merge.removeAreaAt(0);
       assertNotNull("Clone's item not removed", clone.getAreaAt(0));
    }