diff --git a/src/mode_create.f90 b/src/mode_create.f90
index 23b9100..bac9b12 100644
--- a/src/mode_create.f90
+++ b/src/mode_create.f90
@@ -199,20 +199,7 @@ module mode_create
                     call get_command_argument(arg_pos, orient_string, arglen)
                     if (arglen==0) STOP "Missing orientation in orient command of mode create"
                     arg_pos = arg_pos+1
-                    ori_pos=2
-                    do j = 1,3
-                        if (orient_string(ori_pos:ori_pos) == '-') then 
-                            ori_pos = ori_pos + 1
-                            read(orient_string(ori_pos:ori_pos), *, iostat=stat) orient(i,j)
-                            if (stat>0) STOP "Error reading orient value"
-                            orient(i,j) = -orient(i,j)
-                            ori_pos = ori_pos + 1
-                        else
-                            read(orient_string(ori_pos:ori_pos), *, iostat=stat) orient(i,j)
-                            if(stat>0) STOP "Error reading orient value"
-                            ori_pos=ori_pos + 1
-                        end if
-                    end do
+                    call parse_ori_vec(orient_string, orient(i,:))
                 end do
 
 
diff --git a/src/subroutines.f90 b/src/subroutines.f90
index 0682037..f4447d7 100644
--- a/src/subroutines.f90
+++ b/src/subroutines.f90
@@ -145,4 +145,29 @@ module subroutines
     return
     end subroutine matrix_inverse
 
+    subroutine parse_ori_vec(ori_string, ori_vec)
+        !This subroutine parses a string to vector in the format [ijk]
+        character(len=8), intent(in) :: ori_string
+        real(kind=dp), dimension(3), intent(out) :: ori_vec
+
+        integer :: i, ori_pos, stat
+
+        ori_pos=2
+        do i = 1,3
+            if (ori_string(ori_pos:ori_pos) == '-') then 
+                ori_pos = ori_pos + 1
+                read(ori_string(ori_pos:ori_pos), *, iostat=stat) ori_vec(i)
+                if (stat>0) STOP "Error reading orientation value"
+                ori_vec(i) = -ori_vec(i)
+                ori_pos = ori_pos + 1
+            else
+                read(ori_string(ori_pos:ori_pos), *, iostat=stat) ori_vec(i)
+                if(stat>0) STOP "Error reading orientation value"
+                ori_pos=ori_pos + 1
+            end if
+        end do
+
+        return
+    end subroutine parse_ori_vec
+
 end module subroutines
\ No newline at end of file