diff --git a/Installation/include/CGAL/Mesh_3/Mesh_complex_3_in_triangulation_3_fwd.h b/Installation/include/CGAL/Mesh_3/Mesh_complex_3_in_triangulation_3_fwd.h
index 2f4705e66d0..d0202553abc 100644
--- a/Installation/include/CGAL/Mesh_3/Mesh_complex_3_in_triangulation_3_fwd.h
+++ b/Installation/include/CGAL/Mesh_3/Mesh_complex_3_in_triangulation_3_fwd.h
@@ -24,8 +24,12 @@ class Mesh_complex_3_in_triangulation_3;
 
 template<class Tr, bool c3t3_loader_failed>
 bool build_triangulation_from_file(std::istream& is,
-                                   Tr& tr);
+                                   Tr& tr,
+                                   bool replace_domain_0);
 
+template<class Tr, bool c3t3_loader_failed>
+bool build_triangulation_from_file(std::istream& is,
+                                   Tr& tr);
 } // CGAL
 #endif
 
diff --git a/Mesh_3/include/CGAL/Mesh_3/tet_soup_to_c3t3.h b/Mesh_3/include/CGAL/Mesh_3/tet_soup_to_c3t3.h
index e7e8c6d87f3..677d37124fa 100644
--- a/Mesh_3/include/CGAL/Mesh_3/tet_soup_to_c3t3.h
+++ b/Mesh_3/include/CGAL/Mesh_3/tet_soup_to_c3t3.h
@@ -106,7 +106,8 @@ bool build_finite_cells(Tr& tr,
     boost::unordered_map<std::array<typename Tr::Vertex_handle, 3>,
                         std::vector<std::pair<typename Tr::Cell_handle, int> > >& incident_cells_map,
     const std::map<std::array<int,3>, typename Tr::Cell::Surface_patch_index>& border_facets,
-    const bool verbose)
+    const bool verbose,
+                        bool replace_domain_0 = false)
 {
   typedef std::array<int, 5>              Tet_with_ref; // 4 ids + 1 reference
 
@@ -118,7 +119,16 @@ bool build_finite_cells(Tr& tr,
     typename Tr::Geom_traits::Construct_point_3 cp =
       tr.geom_traits().construct_point_3_object();
   )
-
+  int max_domain = 0;
+  if(replace_domain_0)
+  {
+    for(std::size_t i=0; i<finite_cells.size(); ++i)
+    {
+      const Tet_with_ref& tet = finite_cells[i];
+      if(tet[4] > max_domain)
+        max_domain=tet[4];
+    }
+  }
   // build the finite cells
   for(std::size_t i=0; i<finite_cells.size(); ++i)
   {
@@ -141,7 +151,10 @@ bool build_finite_cells(Tr& tr,
 
     Cell_handle c = tr.tds().create_cell(vs[0], vs[1], vs[2], vs[3]);
     c->set_subdomain_index(tet[4]); // the cell's info keeps the reference of the tetrahedron
-
+    if(replace_domain_0 && tet[4] == 0)
+    {
+      c->set_subdomain_index(max_domain+1); // the cell's info keeps the reference of the tetrahedron
+    }
     // assign cells to vertices
     for(int j=0; j<4; ++j)
     {
@@ -328,7 +341,8 @@ bool build_triangulation(Tr& tr,
                          const std::vector<std::array<int,5> >& finite_cells,
                          const std::map<std::array<int,3>, typename Tr::Cell::Surface_patch_index>& border_facets,
                          std::vector<typename Tr::Vertex_handle>& vertex_handle_vector,
-                         const bool verbose = false)
+                         const bool verbose = false,
+                         bool replace_domain_0 = false)
 {
   typedef typename Tr::Vertex_handle            Vertex_handle;
   typedef typename Tr::Cell_handle              Cell_handle;
@@ -360,7 +374,7 @@ bool build_triangulation(Tr& tr,
   if (!finite_cells.empty())
   {
     if(!build_finite_cells<Tr>(tr, finite_cells, vertex_handle_vector, incident_cells_map,
-                           border_facets, verbose))
+                           border_facets, verbose, replace_domain_0))
       return false;
     if(!build_infinite_cells<Tr>(tr, incident_cells_map, verbose))
       return false;
@@ -384,7 +398,8 @@ bool build_triangulation(Tr& tr,
 
 template<class Tr, bool c3t3_loader_failed>
 bool build_triangulation_from_file(std::istream& is,
-                                   Tr& tr)
+                                   Tr& tr,
+                                   bool replace_domain_0)
 {
   typedef typename Tr::Point                                  Point_3;
 
@@ -473,10 +488,16 @@ bool build_triangulation_from_file(std::istream& is,
 
   std::vector<typename Tr::Vertex_handle> vertices(points.size() + 1);
   bool is_well_built = build_triangulation<Tr, c3t3_loader_failed>(tr,
-    points, finite_cells, border_facets, vertices);
+    points, finite_cells, border_facets, vertices, false, replace_domain_0);
   return is_well_built;
 }
 
+template<class Tr, bool c3t3_loader_failed>
+bool build_triangulation_from_file(std::istream& is,
+                                   Tr& tr)
+{
+  return build_triangulation_from_file<Tr, c3t3_loader_failed>(is, tr, false);
+}
 }  // namespace CGAL
 
 #include <CGAL/enable_warnings.h>
diff --git a/Polyhedron/demo/Polyhedron/Plugins/Mesh_3/C3t3_io_plugin.cpp b/Polyhedron/demo/Polyhedron/Plugins/Mesh_3/C3t3_io_plugin.cpp
index 95bf0246fe6..4dfab1afc69 100644
--- a/Polyhedron/demo/Polyhedron/Plugins/Mesh_3/C3t3_io_plugin.cpp
+++ b/Polyhedron/demo/Polyhedron/Plugins/Mesh_3/C3t3_io_plugin.cpp
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ Polyhedron_demo_c3t3_binary_io_plugin::load(
       item->setName(fileinfo.baseName());
       item->set_valid(false);
 
-      if(CGAL::build_triangulation_from_file<C3t3::Triangulation, true>(in, item->c3t3().triangulation()))
+      if(CGAL::build_triangulation_from_file<C3t3::Triangulation, true>(in, item->c3t3().triangulation(), true))
       {
         item->c3t3().rescan_after_load_of_triangulation();
         for( C3t3::Triangulation::Finite_cells_iterator