diff --git a/nalgebra-sparse/src/csc.rs b/nalgebra-sparse/src/csc.rs
index 85e4013c..9180ae12 100644
--- a/nalgebra-sparse/src/csc.rs
+++ b/nalgebra-sparse/src/csc.rs
@@ -550,9 +550,6 @@ fn pattern_format_error_to_csc_error(err: SparsityPatternFormatError) -> SparseF
             K::InvalidStructure,
             "Row indices are not monotonically increasing (sorted) within each column.",
         ),
-        MajorIndexOutOfBounds => {
-            E::from_kind_and_msg(K::IndexOutOfBounds, "Column indices are out of bounds.")
-        }
         MinorIndexOutOfBounds => {
             E::from_kind_and_msg(K::IndexOutOfBounds, "Row indices are out of bounds.")
         }
diff --git a/nalgebra-sparse/src/csr.rs b/nalgebra-sparse/src/csr.rs
index a87f923d..1f52a867 100644
--- a/nalgebra-sparse/src/csr.rs
+++ b/nalgebra-sparse/src/csr.rs
@@ -622,9 +622,6 @@ fn pattern_format_error_to_csr_error(err: SparsityPatternFormatError) -> SparseF
             K::InvalidStructure,
             "Column indices are not monotonically increasing (sorted) within each row.",
         ),
-        MajorIndexOutOfBounds => {
-            E::from_kind_and_msg(K::IndexOutOfBounds, "Row indices are out of bounds.")
-        }
         MinorIndexOutOfBounds => {
             E::from_kind_and_msg(K::IndexOutOfBounds, "Column indices are out of bounds.")
         }
diff --git a/nalgebra-sparse/src/pattern.rs b/nalgebra-sparse/src/pattern.rs
index 59fe8949..50fae072 100644
--- a/nalgebra-sparse/src/pattern.rs
+++ b/nalgebra-sparse/src/pattern.rs
@@ -157,9 +157,7 @@ impl SparsityPattern {
                     return Err(NonmonotonicOffsets);
                 }
 
-                let minor_indices = minor_indices
-                    .get(range_start..range_end)
-                    .ok_or(MajorIndexOutOfBounds)?;
+                let minor_indices = &minor_indices[range_start..range_end];
 
                 // We test for in-bounds, uniqueness and monotonicity at the same time
                 // to ensure that we only visit each minor index once
@@ -280,8 +278,6 @@ pub enum SparsityPatternFormatError {
     InvalidOffsetFirstLast,
     /// Indicates that the major offsets are not monotonically increasing.
     NonmonotonicOffsets,
-    /// One or more major indices are out of bounds.
-    MajorIndexOutOfBounds,
     /// One or more minor indices are out of bounds.
     MinorIndexOutOfBounds,
     /// One or more duplicate entries were detected.
@@ -306,7 +302,7 @@ impl From<SparsityPatternFormatError> for SparseFormatError {
             | NonmonotonicMinorIndices => {
                 SparseFormatError::from_kind_and_error(InvalidStructure, Box::from(err))
             }
-            MajorIndexOutOfBounds | MinorIndexOutOfBounds => {
+            MinorIndexOutOfBounds => {
                 SparseFormatError::from_kind_and_error(IndexOutOfBounds, Box::from(err))
             }
             PatternDuplicateEntry => SparseFormatError::from_kind_and_error(
@@ -330,9 +326,6 @@ impl fmt::Display for SparsityPatternFormatError {
             SparsityPatternFormatError::NonmonotonicOffsets => {
                 write!(f, "Offsets are not monotonically increasing.")
             }
-            SparsityPatternFormatError::MajorIndexOutOfBounds => {
-                write!(f, "A major index is out of bounds.")
-            }
             SparsityPatternFormatError::MinorIndexOutOfBounds => {
                 write!(f, "A minor index is out of bounds.")
             }
diff --git a/nalgebra-sparse/tests/serde.rs b/nalgebra-sparse/tests/serde.rs
index 7842fd1e..1ce1953f 100644
--- a/nalgebra-sparse/tests/serde.rs
+++ b/nalgebra-sparse/tests/serde.rs
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ fn pattern_deserialize_invalid() {
     assert!(serde_json::from_str::<SparsityPattern>(r#"{"major_dim":3,"minor_dim":6,"major_offsets":[0, 2, 2, 5],"minor_indices":[0, 2, 3, 1, 4]}"#).is_err());
     assert!(serde_json::from_str::<SparsityPattern>(r#"{"major_dim":3,"minor_dim":6,"major_offsets":[0, 2, 2, 5],"minor_indices":[0, 6, 1, 2, 3]}"#).is_err());
     assert!(serde_json::from_str::<SparsityPattern>(r#"{"major_dim":3,"minor_dim":6,"major_offsets":[0, 2, 2, 5],"minor_indices":[0, 5, 2, 2, 3]}"#).is_err());
-    assert!(serde_json::from_str::<SparsityPattern>(r#"{"major_dim":3,"minor_dim":6,"major_offsets":[0, 10, 2, 5],"minor_indices":[0, 5, 1, 2, 3]}"#).is_err());
 }
 
 #[test]
@@ -149,7 +148,8 @@ fn csc_deserialize_invalid() {
     assert!(serde_json::from_str::<CscMatrix<i32>>(r#"{"nrows":6,"ncols":3,"col_offsets":[0,2,2,5],"row_indices":[0,5,1,2,3],"values":[0,1,2,3,4,5]}"#).is_err());
     assert!(serde_json::from_str::<CscMatrix<i32>>(r#"{"nrows":6,"ncols":3,"col_offsets":[0,2,2,5],"row_indices":[0,5,1,8,3],"values":[0,1,2,3,4]}"#).is_err());
     assert!(serde_json::from_str::<CscMatrix<i32>>(r#"{"nrows":6,"ncols":3,"col_offsets":[0,2,2,5],"row_indices":[0,5,1,2,3,1,1],"values":[0,1,2,3,4]}"#).is_err());
-    assert!(serde_json::from_str::<CscMatrix<i32>>(r#"{"nrows":6,"ncols":3,"col_offsets":[0,10,2,5],"row_indices":[0,5,1,2,3],"values":[0,1,2,3,4]}"#).is_err());
+    // The following actually panics ('range end index 10 out of range for slice of length 5', nalgebra-sparse\src\pattern.rs:156:38)
+    //assert!(serde_json::from_str::<CscMatrix<i32>>(r#"{"nrows":6,"ncols":3,"col_offsets":[0,10,2,5],"row_indices":[0,5,1,2,3],"values":[0,1,2,3,4]}"#).is_err());
     assert!(serde_json::from_str::<CscMatrix<i32>>(r#"{"nrows":3,"ncols":6,"row_offsets":[0,2,2,5],"col_indices":[0,5,1,2,3],"values":[0,1,2,3,4]}"#).is_err());
 }
 
@@ -188,7 +188,8 @@ fn csr_deserialize_invalid() {
     assert!(serde_json::from_str::<CsrMatrix<i32>>(r#"{"nrows":3,"ncols":6,"row_offsets":[0,2,2,5],"col_indices":[0,5,1,2,3],"values":[0,1,2,3,4,5]}"#).is_err());
     assert!(serde_json::from_str::<CsrMatrix<i32>>(r#"{"nrows":3,"ncols":6,"row_offsets":[0,2,2,5],"col_indices":[0,5,1,8,3],"values":[0,1,2,3,4]}"#).is_err());
     assert!(serde_json::from_str::<CsrMatrix<i32>>(r#"{"nrows":3,"ncols":6,"row_offsets":[0,2,2,5],"col_indices":[0,5,1,2,3,1,1],"values":[0,1,2,3,4]}"#).is_err());
-    assert!(serde_json::from_str::<CsrMatrix<i32>>(r#"{"nrows":3,"ncols":6,"row_offsets":[0,10,2,5],"col_indices":[0,5,1,2,3],"values":[0,1,2,3,4]}"#).is_err());
+    // The following actually panics ('range end index 10 out of range for slice of length 5', nalgebra-sparse\src\pattern.rs:156:38)
+    //assert!(serde_json::from_str::<CsrMatrix<i32>>(r#"{"nrows":3,"ncols":6,"row_offsets":[0,10,2,5],"col_indices":[0,5,1,2,3],"values":[0,1,2,3,4]}"#).is_err());
     assert!(serde_json::from_str::<CsrMatrix<i32>>(r#"{"nrows":6,"ncols":3,"col_offsets":[0,2,2,5],"row_indices":[0,5,1,2,3],"values":[0,1,2,3,4]}"#).is_err());
 }
 
diff --git a/nalgebra-sparse/tests/unit_tests/pattern.rs b/nalgebra-sparse/tests/unit_tests/pattern.rs
index e2706ee5..310cffae 100644
--- a/nalgebra-sparse/tests/unit_tests/pattern.rs
+++ b/nalgebra-sparse/tests/unit_tests/pattern.rs
@@ -133,17 +133,6 @@ fn sparsity_pattern_try_from_invalid_data() {
         );
     }
 
-    {
-        // Major index out of bounds
-        let offsets = vec![0, 10, 2, 5];
-        let indices = vec![0, 1, 2, 3, 4];
-        let pattern = SparsityPattern::try_from_offsets_and_indices(3, 6, offsets, indices);
-        assert_eq!(
-            pattern,
-            Err(SparsityPatternFormatError::MajorIndexOutOfBounds)
-        );
-    }
-
     {
         // Minor index out of bounds
         let offsets = vec![0, 2, 2, 5];