diff --git a/elf/io/mrc_wrapper.py b/elf/io/mrc_wrapper.py
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index a9a24cf..ee0f98a
--- a/elf/io/mrc_wrapper.py
+++ b/elf/io/mrc_wrapper.py
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 from collections.abc import Mapping
+import numpy as np
+
 try:
     import mrcfile
 except ImportError:
@@ -7,7 +9,11 @@
 
 class MRCDataset:
     def __init__(self, data_object):
-        self._data = data_object
+        im = data_object
+        # need to swap and flip to meet axes conventions
+        data0 = np.swapaxes(im, 0, -1)
+        data1 = np.fliplr(data0)
+        self._data = np.swapaxes(data1, 0, -1)
 
     @property
     def dtype(self):
@@ -42,6 +48,7 @@ def attrs(self):
 class MRCFile(Mapping):
     """ Wrapper for an mrc file
     """
+
     def __init__(self, path, mode='r'):
         self.path = path
         self.mode = mode
diff --git a/test/io_tests/test_mrc_wrapper.py b/test/io_tests/test_mrc_wrapper.py
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index bd0289e..61d18b9
--- a/test/io_tests/test_mrc_wrapper.py
+++ b/test/io_tests/test_mrc_wrapper.py
@@ -17,14 +17,19 @@ class TestMrcWrapper(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
         os.makedirs(self.tmp_dir)
-        shape = (64, 64, 64)
+        shape = (16, 32, 64)
         self.data = np.random.rand(*shape).astype('float32')
 
+        # change axes order to fit MRC convention
+        data0 = np.swapaxes(self.data, 0, -1)
+        data1 = np.fliplr(data0)
+        out_data = np.swapaxes(data1, 0, -1)
+
         with mrcfile.new(self.out) as f:
-            f.set_data(self.data)
+            f.set_data(out_data)
 
         with mrcfile.new(self.out_compressed, compression='gzip') as f:
-            f.set_data(self.data)
+            f.set_data(out_data)
 
     def tearDown(self):
         rmtree(self.tmp_dir)