diff --git a/R/xform.R b/R/xform.R
index 4a766445..178052ab 100644
--- a/R/xform.R
+++ b/R/xform.R
@@ -423,8 +423,12 @@ mirror.neuronlist<-function(x, subset=NULL, OmitFailures=NA, ...){
 #' plot(da2pns.R.L, col='blue', add=TRUE)
 #' }
 tpsreg<-function(sample, reference, ...){
-  structure(list(refmat=data.matrix(sample), tarmat=data.matrix(reference), ...),
+  reg=structure(list(refmat=data.matrix(sample), tarmat=data.matrix(reference), ...),
             class='tpsreg')
+  # precompute forward and reverse
+  attr(reg,'fwd')=Morpho::computeTransform(x=reg$tarmat, y=reg$refmat, type = "tps", ...)
+  attr(reg,'rev')=Morpho::computeTransform(x=reg$refmat, y=reg$tarmat, type = "tps", ...)
+  reg
 }
 
 #' @description \code{xformpoints.tpsreg} enables \code{\link[nat]{xform}} and
@@ -436,12 +440,21 @@ tpsreg<-function(sample, reference, ...){
 #' @param points The 3D points to transform
 #' @param swap Whether to change the direction of registration (default of
 #'   \code{NULL} checks if reg has a \code{attr('swap'=TRUE)}) otherwise
+#' @param FallBackToAffine,na.action Not applicable to this function
 #' @export
-xformpoints.tpsreg <- function(reg, points, swap=NULL, ...){
-  if(isTRUE(swap) || isTRUE(attr(reg, 'swap'))) {
-    tmp=reg$refmat
-    reg$refmat=reg$tarmat
-    reg$tarmat=tmp
+xformpoints.tpsreg <- function(reg, points, swap=NULL, FallBackToAffine = NULL, na.action = NULL, ...){
+  
+  dir <- ifelse(isTRUE(swap) || isTRUE(attr(reg, 'swap')), 'rev', 'fwd')
+  trafo <- attr(reg, dir)
+  if(is.null(trafo)) {
+    warning("Incomplete thin plate splines registration!\n", 
+            "I am recomputing, but please use `tpsreg()` to make a new registration")
+    trafo <- if(dir=='fwd') Morpho::computeTransform(x=reg$tarmat, y=reg$refmat, type = "tps", ...) 
+    else 
+      Morpho::computeTransform(x=reg$refmat, y=reg$tarmat, type = "tps", ...)
   }
-  do.call(Morpho::tps3d, c(list(x=points), reg,  list(...)))
+  
+  Morpho::applyTransform(points, trafo, ...)
 }
+
+
diff --git a/man/tpsreg.Rd b/man/tpsreg.Rd
index 2ae39c72..f5c8c08d 100644
--- a/man/tpsreg.Rd
+++ b/man/tpsreg.Rd
@@ -7,7 +7,14 @@
 \usage{
 tpsreg(sample, reference, ...)
 
-\method{xformpoints}{tpsreg}(reg, points, swap = NULL, ...)
+\method{xformpoints}{tpsreg}(
+  reg,
+  points,
+  swap = NULL,
+  FallBackToAffine = NULL,
+  na.action = NULL,
+  ...
+)
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{sample, reference}{Matrices defining the sample (or floating) and
@@ -21,6 +28,8 @@ reference (desired target after transformation) spaces. See details.}
 
 \item{swap}{Whether to change the direction of registration (default of
 \code{NULL} checks if reg has a \code{attr('swap'=TRUE)}) otherwise}
+
+\item{FallBackToAffine, na.action}{Not applicable to this function}
 }
 \description{
 \code{tpsreg} creates an object encapsulating a thin plate spine
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-xformpoints.R b/tests/testthat/test-xformpoints.R
index 14cb48c0..dda690df 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-xformpoints.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-xformpoints.R
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ test_that("Thin plate spine registration", {
   landmarks=xyz[sids,] #take some points as landmarks
   landmarkst=scale(xyz[sids,], center = T, scale = rep(1.5, 3)) #now scale the landmarks..
   
-  #compute a transformation with sameple as scaled landmarks and reference as the original landmarks
+  #compute a transformation with sample as scaled landmarks and reference as the original landmarks
   mytps=tpsreg(sample=landmarkst, reference = landmarks)
   
   kcs20.t=xform(kcs20, mytps)