diff --git a/R/class-sheet-data.R b/R/class-sheet-data.R
index 792234b06..1cd750199 100644
--- a/R/class-sheet-data.R
+++ b/R/class-sheet-data.R
@@ -34,16 +34,6 @@ wb_sheet_data <- function() {
 
 # helpers -----------------------------------------------------------------
 
-# Consider making some helpers for the cc stuff.
-
-empty_sheet_data_cc <- function(n) {
-  create_char_dataframe(
-    colnames = c("r", "row_r", "c_r", "c_s", "c_t", "c_cm", "c_ph", "c_vm",
-                 "v", "f", "f_attr", "is", "typ"),
-    n = n
-  )
-}
-
 empty_row_attr <- function(n) {
   create_char_dataframe(
     colnames = c("collapsed", "customFormat", "customHeight", "x14ac:dyDescent",
diff --git a/R/class-workbook.R b/R/class-workbook.R
index cf48990b8..d255c36d2 100644
--- a/R/class-workbook.R
+++ b/R/class-workbook.R
@@ -4042,7 +4042,7 @@ wbWorkbook <- R6::R6Class(
 
       if (as_ref) {
         from_sheet_name <- self$get_sheet_names(escape = TRUE)[[from_sheet]]
-        to_cc[c("c_t", "c_cm", "c_ph", "c_vm", "v", "f", "f_attr", "is")] <- ""
+        to_cc[names(to_cc) %in% c("c_t", "c_cm", "c_ph", "c_vm", "v", "f", "f_attr", "is")] <- ""
         to_cc[c("f")] <- paste0(shQuote(from_sheet_name, type = "sh"), "!", from_dims)
       }
 
diff --git a/R/class-worksheet.R b/R/class-worksheet.R
index e7e80da68..19f00f046 100644
--- a/R/class-worksheet.R
+++ b/R/class-worksheet.R
@@ -638,10 +638,10 @@ wbWorksheet <- R6::R6Class(
 
       if (characters)
         cc[sel & cc$c_t %in% c("inlineStr", "s", "str"),
-          c("c_t", "c_ph", "v", "f", "f_attr", "is")] <- ""
+          names(cc) %in% c("c_t", "c_ph", "v", "f", "f_attr", "is")] <- ""
 
       if (styles)
-        cc[sel, c("c_s", "c_cm", "c_vm")] <- ""
+        cc[sel, names(cc) %in% c("c_s", "c_cm", "c_vm")] <- ""
 
       self$sheet_data$cc <- cc
 
diff --git a/R/write.R b/R/write.R
index 790be5408..fc3909875 100644
--- a/R/write.R
+++ b/R/write.R
@@ -90,15 +90,11 @@ inner_update <- function(
     na.strings <- NULL
   }
 
-  if (removeCellStyle) {
-    cell_style <- "c_s"
-  } else {
-    cell_style <- NULL
+  replacement <- names(cc)
+  if (!removeCellStyle) {
+    replacement <- replacement[-which(replacement == "c_s")]
   }
 
-  replacement <- c("r", cell_style, "c_t", "c_cm", "c_ph", "c_vm", "v",
-                   "f", "f_attr", "is", "typ")
-
   sel <- match(x$r, cc$r)
 
   # to avoid bricking the worksheet, we make sure that we do not overwrite the
@@ -148,9 +144,10 @@ inner_update <- function(
 initialize_cell <- function(wb, sheet, new_cells) {
 
   sheet_id <- wb$validate_sheet(sheet)
+  nms <- names(wb$worksheets[[sheet_id]]$sheet_data$cc)
 
   # create artificial cc for the missing cells
-  x <- empty_sheet_data_cc(n = length(new_cells))
+  x <- create_char_dataframe(n = length(new_cells), colnames = nms)
   x$r     <- new_cells
   x$row_r <- gsub("[[:upper:]]", "", new_cells)
   x$c_r   <- gsub("[[:digit:]]", "", new_cells)
@@ -417,8 +414,15 @@ write_data2 <- function(
   rows_attr$r <- rownames(rtyp)
 
   # original cc data frame
-  cc <- empty_sheet_data_cc(n = nrow(data) * ncol(data))
-
+  has_cm <- if (any(dc == openxlsx2_celltype[["cm_formula"]])) "c_cm" else NULL
+  nms <- c(
+    "r", "row_r", "c_r", "c_s", "c_t", has_cm,
+    "v", "f", "f_attr", "is", "typ"
+  )
+  cc <- create_char_dataframe(
+    colnames = nms,
+    n = nrow(data) * ncol(data)
+  )
 
   sel <- which(dc == openxlsx2_celltype[["logical"]])
   for (i in sel) {
@@ -524,13 +528,14 @@ write_data2 <- function(
 
     int_si <- max(int_si, -1L) + 1L
 
-    cc$f_attr           <- sprintf("t=\"%s\"", "shared")
+    cc[["f_attr"]]      <- sprintf("t=\"%s\"", "shared")
     cc[1, "f_attr"]     <- paste(cc[1, "f_attr"], sprintf("ref=\"%s\"", dims))
+    cc[["f_attr"]]      <- paste(cc[["f_attr"]], sprintf("si=\"%s\"", int_si))
     cc[2:nrow(cc), "f"] <- ""
-    cc$f_attr           <- paste(cc$f_attr, sprintf("si=\"%s\"", int_si))
   }
 
   if (is.null(wb$worksheets[[sheetno]]$sheet_data$cc)) {
+    # message("write_cell()")
 
     wb$worksheets[[sheetno]]$dimension <- paste0("<dimension ref=\"", dims, "\"/>")
 
diff --git a/src/helper_functions.cpp b/src/helper_functions.cpp
index 55675e872..7ce191f5f 100644
--- a/src/helper_functions.cpp
+++ b/src/helper_functions.cpp
@@ -397,10 +397,14 @@ void wide_to_long(
 
   int32_t in_string_nums = string_nums;
 
+  bool has_cm = zz.containsElementNamed("c_cm");
+
   // pointer magic. even though these are extracted, they just point to the
   // memory in the data frame
+  Rcpp::CharacterVector zz_c_cm;
+
   Rcpp::CharacterVector zz_row_r  = Rcpp::as<Rcpp::CharacterVector>(zz["row_r"]);
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector zz_c_cm   = Rcpp::as<Rcpp::CharacterVector>(zz["c_cm"]);
+  if (has_cm) zz_c_cm   = Rcpp::as<Rcpp::CharacterVector>(zz["c_cm"]);
   Rcpp::CharacterVector zz_c_r    = Rcpp::as<Rcpp::CharacterVector>(zz["c_r"]);
   Rcpp::CharacterVector zz_v      = Rcpp::as<Rcpp::CharacterVector>(zz["v"]);
   Rcpp::CharacterVector zz_c_t    = Rcpp::as<Rcpp::CharacterVector>(zz["c_t"]);
diff --git a/src/load_workbook.cpp b/src/load_workbook.cpp
index f7e2a4399..22fd00d7c 100644
--- a/src/load_workbook.cpp
+++ b/src/load_workbook.cpp
@@ -160,6 +160,8 @@ inline Rcpp::DataFrame row_to_df(XPtrXML doc) {
 void loadvals(Rcpp::Environment sheet_data, XPtrXML doc) {
   auto ws = doc->child("worksheet").child("sheetData");
 
+  bool has_cm = false, has_ph = false, has_vm = false;
+
   // character
   Rcpp::DataFrame row_attributes;
 
@@ -228,9 +230,18 @@ void loadvals(Rcpp::Environment sheet_data, XPtrXML doc) {
 
         if (attr_name == s_str) single_xml_col.c_s = buffer;
         if (attr_name == t_str) single_xml_col.c_t = buffer;
-        if (attr_name == cm_str) single_xml_col.c_cm = buffer;
-        if (attr_name == ph_str) single_xml_col.c_ph = buffer;
-        if (attr_name == vm_str) single_xml_col.c_vm = buffer;
+        if (attr_name == cm_str) {
+          has_cm = true;
+          single_xml_col.c_cm = buffer;
+        }
+        if (attr_name == ph_str) {
+          has_ph = true;
+          single_xml_col.c_ph = buffer;
+        }
+        if (attr_name == vm_str) {
+          has_vm = true;
+          single_xml_col.c_vm = buffer;
+        }
       }
 
       // some files have no colnames. in this case we need to add c_r and row_r
@@ -283,6 +294,8 @@ void loadvals(Rcpp::Environment sheet_data, XPtrXML doc) {
     ++itr_rows;
   }
 
+  // Rcpp::Rcout << has_cm << ": " << has_ph << ": " << has_vm << std::endl;
+
   sheet_data["row_attr"] = row_attributes;
-  sheet_data["cc"] = Rcpp::wrap(xml_cols);
+  sheet_data["cc"] = xml_cols_to_df(xml_cols, has_cm, has_ph, has_vm);
 }
diff --git a/src/openxlsx2.h b/src/openxlsx2.h
index d19f23325..6bc9aabf7 100644
--- a/src/openxlsx2.h
+++ b/src/openxlsx2.h
@@ -121,3 +121,184 @@ static inline bool validate_dims(const std::string& input) {
 
   return has_col && has_row;
 }
+
+inline SEXP xml_cols_to_df(const std::vector<xml_col>& x, bool has_cm, bool has_ph, bool has_vm) {
+  R_xlen_t n = static_cast<R_xlen_t>(x.size());
+
+  // Vector structure identical to xml_col from openxlsx2_types.h
+  Rcpp::CharacterVector r(Rcpp::no_init(n));         // cell name: A1, A2 ...
+  Rcpp::CharacterVector row_r(Rcpp::no_init(n));     // row name: 1, 2, ..., 9999
+
+  Rcpp::CharacterVector c_r(Rcpp::no_init(n));       // col name: A, B, ..., ZZ
+  Rcpp::CharacterVector c_s(Rcpp::no_init(n));       // cell style
+  Rcpp::CharacterVector c_t(Rcpp::no_init(n));       // cell type
+  Rcpp::CharacterVector c_cm, c_ph, c_vm;
+  if (has_cm) c_cm = Rcpp::CharacterVector(Rcpp::no_init(n));
+  if (has_ph) c_ph = Rcpp::CharacterVector(Rcpp::no_init(n));
+  if (has_vm) c_vm = Rcpp::CharacterVector(Rcpp::no_init(n));
+
+  Rcpp::CharacterVector v(Rcpp::no_init(n));         // <v> tag
+  Rcpp::CharacterVector f(Rcpp::no_init(n));         // <f> tag
+  Rcpp::CharacterVector f_attr(Rcpp::no_init(n));    // <f /> attributes
+  Rcpp::CharacterVector is(Rcpp::no_init(n));        // <is> tag
+
+  // struct to vector
+  // We have to convert utf8 inputs via Rcpp::String for non unicode R sessions
+  // Ideally there would be a function that calls Rcpp::String only if needed
+  for (R_xlen_t i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
+    size_t ii = static_cast<size_t>(i);
+    if (!x[ii].r.empty())      r[i]      = std::string(x[ii].r);
+    if (!x[ii].row_r.empty())  row_r[i]  = std::string(x[ii].row_r);
+    if (!x[ii].c_r.empty())    c_r[i]    = std::string(x[ii].c_r);
+    if (!x[ii].c_s.empty())    c_s[i]    = std::string(x[ii].c_s);
+    if (!x[ii].c_t.empty())    c_t[i]    = std::string(x[ii].c_t);
+    if (has_cm && !x[ii].c_cm.empty())   c_cm[i]   = std::string(x[ii].c_cm);
+    if (has_ph && !x[ii].c_ph.empty())   c_ph[i]   = Rcpp::String(x[ii].c_ph);
+    if (has_vm && !x[ii].c_vm.empty())   c_vm[i]   = std::string(x[ii].c_vm);
+    if (!x[ii].v.empty()) { // can only be utf8 if c_t = "str"
+      if (x[ii].c_t.empty() && x[ii].f_attr.empty())
+        v[i] = std::string(x[ii].v);
+      else
+        v[i] = Rcpp::String(x[ii].v);
+    }
+    if (!x[ii].f.empty())      f[i]      = Rcpp::String(x[ii].f);
+    if (!x[ii].f_attr.empty()) f_attr[i] = std::string(x[ii].f_attr);
+    if (!x[ii].is.empty())     is[i]     = Rcpp::String(x[ii].is);
+  }
+
+  // Assign and return a dataframe
+  if (has_cm && has_ph && has_vm) {
+    return Rcpp::wrap(
+      Rcpp::DataFrame::create(
+        Rcpp::Named("r")      = r,
+        Rcpp::Named("row_r")  = row_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_r")    = c_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_s")    = c_s,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_t")    = c_t,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_cm")   = c_cm,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_ph")   = c_ph,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_vm")   = c_vm,
+        Rcpp::Named("v")      = v,
+        Rcpp::Named("f")      = f,
+        Rcpp::Named("f_attr") = f_attr,
+        Rcpp::Named("is")     = is,
+        Rcpp::Named("stringsAsFactors") = false
+      )
+    );
+  } else if (has_cm && has_ph && !has_vm) {
+    return Rcpp::wrap(
+      Rcpp::DataFrame::create(
+        Rcpp::Named("r")      = r,
+        Rcpp::Named("row_r")  = row_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_r")    = c_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_s")    = c_s,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_t")    = c_t,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_cm")   = c_cm,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_ph")   = c_ph,
+        Rcpp::Named("v")      = v,
+        Rcpp::Named("f")      = f,
+        Rcpp::Named("f_attr") = f_attr,
+        Rcpp::Named("is")     = is,
+        Rcpp::Named("stringsAsFactors") = false
+      )
+    );
+  } else if (has_cm && !has_ph && has_vm) {
+    return Rcpp::wrap(
+      Rcpp::DataFrame::create(
+        Rcpp::Named("r")      = r,
+        Rcpp::Named("row_r")  = row_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_r")    = c_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_s")    = c_s,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_t")    = c_t,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_cm")   = c_cm,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_vm")   = c_vm,
+        Rcpp::Named("v")      = v,
+        Rcpp::Named("f")      = f,
+        Rcpp::Named("f_attr") = f_attr,
+        Rcpp::Named("is")     = is,
+        Rcpp::Named("stringsAsFactors") = false
+      )
+    );
+  } else if (!has_cm && has_ph && has_vm) {
+    return Rcpp::wrap(
+      Rcpp::DataFrame::create(
+        Rcpp::Named("r")      = r,
+        Rcpp::Named("row_r")  = row_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_r")    = c_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_s")    = c_s,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_t")    = c_t,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_ph")   = c_ph,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_vm")   = c_vm,
+        Rcpp::Named("v")      = v,
+        Rcpp::Named("f")      = f,
+        Rcpp::Named("f_attr") = f_attr,
+        Rcpp::Named("is")     = is,
+        Rcpp::Named("stringsAsFactors") = false
+      )
+    );
+  } else if (has_cm && !has_ph && !has_vm) {
+    return Rcpp::wrap(
+      Rcpp::DataFrame::create(
+        Rcpp::Named("r")      = r,
+        Rcpp::Named("row_r")  = row_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_r")    = c_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_s")    = c_s,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_t")    = c_t,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_cm")   = c_cm,
+        Rcpp::Named("v")      = v,
+        Rcpp::Named("f")      = f,
+        Rcpp::Named("f_attr") = f_attr,
+        Rcpp::Named("is")     = is,
+        Rcpp::Named("stringsAsFactors") = false
+      )
+    );
+  } else if (!has_cm && has_ph && !has_vm) {
+    return Rcpp::wrap(
+      Rcpp::DataFrame::create(
+        Rcpp::Named("r")      = r,
+        Rcpp::Named("row_r")  = row_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_r")    = c_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_s")    = c_s,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_t")    = c_t,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_ph")   = c_ph,
+        Rcpp::Named("v")      = v,
+        Rcpp::Named("f")      = f,
+        Rcpp::Named("f_attr") = f_attr,
+        Rcpp::Named("is")     = is,
+        Rcpp::Named("stringsAsFactors") = false
+      )
+    );
+  } else if (!has_cm && !has_ph && has_vm) {
+    return Rcpp::wrap(
+      Rcpp::DataFrame::create(
+        Rcpp::Named("r")      = r,
+        Rcpp::Named("row_r")  = row_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_r")    = c_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_s")    = c_s,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_t")    = c_t,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_vm")   = c_vm,
+        Rcpp::Named("v")      = v,
+        Rcpp::Named("f")      = f,
+        Rcpp::Named("f_attr") = f_attr,
+        Rcpp::Named("is")     = is,
+        Rcpp::Named("stringsAsFactors") = false
+      )
+    );
+  } else {
+    return Rcpp::wrap(
+      Rcpp::DataFrame::create(
+        Rcpp::Named("r")      = r,
+        Rcpp::Named("row_r")  = row_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_r")    = c_r,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_s")    = c_s,
+        Rcpp::Named("c_t")    = c_t,
+        Rcpp::Named("v")      = v,
+        Rcpp::Named("f")      = f,
+        Rcpp::Named("f_attr") = f_attr,
+        Rcpp::Named("is")     = is,
+        Rcpp::Named("stringsAsFactors") = false
+      )
+    );
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/src/openxlsx2_types.h b/src/openxlsx2_types.h
index c914bc179..e2da5e991 100644
--- a/src/openxlsx2_types.h
+++ b/src/openxlsx2_types.h
@@ -57,69 +57,6 @@ enum celltype {
 // Converts the imported values from c++ std::vector<xml_col> to an R dataframe.
 // Whenever new fields are spotted they have to be added here
 namespace Rcpp {
-template <>
-inline SEXP wrap(const std::vector<xml_col>& x) {
-  R_xlen_t n = static_cast<R_xlen_t>(x.size());
-
-  // Vector structure identical to xml_col from openxlsx2_types.h
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector r(no_init(n));         // cell name: A1, A2 ...
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector row_r(no_init(n));     // row name: 1, 2, ..., 9999
-
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector c_r(no_init(n));       // col name: A, B, ..., ZZ
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector c_s(no_init(n));       // cell style
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector c_t(no_init(n));       // cell type
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector c_cm(no_init(n));
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector c_ph(no_init(n));
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector c_vm(no_init(n));
-
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector v(no_init(n));         // <v> tag
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector f(no_init(n));         // <f> tag
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector f_attr(no_init(n));    // <f /> attributes
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector is(no_init(n));        // <is> tag
-
-  // struct to vector
-  // We have to convert utf8 inputs via Rcpp::String for non unicode R sessions
-  // Ideally there would be a function that calls Rcpp::String only if needed
-  for (R_xlen_t i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
-    size_t ii = static_cast<size_t>(i);
-    if (!x[ii].r.empty())      r[i]      = std::string(x[ii].r);
-    if (!x[ii].row_r.empty())  row_r[i]  = std::string(x[ii].row_r);
-    if (!x[ii].c_r.empty())    c_r[i]    = std::string(x[ii].c_r);
-    if (!x[ii].c_s.empty())    c_s[i]    = std::string(x[ii].c_s);
-    if (!x[ii].c_t.empty())    c_t[i]    = std::string(x[ii].c_t);
-    if (!x[ii].c_cm.empty())   c_cm[i]   = std::string(x[ii].c_cm);
-    if (!x[ii].c_ph.empty())   c_ph[i]   = Rcpp::String(x[ii].c_ph);
-    if (!x[ii].c_vm.empty())   c_vm[i]   = std::string(x[ii].c_vm);
-    if (!x[ii].v.empty()) { // can only be utf8 if c_t = "str"
-      if (x[ii].c_t.empty() && x[ii].f_attr.empty())
-        v[i] = std::string(x[ii].v);
-      else
-        v[i] = Rcpp::String(x[ii].v);
-    }
-    if (!x[ii].f.empty())      f[i]      = Rcpp::String(x[ii].f);
-    if (!x[ii].f_attr.empty()) f_attr[i] = std::string(x[ii].f_attr);
-    if (!x[ii].is.empty())     is[i]     = Rcpp::String(x[ii].is);
-  }
-
-  // Assign and return a dataframe
-  return Rcpp::wrap(
-    Rcpp::DataFrame::create(
-      Rcpp::Named("r")      = r,
-      Rcpp::Named("row_r")  = row_r,
-      Rcpp::Named("c_r")    = c_r,
-      Rcpp::Named("c_s")    = c_s,
-      Rcpp::Named("c_t")    = c_t,
-      Rcpp::Named("c_cm")   = c_cm,
-      Rcpp::Named("c_ph")   = c_ph,
-      Rcpp::Named("c_vm")   = c_vm,
-      Rcpp::Named("v")      = v,
-      Rcpp::Named("f")      = f,
-      Rcpp::Named("f_attr") = f_attr,
-      Rcpp::Named("is")     = is,
-      Rcpp::Named("stringsAsFactors") = false
-    )
-  );
-}
 
 template <>
 inline SEXP wrap(const vec_string& x) {
diff --git a/src/write_file.cpp b/src/write_file.cpp
index cbb728b63..d715a29fd 100644
--- a/src/write_file.cpp
+++ b/src/write_file.cpp
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@ pugi::xml_document xml_sheet_data(Rcpp::DataFrame row_attr, Rcpp::DataFrame cc)
   uint32_t pugi_parse_flags = pugi::parse_cdata | pugi::parse_wconv_attribute | pugi::parse_ws_pcdata | pugi::parse_eol;
   // uint32_t pugi_format_flags = pugi::format_raw | pugi::format_no_escapes;
 
+  bool has_cm = cc.containsElementNamed("c_cm");
+  bool has_ph = cc.containsElementNamed("c_ph");
+  bool has_vm = cc.containsElementNamed("c_vm");
+
+  Rcpp::CharacterVector cc_c_cm, cc_c_ph, cc_c_vm;
+
   // we cannot access rows directly in the dataframe.
   // Have to extract the columns and use these
   Rcpp::CharacterVector cc_row_r  = cc["row_r"];  // 1
@@ -47,9 +53,9 @@ pugi::xml_document xml_sheet_data(Rcpp::DataFrame row_attr, Rcpp::DataFrame cc)
   Rcpp::CharacterVector cc_v      = cc["v"];      // can be utf8
   Rcpp::CharacterVector cc_c_t    = cc["c_t"];
   Rcpp::CharacterVector cc_c_s    = cc["c_s"];
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector cc_c_cm   = cc["c_cm"];
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector cc_c_ph   = cc["c_ph"];   // can be utf8
-  Rcpp::CharacterVector cc_c_vm   = cc["c_vm"];
+  if (has_cm) cc_c_cm   = cc["c_cm"];
+  if (has_ph) cc_c_ph   = cc["c_ph"];
+  if (has_vm) cc_c_vm   = cc["c_vm"];
   Rcpp::CharacterVector cc_f      = cc["f"];      // can be utf8
   Rcpp::CharacterVector cc_f_attr = cc["f_attr"];
   Rcpp::CharacterVector cc_is     = cc["is"];     // can be utf8
@@ -87,16 +93,16 @@ pugi::xml_document xml_sheet_data(Rcpp::DataFrame row_attr, Rcpp::DataFrame cc)
     // update lastrow
     lastrow = thisrow;
 
-    if ( // skip blank cells entirely
-        cc_c_s[i]    == "" &&
-        cc_c_t[i]    == "" &&
-        cc_c_cm[i]   == "" &&
-        cc_c_ph[i]   == "" &&
-        cc_c_vm[i]   == "" &&
-        cc_v[i]      == "" &&
-        cc_f[i]      == "" &&
-        cc_f_attr[i] == "" &&
-        cc_is[i]     == ""
+    if (
+      cc_c_s[i].empty() &&
+      cc_c_t[i].empty() &&
+      (!has_cm || (has_cm && cc_c_cm[i].empty())) &&
+      (!has_ph || (has_ph && cc_c_ph[i].empty())) &&
+      (!has_vm || (has_vm && cc_c_vm[i].empty())) &&
+      cc_v[i].empty() &&
+      cc_f[i].empty() &&
+      cc_f_attr[i].empty() &&
+      cc_is[i].empty()
     ) {
       continue;
     }
@@ -118,15 +124,15 @@ pugi::xml_document xml_sheet_data(Rcpp::DataFrame row_attr, Rcpp::DataFrame cc)
       cell.append_attribute("t") = std::string(cc_c_t[i]).c_str();
 
     // CellMetaIndex: suppress curly brackets in spreadsheet software
-    if (!std::string(cc_c_cm[i]).empty())
+    if (has_cm && !std::string(cc_c_cm[i]).empty())
       cell.append_attribute("cm") = std::string(cc_c_cm[i]).c_str();
 
     // phonetics spelling
-    if (!std::string(cc_c_ph[i]).empty())
-      cell.append_attribute("ph") = to_string(cc_c_ph[i]).c_str();
+    if (has_ph && !std::string(cc_c_ph[i]).empty())
+      cell.append_attribute("ph") = std::string(cc_c_ph[i]).c_str();
 
     // suppress curly brackets in spreadsheet software
-    if (!std::string(cc_c_vm[i]).empty())
+    if (has_vm && !std::string(cc_c_vm[i]).empty())
       cell.append_attribute("vm") = std::string(cc_c_vm[i]).c_str();
 
     // append nodes <c r="A1" ...><v>...</v></c>
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-date_time_conversion.R b/tests/testthat/test-date_time_conversion.R
index 67d20cffc..89cbfc01e 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-date_time_conversion.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-date_time_conversion.R
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ test_that("convert hms works", {
 
   exp <- data.frame(
     r = "A1", row_r = "1", c_r = "A", c_s = "1", c_t = "",
-    c_cm = "", c_ph = "", c_vm = "", v = "0.509189814814815",
+    v = "0.509189814814815",
     f = "", f_attr = "", is = "", typ = "15",
     stringsAsFactors = FALSE)
   got <- wb$worksheets[[1]]$sheet_data$cc
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-formulas.R b/tests/testthat/test-formulas.R
index 44d279830..93d0aa4a6 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-formulas.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-formulas.R
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ test_that("writing formulas with cell metadata works", {
 
   exp <- data.frame(
     r = "A1", row_r = "1", c_r = "A", c_s = "", c_t = "",
-    c_cm = "1", c_ph = "", c_vm = "", v = "", f = "SUM(ABS(A2:A11))",
+    c_cm = "1", v = "", f = "SUM(ABS(A2:A11))",
     f_attr = "t=\"array\" ref=\"A1\"", is = "",
     typ = "14",
     stringsAsFactors = FALSE)
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ test_that("array formula detection works", {
 })
 
 test_that("writing shared formulas works", {
+  # somehow this test is failing in Rstudio and I do not know why
   df <- data.frame(
     x = 1:5,
     y = 1:5 * 2,
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-save.R b/tests/testthat/test-save.R
index d2fd742de..7b7f5ce69 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-save.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-save.R
@@ -263,9 +263,6 @@ test_that("write cells without data", {
       c_r = c("B", "C", "B", "C"),
       c_s = c("", "", "", ""),
       c_t = c("", "", "", ""),
-      c_cm = c("", "", "", ""),
-      c_ph = c("", "", "", ""),
-      c_vm = c("", "", "", ""),
       v = c("", "", "", ""),
       f = c("", "", "", ""),
       f_attr = c("", "", "", ""),
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-wb_functions.R b/tests/testthat/test-wb_functions.R
index f74d254de..f595769e8 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-wb_functions.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-wb_functions.R
@@ -543,7 +543,7 @@ test_that("creating a formula matrix works", {
     shared = TRUE
   )
 
-  exp <- c(210, 13)
+  exp <- c(210, 10)
   got <- dim(wb$worksheets[[1]]$sheet_data$cc)
   expect_equal(exp, got)
 
@@ -564,7 +564,7 @@ test_that("writing formula dataframes works", {
     dims   = wb_dims(x = df, from_row = 13, col_names = FALSE)
   )
 
-  exp <- c(210, 13)
+  exp <- c(210, 10)
   got <- dim(wb$worksheets[[1]]$sheet_data$cc)
   expect_equal(exp, got)
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-write.R b/tests/testthat/test-write.R
index 448fce88c..6f9b1a354 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-write.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-write.R
@@ -6,8 +6,7 @@ test_that("write_formula", {
   # array formula for a single cell
   exp <- structure(
     list(r = "E2", row_r = "2", c_r = "E", c_s = "",
-         c_t = "", c_cm = "",
-         c_ph = "", c_vm = "",
+         c_t = "",
          v = "", f = "SUM(C2:C11*D2:D11)",
          f_attr = "t=\"array\" ref=\"E2\"",
          is = "", typ = "11"),
@@ -23,7 +22,7 @@ test_that("write_formula", {
 
   cc <- wb$worksheets[[1]]$sheet_data$cc
   got <- cc[cc$row_r == "2" & cc$c_r == "E", ]
-  expect_equal(exp[1:13], got[1:13])
+  expect_equal(exp[1:10], got[1:10])
 
 
   rownames(exp) <- 1L
@@ -37,7 +36,7 @@ test_that("write_formula", {
 
   cc <- wb$worksheets[[1]]$sheet_data$cc
   got <- cc[cc$row_r == "2" & cc$c_r == "E", ]
-  expect_equal(exp[1:11], got[1:11])
+  expect_equal(exp[1:10], got[1:10])
 
 })
 
@@ -226,9 +225,6 @@ test_that("update cell(s)", {
                         c_r = c("B", "C", "D", "E", "F", "G"),
                         c_s = c("1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1"),
                         c_t = c("", "", "", "", "", ""),
-                        c_cm = c("", "", "", "", "", ""),
-                        c_ph = c("", "", "", "", "", ""),
-                        c_vm = c("", "", "", "", "", ""),
                         v = c("", "", "", "", "", ""),
                         f = c("", "", "", "", "", ""),
                         f_attr = c("", "", "", "", "", ""),