diff --git a/light9/rdfdb/rdflibpatch_literal.py b/light9/rdfdb/rdflibpatch_literal.py
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/light9/rdfdb/rdflibpatch_literal.py
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+import sys
+if sys.path[0] == '/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages':
+    # nosetests puts this in
+    sys.path = sys.path[1:]
+
+from rdflib.term import _PLAIN_LITERAL_TYPES, _XSD_DOUBLE, _XSD_DECIMAL, Literal
+from re import sub
+
+def _literal_n3(self, use_plain=False, qname_callback=None):
+    if use_plain and self.datatype in _PLAIN_LITERAL_TYPES:
+        try:
+            self.toPython() # check validity
+            # this is a bit of a mess - 
+            # in py >=2.6 the string.format function makes this easier
+            # we try to produce "pretty" output
+            if self.datatype == _XSD_DOUBLE:
+                # this is the drewp fix
+                return sub(r"\.?0*e","e", u'%e' % float(self))
+            elif self.datatype == _XSD_DECIMAL:
+                return sub("0*$","0",u'%f' % float(self))
+            else:
+                return u'%s' % self
+        except ValueError:
+            pass # if it's in, we let it out?
+
+    encoded = self._quote_encode()
+
+    datatype = self.datatype
+    quoted_dt = None
+    if datatype:
+        if qname_callback:
+            quoted_dt = qname_callback(datatype)
+        if not quoted_dt:
+            quoted_dt = "<%s>" % datatype
+
+    language = self.language
+    if language:
+        if datatype:
+            # TODO: this isn't valid RDF (it's datatype XOR language)
+            return '%s@%s^^%s' % (encoded, language, quoted_dt)
+        return '%s@%s' % (encoded, language)
+    elif datatype:
+        return '%s^^%s' % (encoded, quoted_dt)
+    else:
+        return '%s' % encoded
+
+def patch():
+    Literal._literal_n3 = _literal_n3
+
+import unittest
+class TestDoubleOutput(unittest.TestCase):
+    def testNoDanglingPoint(self):
+        vv = Literal("0.88", datatype=_XSD_DOUBLE)
+        out = _literal_n3(vv, use_plain=True)
+        print out
+        self.assert_(out in ["8.8e-01", "0.88"], out)