diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 97ab9a6..4e9159c 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -66,7 +66,8 @@ func mnistTrain(net *Network) {
 
 			inputs := make([]float64, net.inputs)
 			for i := range inputs {
-				x, _ := strconv.ParseFloat(record[i], 64)
+				// skip the first column (index 0) containing the label
+				x, _ := strconv.ParseFloat(record[i+1], 64)
 				inputs[i] = (x / 255.0 * 0.999) + 0.001
 			}
 
@@ -99,10 +100,8 @@ func mnistPredict(net *Network) {
 		}
 		inputs := make([]float64, net.inputs)
 		for i := range inputs {
-			if i == 0 {
-				inputs[i] = 1.0
-			}
-			x, _ := strconv.ParseFloat(record[i], 64)
+			// skip the first column (index 0) which contains the label
+			x, _ := strconv.ParseFloat(record[i+1], 64)
 			inputs[i] = (x / 255.0 * 0.999) + 0.001
 		}
 		outputs := net.Predict(inputs)