diff --git a/src/armnnTfParser/TfParser.cpp b/src/armnnTfParser/TfParser.cpp
index d085ed8..51423bf 100755
--- a/src/armnnTfParser/TfParser.cpp
+++ b/src/armnnTfParser/TfParser.cpp
@@ -195,6 +195,19 @@
     return attriList;
 }
 
+std::string ReadOptionalNodeStringAttribute(const tensorflow::NodeDef& nodeDef,
+                                            const std::string& name,
+                                            const std::string& defaultValue = "")
+{
+    std::string attribValue = defaultValue;
+    ReadOptionalNodeAttributeImpl(nodeDef, name, tensorflow::AttrValue::kS,
+        [&attribValue](const tensorflow::AttrValue& attrValue)
+    {
+        attribValue = attrValue.s();
+    });
+    return attribValue;
+}
+
 bool ReadOptionalNodeBoolAttribute(const tensorflow::NodeDef& nodeDef,
     const std::string& name,
     bool defaultValue = false)
@@ -1594,8 +1607,7 @@
     ParsedConstTfOperation<float>* varianceNode =
         boost::polymorphic_downcast<ParsedConstTfOperation<float> *>(inputs[4].m_IndexedValue);
 
-    const std::string dataFormat = ReadMandatoryNodeStringAttribute(nodeDef, "data_format");
-
+    const std::string dataFormat = ReadOptionalNodeStringAttribute(nodeDef, "data_format", "NHWC");
     CHECK_DATA_FORMAT(nodeDef, dataFormat, "FusedBatchNorm");
 
     // The descriptor only has the epsilon attribute.