diff --git a/src/main/java/org/rometools/feed/module/mediarss/io/MediaModuleParser.java b/src/main/java/org/rometools/feed/module/mediarss/io/MediaModuleParser.java
index 35c4ee7..604cdc4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/rometools/feed/module/mediarss/io/MediaModuleParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/rometools/feed/module/mediarss/io/MediaModuleParser.java
@@ -313,19 +313,25 @@ public class MediaModuleParser implements ModuleParser {
         }
         // ratings
         {
-            final List<Element> ratings = e.getChildren("rating", getNS());
             final ArrayList<Rating> values = new ArrayList<Rating>();
 
-            for (int i = 0; ratings != null && i < ratings.size(); i++) {
+            final List<Element> ratings = e.getChildren("rating", getNS());
+            for (final Element ratingElement : ratings) {
                 try {
-                    final Element rat = ratings.get(i);
-                    values.add(new Rating(rat.getAttributeValue("scheme"), rat.getText()));
+                    final String ratingText = ratingElement.getText();
+                    String ratingScheme = Strings.trimToNull(ratingElement.getAttributeValue("scheme"));
+                    if (ratingScheme == null) {
+                        ratingScheme = "urn:simple";
+                    }
+                    final Rating rating = new Rating(ratingScheme, ratingText);
+                    values.add(rating);
                 } catch (final Exception ex) {
                     LOG.warn("Exception parsing rating tag.", ex);
                 }
             }
 
             md.setRatings(values.toArray(new Rating[values.size()]));
+
         }
         // text
         {
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/rometools/feed/module/mediarss/MediaModuleTest.java b/src/test/java/org/rometools/feed/module/mediarss/MediaModuleTest.java
index 6d7005a..796186c 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/rometools/feed/module/mediarss/MediaModuleTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/rometools/feed/module/mediarss/MediaModuleTest.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import junit.framework.TestSuite;
 
 import org.rometools.feed.module.AbstractTestCase;
 import org.rometools.feed.module.mediarss.types.MediaContent;
+import org.rometools.feed.module.mediarss.types.Rating;
 import org.rometools.feed.module.mediarss.types.Thumbnail;
 
 import com.sun.syndication.feed.synd.SyndEntry;
@@ -90,7 +91,7 @@ public class MediaModuleTest extends AbstractTestCase {
     }
 
     /**
-     * test url with whitespace in media element
+     * tests parsing thubnails with empty dimensions
      * (https://github.com/rometools/rome-modules/issues/7).
      *
      * @throws IOException if file not found or not accessible
@@ -108,6 +109,24 @@ public class MediaModuleTest extends AbstractTestCase {
 
     }
 
+    /**
+     * tests parsing rating without scheme (https://github.com/rometools/rome-modules/issues/12).
+     *
+     * @throws IOException if file not found or not accessible
+     * @throws FeedException when the feed can't be parsed
+     *
+     */
+    public void testParseRatingWithoutScheme() throws FeedException, IOException {
+
+        final SyndFeed feed = getSyndFeed("org/rometools/feed/module/mediarss/issue-12.xml");
+        final SyndEntry entry = feed.getEntries().get(0);
+        final MediaEntryModule module = (MediaEntryModule) entry.getModule(MediaEntryModule.URI);
+        final Rating[] ratings = module.getMetadata().getRatings();
+
+        assertThat(ratings, is(notNullValue()));
+
+    }
+
     /**
      * test url with whitespace in media element
      * (https://github.com/rometools/rome-modules/issues/20).
diff --git a/src/test/resources/org/rometools/feed/module/mediarss/issue-12.xml b/src/test/resources/org/rometools/feed/module/mediarss/issue-12.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..274cca5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/org/rometools/feed/module/mediarss/issue-12.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<rss version="2.0" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/">
+    <channel>
+        <item>
+            <media:rating>adult</media:rating>
+        </item>
+    </channel>
+</rss>
\ No newline at end of file