diff --git a/gnu/packages/statistics.scm b/gnu/packages/statistics.scm
index 9fb3604831..ba0148b452 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/statistics.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/statistics.scm
@@ -3013,16 +3013,16 @@ (define-public r-snow
 (define-public r-sparsem
   (package
     (name "r-sparsem")
-    (version "1.77")
+    (version "1.78")
     (source (origin
               (method url-fetch)
               (uri (cran-uri "SparseM" version))
               (sha256
                (base32
-                "0p6ljma2h12cq1xmy0cxb48ih8dhxxbnwkqzvx3cckxf2kprycm9"))))
+                "0cmlm0lps3daalvp5jzjnjfys388hgkyc8yw0g5r2351h749xdyn"))))
     (properties
      `((upstream-name . "SparseM")))
-    (inputs
+    (native-inputs
      `(("gfortran" ,gfortran)))
     (build-system r-build-system)
     (home-page "http://www.econ.uiuc.edu/~roger/research/sparse/sparse.html")