The master sintering curve approach represents densification data in terms of a master variable that combines sintering time and temperature. Recently, a finite-element scheme to predict sintering deformation that requires only the master sintering curve instead of a full constitutive law as the input data has been developed. Here, a modification to the original master sintering curve approach, so that it is more suitable for finite-element analysis, is presented. Finite-element shape functions are used to represent the densification data as well as the master sintering curve. This approach confers extra flexibility to the master sintering curve approach, even when it is not used with finite-element analysis. For example, by using shape functions, a varying activation energy can be used to obtain a master sintering curve for a set of densification data that cannot be fitted using a constant activation energy.