diff --git a/scripts/python/packages/parthenon_tools/parthenon_tools/phdf.py b/scripts/python/packages/parthenon_tools/parthenon_tools/phdf.py
index a29d2408e230..39f87957c0c1 100644
--- a/scripts/python/packages/parthenon_tools/parthenon_tools/phdf.py
+++ b/scripts/python/packages/parthenon_tools/parthenon_tools/phdf.py
@@ -180,14 +180,6 @@ def __init__(self, filename):
         else:
             self.Params = None
 
-        # If strings are converted to numpy arrays of ASCII values, convert back to
-        # strings
-        for key in self.Params.keys():
-            val = self.Params[key]
-            if type(val) is type(np.zeros(0)):
-                val_str = "".join([chr(c) for c in val])
-                self.Params[key] = val_str
-
         # Read in coordinates
         def load_coord(coord_i):
             coord_name = ["x", "y", "z"][coord_i]
diff --git a/src/outputs/parthenon_hdf5.cpp b/src/outputs/parthenon_hdf5.cpp
index 95b89b93b627..35942418092f 100644
--- a/src/outputs/parthenon_hdf5.cpp
+++ b/src/outputs/parthenon_hdf5.cpp
@@ -820,7 +820,8 @@ HDF5GetAttributeInfo(hid_t location, const std::string &name, H5A &attr) {
 // template specializations for std::string and bool
 void HDF5WriteAttribute(const std::string &name, const std::string &value,
                         hid_t location) {
-  HDF5WriteAttribute(name, value.size(), value.c_str(), location);
+  //HDF5WriteAttribute(name, value.size(), value.c_str(), location);
+  HDF5WriteAttribute(name, value.c_str(), location);
 }
 
 template <>