diff --git a/src/DiskArrayTools.jl b/src/DiskArrayTools.jl
index 3eeec19..ff812d2 100644
--- a/src/DiskArrayTools.jl
+++ b/src/DiskArrayTools.jl
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ function CFDiskArray(a::AbstractArray{T}, attr::Dict) where T
   S,mv = if mv === nothing
     T_pure,mv
   else
-    Union{T_pure,Missing},convert(T_pure,mv)
+    Union{T_pure,Missing},mv
   end
   CFDiskArray{S,ndims(a),typeof(mv),typeof(a),typeof(offs)}(a, mv, offs, sc)
 end
diff --git a/test/cfdiskarray.jl b/test/cfdiskarray.jl
index 2f013a4..d8870d3 100644
--- a/test/cfdiskarray.jl
+++ b/test/cfdiskarray.jl
@@ -70,6 +70,12 @@ b = CFDiskArray([1.0f0, 2.0f0],
         "scale_factor" => 1.0))
 @test eltype(b) == Float32
 
+b = CFDiskArray([10, -9999],
+    Dict("scale_factor" => Float16(0.1),
+        "missing_value" => -9999))
+@test eltype(b) == Union{Missing, Float16}
+@test ismissing(b[2])
+
 # CF conventions prescribe a "_FillValue field"
 b = CFDiskArray([1.0f0, 2.0f0],
                 Dict("_FillValue" => NaN32))