diff --git a/clouddrift/adapters/gdp/__init__.py b/clouddrift/adapters/gdp/__init__.py
index e692aea3..6cd38b6c 100644
--- a/clouddrift/adapters/gdp/__init__.py
+++ b/clouddrift/adapters/gdp/__init__.py
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ def str_to_float(value: str, default: float = np.nan) -> float:
         return default
 
 
-def cut_str(value: str, max_length: int) -> np.chararray:
+def cut_str(value: str, max_length: int) -> np.char.chararray:
     """Cut a string to a specific length and return it as a numpy chararray.
 
     Parameters
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ def cut_str(value: str, max_length: int) -> np.chararray:
     out : np.chararray
         String with max_length characters
     """
-    charar = np.chararray(1, max_length)
+    charar = np.char.chararray(1, max_length)
     charar[:max_length] = value
     return charar