diff --git a/pysm3/models/template.py b/pysm3/models/template.py
index 1f2423b1..fabc8d15 100644
--- a/pysm3/models/template.py
+++ b/pysm3/models/template.py
@@ -65,7 +65,12 @@ def read_map(self, path, unit=None, field=0, nside=None):
         if "{nside}" in path:
             path = path.format(nside=max(2048, nside))
         return read_map(
-            path, nside=nside, unit=unit, field=field, map_dist=self.map_dist
+            path,
+            nside=nside,
+            unit=unit,
+            field=field,
+            map_dist=self.map_dist,
+            dtype=np.float64,
         )
 
     def read_txt(self, path, **kwargs):