diff --git a/src/main/java/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/n5/DataType.java b/src/main/java/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/n5/DataType.java
index 0df4f283..a6d60cb8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/n5/DataType.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/n5/DataType.java
@@ -102,9 +102,9 @@ public enum DataType {
 					blockSize,
 					gridPosition,
 					new double[numElements])),
-	VLENSTRING(
-			"String(-1)",
-			(blockSize, gridPosition, numElements) -> new VLenStringDataBlock(
+	STRING(
+			"string",
+			(blockSize, gridPosition, numElements) -> new StringDataBlock(
 					blockSize,
 					gridPosition,
 					new byte[numElements])),
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/n5/VLenStringDataBlock.java b/src/main/java/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/n5/StringDataBlock.java
similarity index 90%
rename from src/main/java/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/n5/VLenStringDataBlock.java
rename to src/main/java/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/n5/StringDataBlock.java
index deebe65f..081734ab 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/n5/VLenStringDataBlock.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/n5/StringDataBlock.java
@@ -25,24 +25,23 @@
  */
 package org.janelia.saalfeldlab.n5;
 
-import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 
-public class VLenStringDataBlock extends AbstractDataBlock<String[]> {
+public class StringDataBlock extends AbstractDataBlock<String[]> {
 
     protected static final Charset ENCODING = StandardCharsets.UTF_8;
     protected static final String NULLCHAR = "\0";
     protected byte[] serializedData = null;
     protected String[] actualData = null;
 
-    public VLenStringDataBlock(final int[] size, final long[] gridPosition, final String[] data) {
+    public StringDataBlock(final int[] size, final long[] gridPosition, final String[] data) {
         super(size, gridPosition, new String[0]);
         actualData = data;
     }
 
-    public VLenStringDataBlock(final int[] size, final long[] gridPosition, final byte[] data) {
+    public StringDataBlock(final int[] size, final long[] gridPosition, final byte[] data) {
         super(size, gridPosition, new String[0]);
         serializedData = data;
     }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/n5/AbstractN5Test.java b/src/test/java/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/n5/AbstractN5Test.java
index b1c171e9..db3b9a07 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/n5/AbstractN5Test.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/janelia/saalfeldlab/n5/AbstractN5Test.java
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ public void testWriteReadByteBlock() throws URISyntaxException {
 	public void testWriteReadStringBlock() throws URISyntaxException {
 
 		// test dataset; all characters are valid UTF8 but may have different numbers of bytes!
-		final DataType dataType = DataType.VLENSTRING;
+		final DataType dataType = DataType.STRING;
 		final int[] blockSize = new int[]{3, 2, 1};
 		final String[] stringBlock = new String[]{"", "a", "bc", "de", "fgh", ":-þ"};
 
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ public void testWriteReadStringBlock() throws URISyntaxException {
 			try (final N5Writer n5 = createN5Writer()) {
 				n5.createDataset(datasetName, dimensions, blockSize, dataType, compression);
 				final DatasetAttributes attributes = n5.getDatasetAttributes(datasetName);
-				final VLenStringDataBlock dataBlock = new VLenStringDataBlock(blockSize, new long[]{0L, 0L, 0L}, stringBlock);
+				final StringDataBlock dataBlock = new StringDataBlock(blockSize, new long[]{0L, 0L, 0L}, stringBlock);
 				n5.writeBlock(datasetName, attributes, dataBlock);
 
 				final DataBlock<?> loadedDataBlock = n5.readBlock(datasetName, attributes, 0L, 0L, 0L);