diff --git a/src/lasso/dyna/binout.py b/src/lasso/dyna/binout.py
index 02a6300..60ab561 100644
--- a/src/lasso/dyna/binout.py
+++ b/src/lasso/dyna/binout.py
@@ -338,11 +338,16 @@ def _get_variable(self, path):
                 if time_symbol:
                     time += time_symbol.read()
 
+        try:
+            data_array = np.array(data)
+        except ValueError:
+            data_array = np.array(data, dtype=object)
+
         # return sorted by time
         if len(time) == len(data):
-            return np.array(data)[np.argsort(time)]
+            return data_array[np.argsort(time)]
 
-        return np.array(data)
+        return data_array
 
     def _collect_variables(self, symbol):
         """Collect all variables from a symbol