diff --git a/petastorm/arrow_reader_worker.py b/petastorm/arrow_reader_worker.py
index 6f3ae3e3..2b602d99 100644
--- a/petastorm/arrow_reader_worker.py
+++ b/petastorm/arrow_reader_worker.py
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ def read_next(self, workers_pool, schema, ngram):
                     column_as_numpy = column_as_pandas
 
                 if pa.types.is_string(column.type):
-                    result_dict[column_name] = column_as_numpy.astype(np.unicode_)
+                    result_dict[column_name] = column_as_numpy.astype(np.object)
                 elif pa.types.is_list(column.type) or pa.types.is_fixed_size_list(column.type):
                     # Assuming all lists are of the same length, hence we can collate them into a matrix
                     list_of_lists = column_as_numpy
diff --git a/petastorm/tests/test_parquet_reader.py b/petastorm/tests/test_parquet_reader.py
index a9afd7ef..203a8316 100644
--- a/petastorm/tests/test_parquet_reader.py
+++ b/petastorm/tests/test_parquet_reader.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 import numpy as np
 import pandas as pd
+import pyarrow as pa
 import pytest
 from pyarrow import parquet as pq
 
@@ -223,6 +224,38 @@ def fill_id_with_nones(x):
         assert sample.id.dtype.type == null_column_dtype
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('np_dtype, pa_dtype, null_value',
+                         ((np.float32, pa.float32(), np.nan), (np.object, pa.string(), None)))
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('reader_factory', _D)
+def test_entire_column_of_typed_nulls(reader_factory, np_dtype, pa_dtype, null_value, tmp_path):
+    path = tmp_path / "dataset"
+    schema = pa.schema([pa.field('all_nulls', pa_dtype)])
+    pq.write_table(pa.Table.from_pydict({"all_nulls": [null_value] * 10}, schema=schema), path)
+
+    with reader_factory("file:///" + str(path)) as reader:
+        sample = next(reader)
+        assert sample.all_nulls.dtype == np_dtype
+        if np_dtype == np.float32:
+            assert np.all(np.isnan(sample.all_nulls))
+        elif np_dtype == np.object:
+            assert all(v is None for v in sample.all_nulls)
+        else:
+            assert False, "Unexpected np_dtype"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('reader_factory', _D)
+def test_column_with_list_of_strings_some_are_null(reader_factory, tmp_path):
+    path = tmp_path / "dataset"
+    schema = pa.schema([pa.field('some_nulls', pa.list_(pa.string(), -1))])
+    pq.write_table(pa.Table.from_pydict({"some_nulls": [['a0', 'a1'], ['b0', None], [None, None]]}, schema=schema),
+                   path)
+
+    with reader_factory("file:///" + str(path)) as reader:
+        sample = next(reader)
+        assert sample.some_nulls.dtype == np.object
+        np.testing.assert_equal(sample.some_nulls, [['a0', 'a1'], ['b0', None], [None, None]])
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('reader_factory', _D)
 def test_transform_spec_returns_all_none_values_in_a_list_field(scalar_dataset, reader_factory):
     def fill_id_with_nones(x):