diff --git a/src/cdi_key.c b/src/cdi_key.c
index c5ce9a0fa7b50526c5a0947aefd36d6870db77df..db6e143d862744bccfb6d0c76b8fccfefb068598 100644
--- a/src/cdi_key.c
+++ b/src/cdi_key.c
@@ -400,7 +400,7 @@ cdiDefVarKeyFloat(cdi_keys_t *keysp, int key, double value)
     {
       // if ( keyp->v.i != value )
       {
-        keyp->type = KEY_INT;
+        keyp->type = KEY_FLOAT;
         keyp->v.d = value;
       }
     }