diff --git a/src/pyinterp/geohash/index.py b/src/pyinterp/geohash/index.py
index 35526274..0c18b1f0 100644
--- a/src/pyinterp/geohash/index.py
+++ b/src/pyinterp/geohash/index.py
@@ -68,7 +68,10 @@ def get_properties(store) -> Dict[str, Any]:
             dict: Index properties (number of character used to encode a
             position)
         """
-        return json.loads(store[b'.properties'])
+        precision = store[b'.properties']
+        if isinstance(precision, list):
+            precision = precision[0]
+        return json.loads(precision)
 
     def encode(self,
                lon: numpy.ndarray,