diff --git a/src/hdmf/validate/validator.py b/src/hdmf/validate/validator.py
index a6198ef8e..2c34cda1b 100644
--- a/src/hdmf/validate/validator.py
+++ b/src/hdmf/validate/validator.py
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ def get_type(data, builder_dtype=None):
             if data.dtype.metadata is not None and data.dtype.metadata.get('vlen') is not None:
                 # Try to determine dtype from the first array element
                 if len(data) > 0:
-                    return get_type(data[0])
+                    return get_type(data[0], builder_dtype)
                 # Empty array
                 else:
                     # Empty string array