* Make sure that StringConverter.update sets the type to object if it can't define it.

1 files changed, 7 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/numpy/lib/_iotools.py b/numpy/lib/_iotools.py
index 595c01d29..644d83d1c 100644
--- a/numpy/lib/_iotools.py
+++ b/numpy/lib/_iotools.py
@@ -468,6 +468,11 @@ class StringConverter:
                 for val in missing_values:
                     self.missing_values.add(val)
         else:
-            self.missing_values = []        # Update the type
-        self.type = self._getsubdtype(func('0'))
+            self.missing_values = []
+        # Update the type
+        try:
+            tester = func('0')
+        except ValueError:
+            tester = None
+        self.type = self._getsubdtype(tester)