diff --git a/R/read_npy.R b/R/read_npy.R
index 0262218..9b3fbe4 100644
--- a/R/read_npy.R
+++ b/R/read_npy.R
@@ -230,52 +230,14 @@ convert_bytes_to_array <- function(bytes, what, shape, size, endian) {
       (seq_along(bytes) - 1L) %/% size * size
     bytes <- bytes[ind]
   }
-  res <- switch(
+  res <- .Call(
+    C_type_convert,
+    bytes,
     what,
-    float = .Call(
-      C_type_convert_float,
-      bytes,
-      size,
-      shape,
-      PACKAGE = "grumpy"
-    ),
-    int = .Call(
-      C_type_convert_int,
-      bytes,
-      size,
-      shape,
-      PACKAGE = "grumpy"
-    ),
-    uint = .Call(
-      C_type_convert_uint,
-      bytes,
-      size,
-      shape,
-      PACKAGE = "grumpy"
-    ),
-    bool = .Call(
-      C_type_convert_bool,
-      bytes,
-      size,
-      shape,
-      PACKAGE = "grumpy"
-    ),
-    string = .Call(
-      C_type_convert_string,
-      bytes,
-      size,
-      shape,
-      PACKAGE = "grumpy"
-    ),
-    unicode = .Call(
-      C_type_convert_unicode,
-      bytes,
-      size,
-      shape,
-      endian,
-      PACKAGE = "grumpy"
-    ),
-    stop("Unsupported data type: ", what, call. = FALSE)
+    size,
+    shape,
+    endian,
+    PACKAGE = "grumpy"
   )
 
   return(res)
diff --git a/src/grumpy.c b/src/grumpy.c
index c1854af..d602205 100644
--- a/src/grumpy.c
+++ b/src/grumpy.c
@@ -2,12 +2,7 @@
 #include "type_conversion.h"
 
 static const R_CallMethodDef callMethods[] = {
-  {"type_convert_int", (DL_FUNC) &type_convert_int, 3},
-  {"type_convert_uint", (DL_FUNC) &type_convert_uint, 3},
-  {"type_convert_float", (DL_FUNC) &type_convert_float, 3},
-  {"type_convert_bool", (DL_FUNC) &type_convert_bool, 3},
-  {"type_convert_string", (DL_FUNC) &type_convert_string, 3},
-  {"type_convert_unicode", (DL_FUNC) &type_convert_unicode, 4},
+  {"type_convert", (DL_FUNC) &type_convert, 5},
   {NULL, NULL, 0}
 };
 
diff --git a/src/type_conversion.c b/src/type_conversion.c
index a8901a5..8b7fc9e 100644
--- a/src/type_conversion.c
+++ b/src/type_conversion.c
@@ -1,7 +1,36 @@
 #include "type_conversion.h"
 #include <R_ext/Riconv.h>
 
-SEXP type_convert_int(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims) {
+
+SEXP type_convert(SEXP input, SEXP what, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims, SEXP _endian) {
+  const char *type = CHAR(STRING_ELT(what, 0));
+  SEXP result;
+
+  if (strcmp(type, "float") == 0)
+    result = type_convert_float(input, _n_bytes);
+  else if (strcmp(type, "int") == 0)
+    result = type_convert_int(input, _n_bytes);
+  else if (strcmp(type, "uint") == 0)
+    result = type_convert_uint(input, _n_bytes);
+  else if (strcmp(type, "bool") == 0)
+    result = type_convert_bool(input, _n_bytes);
+  else if (strcmp(type, "string") == 0)
+    result = type_convert_string(input, _n_bytes);
+  else if (strcmp(type, "unicode") == 0)
+    result = type_convert_unicode(input, _n_bytes, _endian);
+  else
+    error("Unsupported data type: %s", type);
+
+  PROTECT(result);
+  if (!isNull(dims) && xlength(dims) > 0) {
+    Rf_dimgets(result, dims);
+  }
+  UNPROTECT(1);
+
+  return result;
+}
+
+SEXP type_convert_int(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes) {
 
   const int n_bytes = INTEGER(_n_bytes)[0];
   const R_xlen_t length = xlength(input);
@@ -35,16 +64,11 @@ SEXP type_convert_int(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims) {
     }
   }
 
-  /* Set dim attribute if dims is not NULL / NA */
-  if (!isNull(dims) && xlength(dims) > 0) {
-    Rf_dimgets(data, dims);
-  }
-
   UNPROTECT(1);
   return(data);
 }
 
-SEXP type_convert_uint(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims) {
+SEXP type_convert_uint(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes) {
 
   const int n_bytes = INTEGER(_n_bytes)[0];
   const R_xlen_t length = xlength(input);
@@ -78,16 +102,11 @@ SEXP type_convert_uint(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims) {
     }
   }
 
-  /* Set dim attribute if dims is not NULL / NA */
-  if (!isNull(dims) && xlength(dims) > 0) {
-    Rf_dimgets(data, dims);
-  }
-
   UNPROTECT(1);
   return(data);
 }
 
-SEXP type_convert_float(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims){
+SEXP type_convert_float(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes) {
 
   const int n_bytes = INTEGER(_n_bytes)[0];
   const R_xlen_t length = xlength(input);
@@ -121,16 +140,11 @@ SEXP type_convert_float(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims){
     error("%d byte floating point values are not currently supported\n", n_bytes);
   }
 
-  /* Set dim attribute if dims is not NULL / NA */
-  if (!isNull(dims) && xlength(dims) > 0) {
-    Rf_dimgets(data, dims);
-  }
-
   UNPROTECT(1);
   return(data);
 }
 
-SEXP type_convert_bool(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims) {
+SEXP type_convert_bool(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes) {
 
   const R_xlen_t length = xlength(input);
   const void* raw_buffer = RAW(input);
@@ -148,16 +162,11 @@ SEXP type_convert_bool(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims) {
     p_data[i] = ((const int8_t *)raw_buffer)[i];
   }
 
-  /* Set dim attribute if dims is not NULL / NA */
-  if (!isNull(dims) && xlength(dims) > 0) {
-    Rf_dimgets(data, dims);
-  }
-
   UNPROTECT(1);
   return(data);
 }
 
-SEXP type_convert_string(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims) {
+SEXP type_convert_string(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes) {
 
   const int n_bytes = INTEGER(_n_bytes)[0];
   const R_xlen_t length = xlength(input);
@@ -191,16 +200,11 @@ SEXP type_convert_string(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims) {
       SET_STRING_ELT(data, i, mkCharCE(field, CE_BYTES));
   }
 
-  /* Set dim attribute if dims is not NULL / NA */
-  if (!isNull(dims) && xlength(dims) > 0) {
-    Rf_dimgets(data, dims);
-  }
-
   UNPROTECT(1);
   return(data);
 }
 
-SEXP type_convert_unicode(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims, SEXP _endian) {
+SEXP type_convert_unicode(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP _endian) {
 
   // n_bytes is the total bytes per string element (num_codepoints * 4).
   // Bytes are passed as-is from the file; we select UTF-32LE or UTF-32BE
@@ -259,11 +263,6 @@ SEXP type_convert_unicode(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims, SEXP _endian) {
   }
   Riconv_close(cd);
 
-  /* Set dim attribute if dims is not NULL / NA */
-  if (!isNull(dims) && xlength(dims) > 0) {
-    Rf_dimgets(data, dims);
-  }
-
   UNPROTECT(1);
   return(data);
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/type_conversion.h b/src/type_conversion.h
index 98ce97f..882ed6d 100644
--- a/src/type_conversion.h
+++ b/src/type_conversion.h
@@ -3,9 +3,10 @@
 #include "bit64_conversion.h"
 #include "float16_conversion.h"
 
-SEXP type_convert_int(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims);
-SEXP type_convert_uint(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims);
-SEXP type_convert_float(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims);
-SEXP type_convert_bool(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims);
-SEXP type_convert_string(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims);
-SEXP type_convert_unicode(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims, SEXP _endian);
+SEXP type_convert(SEXP input, SEXP what, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP dims, SEXP _endian);
+SEXP type_convert_int(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes);
+SEXP type_convert_uint(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes);
+SEXP type_convert_float(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes);
+SEXP type_convert_bool(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes);
+SEXP type_convert_string(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes);
+SEXP type_convert_unicode(SEXP input, SEXP _n_bytes, SEXP _endian);