diff --git a/src/IO/ADIOS/ADIOS2IOHandler.cpp b/src/IO/ADIOS/ADIOS2IOHandler.cpp
index d97769d19b..9fdc983acd 100644
--- a/src/IO/ADIOS/ADIOS2IOHandler.cpp
+++ b/src/IO/ADIOS/ADIOS2IOHandler.cpp
@@ -849,10 +849,13 @@ namespace detail
                     variable + "'.");
             }
             adios2::Dims dims;
-            dims.reserve(newShape.size());
-            for (auto ext : newShape)
+            dims.assign(newShape.begin(), newShape.end());
+            // keep the joined dim intact
+            auto joined_dim = joinedDimension(var.Shape());
+            if (joined_dim.has_value())
             {
-                dims.push_back(ext);
+                auto idx = joined_dim.value();
+                dims[idx] = var.Shape()[idx];
             }
             var.SetShape(dims);
         }
@@ -2032,7 +2035,18 @@ namespace detail
         }
         else
         {
-            var.SetShape(shape);
+            // keep the joined dim intact
+            auto joined_dim = joinedDimension(var.Shape());
+            if (joined_dim.has_value())
+            {
+                adios2::Dims cc;
+                cc.assign(shape.begin(), shape.end());
+                cc[joined_dim.value()] = var.Shape()[joined_dim.value()];
+                var.SetShape(cc);
+            }
+            else
+                var.SetShape(shape);
+
             if (count.size() > 0)
             {
                 var.SetSelection({start, count});