diff --git a/docs/source/io_formats/statepoint.rst b/docs/source/io_formats/statepoint.rst
index 82d20a76302..fd00a3e7735 100644
--- a/docs/source/io_formats/statepoint.rst
+++ b/docs/source/io_formats/statepoint.rst
@@ -73,9 +73,9 @@ The current version of the statepoint file format is 18.1.
 **/tallies/meshes/mesh <uid>/**
 
 :Attributes: - **id** (*int*) -- ID of the mesh
-             - **type** (*char[]*) -- Type of mesh.
 
 :Datasets: - **name** (*char[]*) -- Name of the mesh.
+           - **type** (*char[]*) -- Type of mesh.
            - **dimension** (*int*) -- Number of mesh cells in each dimension.
            - **Regular Mesh Only:**
               - **lower_left** (*double[]*) -- Coordinates of lower-left corner of
diff --git a/openmc/mesh.py b/openmc/mesh.py
index 0b6f6b84e4b..e4d83d81d3d 100644
--- a/openmc/mesh.py
+++ b/openmc/mesh.py
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ def from_hdf5(cls, group: h5py.Group):
             Instance of a MeshBase subclass
 
         """
-        mesh_type = 'regular' if 'type' not in group.attrs else group.attrs['type'].decode()
+        mesh_type = 'regular' if 'type' not in group.keys() else group['type'][()].decode()
         mesh_id = int(group.name.split('/')[-1].lstrip('mesh '))
         mesh_name = '' if not 'name' in group else group['name'][()].decode()
 
diff --git a/src/mesh.cpp b/src/mesh.cpp
index 4b1878c5a2c..97bf710caa6 100644
--- a/src/mesh.cpp
+++ b/src/mesh.cpp
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ void Mesh::to_hdf5(hid_t group) const
   hid_t mesh_group = create_group(group, group_name.c_str());
 
   // Write mesh type
-  write_attribute(mesh_group, "type", this->get_mesh_type());
+  write_dataset(mesh_group, "type", this->get_mesh_type());
 
   // Write mesh ID
   write_attribute(mesh_group, "id", id_);
@@ -308,7 +308,6 @@ Position StructuredMesh::sample_element(
 
 UnstructuredMesh::UnstructuredMesh(pugi::xml_node node) : Mesh(node)
 {
-
   // check the mesh type
   if (check_for_node(node, "type")) {
     auto temp = get_node_value(node, "type", true, true);
@@ -970,7 +969,6 @@ std::pair<vector<double>, vector<double>> RegularMesh::plot(
 
 void RegularMesh::to_hdf5_inner(hid_t mesh_group) const
 {
-  write_dataset(mesh_group, "type", "regular");
   write_dataset(mesh_group, "dimension", get_x_shape());
   write_dataset(mesh_group, "lower_left", lower_left_);
   write_dataset(mesh_group, "upper_right", upper_right_);
@@ -1156,7 +1154,6 @@ std::pair<vector<double>, vector<double>> RectilinearMesh::plot(
 
 void RectilinearMesh::to_hdf5_inner(hid_t mesh_group) const
 {
-  write_dataset(mesh_group, "type", "rectilinear");
   write_dataset(mesh_group, "x_grid", grid_[0]);
   write_dataset(mesh_group, "y_grid", grid_[1]);
   write_dataset(mesh_group, "z_grid", grid_[2]);
@@ -1431,7 +1428,6 @@ std::pair<vector<double>, vector<double>> CylindricalMesh::plot(
 
 void CylindricalMesh::to_hdf5_inner(hid_t mesh_group) const
 {
-  write_dataset(mesh_group, "type", "cylindrical");
   write_dataset(mesh_group, "r_grid", grid_[0]);
   write_dataset(mesh_group, "phi_grid", grid_[1]);
   write_dataset(mesh_group, "z_grid", grid_[2]);
@@ -1743,7 +1739,6 @@ std::pair<vector<double>, vector<double>> SphericalMesh::plot(
 
 void SphericalMesh::to_hdf5_inner(hid_t mesh_group) const
 {
-  write_dataset(mesh_group, "type", SphericalMesh::mesh_type);
   write_dataset(mesh_group, "r_grid", grid_[0]);
   write_dataset(mesh_group, "theta_grid", grid_[1]);
   write_dataset(mesh_group, "phi_grid", grid_[2]);