diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4a2f7d80d..8f8171520 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 - Improved "already exists" error message when adding a container to a `MultiContainerInterface`. @rly [#1165](https://github.com/hdmf-dev/hdmf/pull/1165)
 
 ### Bug fixes
-- Fixed bug when converting string datasets from Zarr to HDF5. @oruebel [#1171](https://github.com/hdmf-dev/hdmf/pull/1171)
+- Fixed bug when converting string datasets from Zarr to HDF5. @oruebel @rly [#1171](https://github.com/hdmf-dev/hdmf/pull/1171)
 
 ## HDMF 3.14.3 (July 29, 2024)
 
diff --git a/src/hdmf/backends/hdf5/h5tools.py b/src/hdmf/backends/hdf5/h5tools.py
index 9b06e80f1..585ee4536 100644
--- a/src/hdmf/backends/hdf5/h5tools.py
+++ b/src/hdmf/backends/hdf5/h5tools.py
@@ -22,6 +22,13 @@
 from ...utils import docval, getargs, popargs, get_data_shape, get_docval, StrDataset
 from ..utils import NamespaceToBuilderHelper, WriteStatusTracker
 
+# try:
+#     from zarr import Array as ZarrArray
+#     import numcodecs
+#     ZARR_INSTALLED = True
+# except ImportError:
+#     ZARR_INSTALLED = False
+
 ROOT_NAME = 'root'
 SPEC_LOC_ATTR = '.specloc'
 H5_TEXT = special_dtype(vlen=str)
@@ -34,6 +41,10 @@
 H5PY_3 = h5py.__version__.startswith('3')
 
 
+# def _is_zarr_array(value):
+#     return ZARR_INSTALLED and isinstance(value, ZarrArray)
+
+
 class HDF5IO(HDMFIO):
 
     __ns_spec_path = 'namespace'  # path to the namespace dataset within a namespace group
@@ -924,10 +935,13 @@ def __resolve_dtype__(cls, dtype, data):
         # binary
         # number
 
-        # Use text dtype for Zarr datasets of strings. Zarr stores variable length strings
-        # as objects, so we need to detect this special case here
-        if hasattr(data, 'attrs') and 'zarr_dtype' in data.attrs and data.attrs['zarr_dtype'] == 'str':
-            return cls.__dtypes['text']
+        # # Use text dtype for Zarr datasets of strings. Zarr stores variable length strings
+        # # as objects, so we need to detect this special case here
+        # if _is_zarr_array(data) and data.filters:
+        #     if numcodecs.VLenUTF8() in data.filters:
+        #         return cls.__dtypes['text']
+        #     elif numcodecs.VLenBytes() in data.filters:
+        #         return cls.__dtypes['ascii']
 
         dtype = cls.__resolve_dtype_helper__(dtype)
         if dtype is None:
diff --git a/src/hdmf/build/objectmapper.py b/src/hdmf/build/objectmapper.py
index 58dcf19f6..02bfdae49 100644
--- a/src/hdmf/build/objectmapper.py
+++ b/src/hdmf/build/objectmapper.py
@@ -20,6 +20,16 @@
 from ..spec.spec import BaseStorageSpec
 from ..utils import docval, getargs, ExtenderMeta, get_docval, get_data_shape
 
+try:
+    from zarr import Array as ZarrArray
+    ZARR_INSTALLED = True
+except ImportError:
+    ZARR_INSTALLED = False
+
+
+def _is_zarr_array(value):
+    return ZARR_INSTALLED and isinstance(value, ZarrArray)
+
 _const_arg = '__constructor_arg'
 
 
@@ -206,17 +216,19 @@ def convert_dtype(cls, spec, value, spec_dtype=None):  # noqa: C901
         spec_dtype_type = cls.__dtypes[spec_dtype]
         warning_msg = None
         # Numpy Array or Zarr array
-        if (isinstance(value, np.ndarray) or
-                (hasattr(value, 'astype') and hasattr(value, 'dtype'))):
+        # NOTE: Numpy < 2.0 has only fixed-length strings.
+        # Numpy 2.0 introduces variable-length strings (dtype=np.dtypes.StringDType()).
+        # HDMF does not yet do any special handling of numpy arrays with variable-length strings.
+        if isinstance(value, np.ndarray) or _is_zarr_array(value):
             if spec_dtype_type is _unicode:
-                if hasattr(value, 'attrs') and 'zarr_dtype' in value.attrs:
+                if _is_zarr_array(value):
                     # Zarr stores strings as objects, so we cannot convert to unicode dtype
                     ret = value
                 else:
                     ret = value.astype('U')
                 ret_dtype = "utf8"
             elif spec_dtype_type is _ascii:
-                if hasattr(value, 'attrs') and 'zarr_dtype' in value.attrs:
+                if _is_zarr_array(value):
                     # Zarr stores strings as objects, so we cannot convert to unicode dtype
                     ret = value
                 else:
diff --git a/tests/unit/build_tests/test_convert_dtype.py b/tests/unit/build_tests/test_convert_dtype.py
index 8f9e49239..331c42589 100644
--- a/tests/unit/build_tests/test_convert_dtype.py
+++ b/tests/unit/build_tests/test_convert_dtype.py
@@ -1,12 +1,20 @@
 from datetime import datetime, date
-
 import numpy as np
+import unittest
+
 from hdmf.backends.hdf5 import H5DataIO
 from hdmf.build import ObjectMapper
 from hdmf.data_utils import DataChunkIterator
 from hdmf.spec import DatasetSpec, RefSpec, DtypeSpec
 from hdmf.testing import TestCase
 
+try:
+    import zarr
+    import numcodecs
+    SKIP_ZARR_TESTS = False
+except ImportError:
+    SKIP_ZARR_TESTS = True
+
 
 class TestConvertDtype(TestCase):
 
@@ -551,3 +559,43 @@ def test_isodate_spec(self):
         self.assertEqual(ret, b'2020-11-10')
         self.assertIs(type(ret), bytes)
         self.assertEqual(ret_dtype, 'ascii')
+
+    @unittest.skipIf(SKIP_ZARR_TESTS, "Zarr is not installed")
+    def test_zarr_array_spec_vlen_utf8(self):
+        """Test that converting a zarr array with utf8 dtype for a variable length utf8 dtype spec
+        returns the same object with a utf8 ret_dtype."""
+        spec = DatasetSpec('an example dataset', 'text', name='data')
+
+        value = zarr.array(['a', 'b'])  # fixed length unicode (dtype = <U1)
+        ret, ret_dtype = ObjectMapper.convert_dtype(spec, value)
+        self.assertEqual(ret, value)
+        self.assertIs(type(ret), zarr.Array)
+        self.assertIs(ret.dtype.type, np.str_)
+        self.assertEqual(ret_dtype, 'utf8')
+
+        value = zarr.array(['a', 'b'], dtype=object, object_codec=numcodecs.VLenUTF8())  # variable length unicode
+        ret, ret_dtype = ObjectMapper.convert_dtype(spec, value)
+        self.assertEqual(ret, value)
+        self.assertIs(type(ret), zarr.Array)
+        self.assertIs(ret.dtype.type, np.object_)
+        self.assertEqual(ret_dtype, 'utf8')
+
+    @unittest.skipIf(SKIP_ZARR_TESTS, "Zarr is not installed")
+    def test_zarr_array_spec_vlen_ascii(self):
+        """Test that converting a zarr array with fixed length utf8 dtype for a variable length ascii dtype spec
+        returns the same object with a ascii ret_dtype."""
+        spec = DatasetSpec('an example dataset', 'ascii', name='data')
+
+        value = zarr.array(['a', 'b'])  # fixed length unicode (dtype = <U1)
+        ret, ret_dtype = ObjectMapper.convert_dtype(spec, value)
+        self.assertEqual(ret, value)
+        self.assertIs(type(ret), zarr.Array)
+        self.assertIs(ret.dtype.type, np.str_)  # the zarr array is not converted
+        self.assertEqual(ret_dtype, 'ascii')  # the dtype of the builder will be ascii
+
+        value = zarr.array(['a', 'b'], dtype=object, object_codec=numcodecs.VLenUTF8())  # variable length unicode
+        ret, ret_dtype = ObjectMapper.convert_dtype(spec, value)
+        self.assertEqual(ret, value)
+        self.assertIs(type(ret), zarr.Array)
+        self.assertIs(ret.dtype.type, np.object_)  # the zarr array is not converted
+        self.assertEqual(ret_dtype, 'ascii')  # the dtype of the builder will be ascii
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_io_hdf5_h5tools.py b/tests/unit/test_io_hdf5_h5tools.py
index 5a4fd5a32..657e18ee4 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_io_hdf5_h5tools.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_io_hdf5_h5tools.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 
 try:
     import zarr
+    import numcodecs
     SKIP_ZARR_TESTS = False
 except ImportError:
     SKIP_ZARR_TESTS = True
@@ -3538,16 +3539,121 @@ def test_write_zarr_float32_dataset(self):
         self.assertListEqual(dset[:].tolist(),
                              base_data.tolist())
 
-    def test_write_zarr_string_dataset(self):
+    def test_write_zarr_flen_utf8_dataset(self):
+        # fixed length unicode zarr array
         base_data = np.array(['string1', 'string2'], dtype=str)
         zarr.save(self.zarr_path, base_data)
         zarr_data = zarr.open(self.zarr_path, 'r')
         io = HDF5IO(self.path, mode='a')
         f = io._file
-        io.write_dataset(f, DatasetBuilder('test_dataset', zarr_data, attributes={}))
-        dset = f['test_dataset']
+
+        io.write_dataset(f, DatasetBuilder('test_dataset1', zarr_data))  # no dtype specified
+        dset = f['test_dataset1']
+        self.assertIs(dset.dtype.type, np.object_)
+        self.assertEqual(h5py.check_dtype(vlen=dset.dtype), str)  # check that the dtype is str
+        self.assertTupleEqual(dset.shape, (2,))
+        np.testing.assert_array_equal(dset[:].astype(str), base_data)
+
+        io.write_dataset(f, DatasetBuilder('test_dataset2', zarr_data, dtype="utf8"))  # utf8 dtype specified
+        dset = f['test_dataset2']
+        self.assertIs(dset.dtype.type, np.object_)
+        self.assertEqual(h5py.check_dtype(vlen=dset.dtype), str)  # check that the dtype is str
+        self.assertTupleEqual(dset.shape, (2,))
+        np.testing.assert_array_equal(dset[:].astype(str), zarr_data[:])
+
+        io.write_dataset(f, DatasetBuilder('test_dataset3', zarr_data, dtype="ascii"))  # ascii dtype specified
+        dset = f['test_dataset3']
+        self.assertIs(dset.dtype.type, np.object_)
+        self.assertEqual(h5py.check_dtype(vlen=dset.dtype), bytes)  # check that the dtype is bytes
+        self.assertTupleEqual(dset.shape, (2,))
+        np.testing.assert_array_equal(dset[:].astype(str), zarr_data[:])
+
+    def test_write_zarr_flen_ascii_dataset(self):
+        # fixed length ascii zarr array
+        base_data = np.array(['string1', 'string2'], dtype=bytes)
+        zarr.save(self.zarr_path, base_data)
+        zarr_data = zarr.open(self.zarr_path, 'r')
+        io = HDF5IO(self.path, mode='a')
+        f = io._file
+
+        io.write_dataset(f, DatasetBuilder('test_dataset1', zarr_data))  # no dtype specified
+        dset = f['test_dataset1']
+        self.assertIs(dset.dtype.type, np.object_)
+        self.assertEqual(h5py.check_dtype(vlen=dset.dtype), bytes)  # check that the dtype is bytes
+        self.assertTupleEqual(dset.shape, (2,))
+        np.testing.assert_array_equal(dset[:].astype(bytes), base_data)
+
+        io.write_dataset(f, DatasetBuilder('test_dataset2', zarr_data, dtype="utf8"))  # utf8 dtype specified
+        dset = f['test_dataset2']
+        self.assertIs(dset.dtype.type, np.object_)
+        self.assertEqual(h5py.check_dtype(vlen=dset.dtype), str)  # check that the dtype is str
+        self.assertTupleEqual(dset.shape, (2,))
+        np.testing.assert_array_equal(dset[:].astype(bytes), zarr_data[:])
+
+        io.write_dataset(f, DatasetBuilder('test_dataset3', zarr_data, dtype="ascii"))  # ascii dtype specified
+        dset = f['test_dataset3']
+        self.assertIs(dset.dtype.type, np.object_)
+        self.assertEqual(h5py.check_dtype(vlen=dset.dtype), bytes)  # check that the dtype is bytes
+        self.assertTupleEqual(dset.shape, (2,))
+        np.testing.assert_array_equal(dset[:].astype(bytes), zarr_data[:])
+
+    def test_write_zarr_vlen_utf8_dataset(self):
+        # variable length unicode zarr array
+        base_data = np.array(['string1', 'string2'], dtype=str)
+        zarr_data = zarr.open(self.zarr_path, shape=(2,), dtype=object, object_codec=numcodecs.VLenUTF8())
+        zarr_data[:] = base_data
+        io = HDF5IO(self.path, mode='a')
+        f = io._file
+
+        io.write_dataset(f, DatasetBuilder('test_dataset1', zarr_data))  # no dtype specified
+        dset = f['test_dataset1']
+        self.assertIs(dset.dtype.type, np.object_)
+        self.assertEqual(h5py.check_dtype(vlen=dset.dtype), str)  # check that the dtype is str
+        self.assertTupleEqual(dset.shape, (2,))
+        np.testing.assert_array_equal(dset[:].astype(str), base_data)
+
+        io.write_dataset(f, DatasetBuilder('test_dataset2', zarr_data, dtype="utf8"))  # utf8 dtype specified
+        dset = f['test_dataset2']
+        self.assertIs(dset.dtype.type, np.object_)
+        self.assertEqual(h5py.check_dtype(vlen=dset.dtype), str)  # check that the dtype is str
+        self.assertTupleEqual(dset.shape, (2,))
+        np.testing.assert_array_equal(dset[:].astype(str), zarr_data[:])
+
+        io.write_dataset(f, DatasetBuilder('test_dataset3', zarr_data, dtype="ascii"))  # ascii dtype specified
+        dset = f['test_dataset3']
+        self.assertIs(dset.dtype.type, np.object_)
+        self.assertEqual(h5py.check_dtype(vlen=dset.dtype), bytes)  # check that the dtype is bytes
+        self.assertTupleEqual(dset.shape, (2,))
+        np.testing.assert_array_equal(dset[:].astype(str), zarr_data[:])
+
+    def test_write_zarr_vlen_ascii_dataset(self):
+        # variable length ascii zarr array
+        base_data = np.array(['string1', 'string2'], dtype=bytes)
+        zarr_data = zarr.open(self.zarr_path, shape=(2,), dtype=object, object_codec=numcodecs.VLenBytes())
+        zarr_data[:] = base_data
+        io = HDF5IO(self.path, mode='a')
+        f = io._file
+
+        io.write_dataset(f, DatasetBuilder('test_dataset1', zarr_data))  # no dtype specified
+        dset = f['test_dataset1']
+        self.assertIs(dset.dtype.type, np.object_)
+        self.assertEqual(h5py.check_dtype(vlen=dset.dtype), bytes)  # check that the dtype is bytes
+        self.assertTupleEqual(dset.shape, (2,))
+        np.testing.assert_array_equal(dset[:].astype(bytes), base_data)
+
+        io.write_dataset(f, DatasetBuilder('test_dataset2', zarr_data, dtype="utf8"))  # utf8 dtype specified
+        dset = f['test_dataset2']
+        self.assertIs(dset.dtype.type, np.object_)
+        self.assertEqual(h5py.check_dtype(vlen=dset.dtype), str)  # check that the dtype is str
+        self.assertTupleEqual(dset.shape, (2,))
+        np.testing.assert_array_equal(dset[:].astype(bytes), zarr_data[:])
+
+        io.write_dataset(f, DatasetBuilder('test_dataset3', zarr_data, dtype="ascii"))  # ascii dtype specified
+        dset = f['test_dataset3']
+        self.assertIs(dset.dtype.type, np.object_)
+        self.assertEqual(h5py.check_dtype(vlen=dset.dtype), bytes)  # check that the dtype is bytes
         self.assertTupleEqual(dset.shape, (2,))
-        self.assertListEqual(dset[:].astype(bytes).tolist(), base_data.astype(bytes).tolist())
+        np.testing.assert_array_equal(dset[:].astype(bytes), zarr_data[:])
 
     def test_write_zarr_dataset_compress_gzip(self):
         base_data = np.arange(50).reshape(5, 10).astype('float32')