diff --git a/vortex-fastlanes/src/bitpacking/serde.rs b/vortex-fastlanes/src/bitpacking/serde.rs
index 160c11e724..9c98b3035b 100644
--- a/vortex-fastlanes/src/bitpacking/serde.rs
+++ b/vortex-fastlanes/src/bitpacking/serde.rs
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ impl ArraySerde for BitPackedArray {
 
 impl EncodingSerde for BitPackedEncoding {
     fn read(&self, ctx: &mut ReadCtx) -> VortexResult<ArrayRef> {
-        let encoded = ctx.with_schema(PType::U8.into()).read()?;
+        let encoded = ctx.bytes().read()?;
         let validity = ctx.read_optional_array()?;
         let patches = ctx.read_optional_array()?;
         let bit_width = ctx.read_usize()?;