diff --git a/src/flib/pionfget_mod.F90.in b/src/flib/pionfget_mod.F90.in
index ebd335dde2e..f65ebe46687 100644
--- a/src/flib/pionfget_mod.F90.in
+++ b/src/flib/pionfget_mod.F90.in
@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ CONTAINS
     integer, intent(in) :: start(:)
     integer, intent(in) :: count(:)
     integer, intent(in) :: nstrs
-    character, intent(out) :: ival(*)
+    character(len=*), intent(out) :: ival(*)
     integer :: j
     integer(C_SIZE_T), allocatable :: cstart(:), ccount(:)
     integer :: i, ndims