diff --git a/xcdat/axis.py b/xcdat/axis.py
index ea5887c2..b7126b85 100644
--- a/xcdat/axis.py
+++ b/xcdat/axis.py
@@ -114,7 +114,9 @@ def get_axis_coord(
             "attr set."
         )
 
-    dim_coords = obj[dim_coord_keys if len(dim_coord_keys) > 1 else dim_coord_keys[0]]
+    dim_coords = obj[
+        dim_coord_keys if len(dim_coord_keys) > 1 else dim_coord_keys[0]
+    ].copy()
 
     return dim_coords
 
@@ -137,6 +139,7 @@ def get_axis_dim(obj: Union[xr.Dataset, xr.DataArray], axis: CFAxisKey) -> str:
     str
         The dimension for an axis.
     """
+    # FIXME: This breaks if xr.Dataset because there can be multiple dim names.
     return str(get_axis_coord(obj, axis).name)