diff --git a/cacholote/extra_encoders.py b/cacholote/extra_encoders.py
index 603a0f1..b47d43a 100644
--- a/cacholote/extra_encoders.py
+++ b/cacholote/extra_encoders.py
@@ -246,6 +246,8 @@ def decode_xr_object(
                 **{protocol: fs.storage_options for protocol in protocols},
             ) as of:
                 filename_or_obj = of.name
+
+    kwargs.setdefault("decode_timedelta", False)
     if xr_type == "Dataset":
         return xr.open_dataset(filename_or_obj, **kwargs)
     return xr.open_dataarray(filename_or_obj, **kwargs)
diff --git a/tests/test_40_xarray_encoder.py b/tests/test_40_xarray_encoder.py
index 6cda718..606909e 100644
--- a/tests/test_40_xarray_encoder.py
+++ b/tests/test_40_xarray_encoder.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ def get_grib_ds() -> xr.Dataset:
     pytest.importorskip("cfgrib")
     eccodes = pytest.importorskip("eccodes")
     filename = pathlib.Path(eccodes.codes_samples_path()) / "GRIB2.tmpl"
-    ds = xr.open_dataset(filename, engine="cfgrib")
+    ds = xr.open_dataset(filename, engine="cfgrib", decode_timedelta=False)
     del ds.attrs["history"]
     return ds