diff --git a/modules/util/util.py b/modules/util/util.py
index d08c04601a1564b64becc75541417cd08317de75..faf949ec69b999c5d9553a6949525b6ceee9b500 100644
--- a/modules/util/util.py
+++ b/modules/util/util.py
@@ -1059,6 +1059,7 @@ def prepare_evaluate(h5f, name_list, satellite='GOES16', domain='FD', res_fac=1,
     for ds_name in name_list:
         fill_value, fill_value_name = get_fill_attrs(ds_name)
         gvals = get_grid_values(h5f, ds_name, j_0, i_0, None, num_j=ylen, num_i=xlen, fill_value_name=fill_value_name, fill_value=fill_value)
+        gvals = np.expand_dims(gvals, axis=0)
         if gvals is not None:
             grd_dct_n[ds_name] = gvals
             cnt_a += 1