diff --git a/docs/releases.md b/docs/releases.md
index 338b8eda..2e3a9bb5 100644
--- a/docs/releases.md
+++ b/docs/releases.md
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
 
 ### Bug fixes
 
+- Fix setting `fill_value` for Zarr V2 arrays if data type is a subtype of integer or float.
+  ([#845](https://github.com/zarr-developers/VirtualiZarr/pull/845)).
+  By [Hauke Schulz](https://github.com/observingClouds).
+
 ### Documentation
 
 ### Internal changes
diff --git a/virtualizarr/manifests/array.py b/virtualizarr/manifests/array.py
index 0c74077f..967ea986 100644
--- a/virtualizarr/manifests/array.py
+++ b/virtualizarr/manifests/array.py
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ def __eq__(  # type: ignore[override]
 
     def astype(self, dtype: np.dtype, /, *, copy: bool = True) -> "ManifestArray":
         """Cannot change the dtype, but needed because xarray will call this even when it's a no-op."""
-        if dtype != self.dtype:
+        if not np.issubdtype(self.dtype, dtype):
             raise NotImplementedError()
         else:
             return self
diff --git a/virtualizarr/parsers/dmrpp.py b/virtualizarr/parsers/dmrpp.py
index 43c6425c..3b36e6a8 100644
--- a/virtualizarr/parsers/dmrpp.py
+++ b/virtualizarr/parsers/dmrpp.py
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ def parse_dataset(
             )
 
         manifest_group = self._parse_dataset(dataset_element)
-        registry = ObjectStoreRegistry()
+        registry: ObjectStoreRegistry = ObjectStoreRegistry()
         registry.register(self.data_filepath, object_store)
 
         return ManifestStore(registry=registry, group=manifest_group)
diff --git a/virtualizarr/parsers/zarr.py b/virtualizarr/parsers/zarr.py
index 90922037..b4bd0a3b 100644
--- a/virtualizarr/parsers/zarr.py
+++ b/virtualizarr/parsers/zarr.py
@@ -4,11 +4,12 @@
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 from collections.abc import Iterable
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, cast
 
 import zarr
 from obspec_utils.registry import ObjectStoreRegistry
 from zarr.api.asynchronous import open_group as open_group_async
+from zarr.core.dtype import parse_dtype
 from zarr.core.group import GroupMetadata
 from zarr.core.metadata import ArrayV3Metadata
 from zarr.storage import ObjectStore
@@ -194,20 +195,11 @@ def get_metadata(self, zarr_array: ZarrArrayType) -> ArrayV3Metadata:
 
         if v2_metadata.fill_value is None:
             v2_dict = v2_metadata.to_dict()
-            v2_dict["fill_value"] = 0
+            v2_dtype = parse_dtype(cast(Any, v2_dict["dtype"]), zarr_format=2)
+            fill_value = v2_dtype.default_scalar()
+            v2_dict["fill_value"] = v2_dtype.to_json_scalar(fill_value, zarr_format=2)
             temp_v2 = ArrayV2Metadata.from_dict(v2_dict)
             v3_metadata = _convert_array_metadata(temp_v2)
-
-            # Replace with proper default for the data type
-            default_scalar = v3_metadata.data_type.default_scalar()
-            fill_value = (
-                default_scalar.item()
-                if hasattr(default_scalar, "item")
-                else default_scalar
-            )
-            v3_dict = v3_metadata.to_dict()
-            v3_dict["fill_value"] = fill_value
-            v3_metadata = ArrayV3Metadata.from_dict(v3_dict)
         else:
             # Normal conversion; allow other errors to propagate.
             v3_metadata = _convert_array_metadata(v2_metadata)
diff --git a/virtualizarr/tests/test_manifests/test_array.py b/virtualizarr/tests/test_manifests/test_array.py
index 631440be..c3e3cdfa 100644
--- a/virtualizarr/tests/test_manifests/test_array.py
+++ b/virtualizarr/tests/test_manifests/test_array.py
@@ -131,6 +131,43 @@ def test_equals_nan_fill_value(self, array_v3_metadata):
         assert result.all()
 
 
+class TestAstype:
+    def test_astype_same_dtype(self, manifest_array):
+        """Test that astype with the same dtype returns self."""
+        marr = manifest_array(
+            shape=(5, 10), chunks=(5, 10), data_type=np.dtype("int32")
+        )
+        result = marr.astype(np.dtype("int32"))
+        assert result is marr
+
+    def test_astype_string_upcast(self, manifest_array):
+        """Test that astype allows string dtype upcasting (e.g., <U16 to <U)."""
+        marr = manifest_array(shape=(5, 10), chunks=(5, 10), data_type=np.dtype("<U16"))
+        # np.dtype("<U") is the generic unicode type without length specification
+        result = marr.astype(np.dtype("<U"))
+        assert result is marr
+
+    def test_astype_bytes_upcast(self, manifest_array):
+        """Test that astype allows bytes dtype upcasting (e.g., |S1 to |S)."""
+        marr = manifest_array(shape=(5, 10), chunks=(5, 10), data_type=np.dtype("|S1"))
+        result = marr.astype(np.dtype("|S"))
+        assert result is marr
+
+    def test_astype_incompatible_dtype_raises(self, manifest_array):
+        """Test that astype with incompatible dtype raises NotImplementedError."""
+        marr = manifest_array(
+            shape=(5, 10), chunks=(5, 10), data_type=np.dtype("int32")
+        )
+        with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError):
+            marr.astype(np.dtype("float64"))
+
+    def test_astype_string_to_int_raises(self, manifest_array):
+        """Test that astype from string to int raises NotImplementedError."""
+        marr = manifest_array(shape=(5, 10), chunks=(5, 10), data_type=np.dtype("<U16"))
+        with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError):
+            marr.astype(np.dtype("int32"))
+
+
 class TestBroadcast:
     def test_broadcast_existing_axis(self, manifest_array):
         marr = manifest_array(shape=(1, 2), chunks=(1, 2))
diff --git a/virtualizarr/tests/test_parsers/test_zarr.py b/virtualizarr/tests/test_parsers/test_zarr.py
index d50fd4e0..27f8537e 100644
--- a/virtualizarr/tests/test_parsers/test_zarr.py
+++ b/virtualizarr/tests/test_parsers/test_zarr.py
@@ -264,7 +264,21 @@ async def get_meta():
 
 
 @SKIP_OLDER_ZARR_PYTHON
-def test_v2_metadata_with_none_fill_value():
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "dtype",
+    [
+        "int32",
+        "uint8",
+        "float64",
+        "bool",
+        "U10",
+        "datetime64[s]",
+        "timedelta64[s]",
+        "S10",
+        "V10",
+    ],
+)
+def test_v2_metadata_with_none_fill_value(dtype):
     """Test V2 metadata conversion when fill_value is None."""
     import asyncio
 
@@ -273,7 +287,7 @@ def test_v2_metadata_with_none_fill_value():
     _ = zarr.create(
         shape=(5, 10),
         chunks=(5, 5),
-        dtype="int32",
+        dtype=dtype,
         store=store,
         zarr_format=2,
         fill_value=None,
diff --git a/virtualizarr/tests/utils.py b/virtualizarr/tests/utils.py
index 73cd26cd..4ce2fece 100644
--- a/virtualizarr/tests/utils.py
+++ b/virtualizarr/tests/utils.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def obstore_http(url: str) -> ObjectStore:
 
 
 def manifest_store_from_hdf_url(url, group: str | None = None):
-    registry = ObjectStoreRegistry()
+    registry: ObjectStoreRegistry = ObjectStoreRegistry()
     registry.register(url, obstore_local(url=url))
     parser = HDFParser(group=group)
     return parser(url=url, registry=registry)