diff --git a/R/NcDataReader.R b/R/NcDataReader.R
index 72abc090582c407fc64e5eb2150848f7f3e33d14..741ffbb6d1ca54f4e1e224df04feddefef9682fb 100644
--- a/R/NcDataReader.R
+++ b/R/NcDataReader.R
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ NcDataReader <- function(file_path = NULL, file_object = NULL,
 
       } else if (grepl(' since ', units)) {
         # Find the calendar
-        calendar <- attr(result, 'variables')$time$calendar
+        calendar <- attr(result, 'variables')[[var_name]]$calendar
         if (calendar == 'standard') calendar <- 'gregorian'
 
         parts <- strsplit(units, ' since ')[[1]]