diff --git a/include/pybind11/numpy.h b/include/pybind11/numpy.h
index b9ee69e6c..59530d4c2 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/numpy.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/numpy.h
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ public:
         m_ptr = from_args(pybind11::str(format)).release().ptr();
     }
 
+    dtype(const char *format) : dtype(std::string(format)) { }
+
     dtype(list names, list formats, list offsets, size_t itemsize) {
         dict args;
         args["names"] = names;