diff --git a/src/nested_dask/core.py b/src/nested_dask/core.py
index c15ff46..a1221fd 100644
--- a/src/nested_dask/core.py
+++ b/src/nested_dask/core.py
@@ -663,7 +663,8 @@ def reduce(self, func, *args, meta=None, **kwargs) -> NestedFrame:
         # Handle meta shorthands to produce nestedframe output
         # route standard dict meta to nestedframe
         if isinstance(meta, dict):
-            meta = npd.NestedFrame(meta, index=[])
+            series_dict = {item[0]: pd.Series(dtype=item[1]) for item in meta.items()}
+            meta = npd.NestedFrame(series_dict)
         # reroute series meta to nestedframe, per consistency with nested-pandas
         elif isinstance(meta, tuple) and len(meta) == 2:  # len 2 to only try on proper series meta
             meta = npd.NestedFrame(pd.Series(name=meta[0], dtype=meta[1]).to_frame())