diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/core/dataframe.py b/python/cudf/cudf/core/dataframe.py
index 572837979cc..e5ba8bf0b63 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/core/dataframe.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/core/dataframe.py
@@ -5390,7 +5390,7 @@ def from_records(cls, data, index=None, columns=None, nan_as_null=False):
         else:
             df._index = as_index(index)
         if isinstance(columns, pd.Index):
-            df._data._level_names = list(columns.names)
+            df._data._level_names = tuple(columns.names)
         return df
 
     @classmethod
@@ -5448,7 +5448,7 @@ def _from_arrays(cls, data, index=None, columns=None, nan_as_null=False):
                 data, nan_as_null=nan_as_null
             )
         if isinstance(columns, pd.Index):
-            df._data._level_names = list(columns.names)
+            df._data._level_names = tuple(columns.names)
 
         if index is None:
             df._index = RangeIndex(start=0, stop=len(data))