diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index fa36bb6..eaab1f2 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ classifiers = [
 dynamic = ["version"]
 dependencies = [
     "cftime",
-    "dask",
     "h5netcdf",
     "xarray",
     "rioxarray",
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/3B42_Daily.19980101.7.nc4 b/tests/fixtures/3B42_Daily.19980101.7.nc4
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6b3e07c
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/fixtures/3B42_Daily.19980101.7.nc4 differ
diff --git a/tests/test_app.py b/tests/test_app.py
index 9481861..f78685d 100644
--- a/tests/test_app.py
+++ b/tests/test_app.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 DATA_DIR = "tests/fixtures"
 test_zarr_store = os.path.join(DATA_DIR, "test_zarr_store.zarr")
 test_reference_store = os.path.join(DATA_DIR, "reference.json")
-test_netcdf_store = os.path.join(DATA_DIR, "testfile.nc")
+test_netcdf_store = os.path.join(DATA_DIR, "3B42_Daily.19980101.7.nc4")
 test_remote_netcdf_store = "https://nex-gddp-cmip6.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/NEX-GDDP-CMIP6/GISS-E2-1-G/historical/r1i1p1f2/pr/pr_day_GISS-E2-1-G_historical_r1i1p1f2_gn_1950.nc"
 test_unconsolidated_store = os.path.join(DATA_DIR, "unconsolidated.zarr")
 test_pyramid_store = os.path.join(DATA_DIR, "pyramid.zarr")
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@
     "variables": ["value"],
 }
 test_netcdf_store_params = {
-    "params": {"url": test_netcdf_store, "variable": "data", "decode_times": False},
-    "variables": ["data"],
+    "params": {"url": test_netcdf_store, "variable": "precipitation", "decode_times": False},
+    "variables": ["precipitation"],
 }
 test_remote_netcdf_store_params = {
     "params": {
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ def test_get_tilejson_pyramid(app):
 
 def get_tile_test(app, ds_params, zoom: int = 0):
     response = app.get(
-        f"/tiles/{zoom}/0/0.png",
+        f"/tiles/1/0/0.png",
         params=ds_params["params"],
     )
     assert response.status_code == 200
diff --git a/titiler/xarray/reader.py b/titiler/xarray/reader.py
index 7d81091..65fbda5 100644
--- a/titiler/xarray/reader.py
+++ b/titiler/xarray/reader.py
@@ -131,8 +131,7 @@ def xarray_open_dataset(
     xr_open_args: Dict[str, Any] = {
         "decode_coords": "all",
         "decode_times": decode_times,
-        "engine": xr_engine,
-        "chunks": 'auto',
+        "engine": xr_engine
     }
 
     # Argument if we're opening a datatree
@@ -155,7 +154,7 @@ def xarray_open_dataset(
     return ds
 
 
-def arrange_coordinates(da: xarray.DataArray) -> xarray.DataArray:
+def arrange_coordinates(da: xarray.DataArray, xr_engine: str) -> xarray.DataArray:
     """
     Arrange coordinates to DataArray.
     An rioxarray.exceptions.InvalidDimensionOrder error is raised if the coordinates are not in the correct order time, y, and x.
@@ -170,13 +169,21 @@ def arrange_coordinates(da: xarray.DataArray) -> xarray.DataArray:
         if "longitude" in da.dims:
             longitude_var_name = "longitude"
         da = da.rename({latitude_var_name: "y", longitude_var_name: "x"})
-    da = da.transpose("time", "y", "x", missing_dims="ignore")
+    if da.dims != ["time", "y", "x"]:
+        da = da.transpose("time", "y", "x", missing_dims="ignore")
+        # if we're caching the data, we need to load the transposed data into memory rather than lazily loading it later.
+        # Trying to modify the data with rioxarray during the tile operation will result in an error:
+        # `cannot pickle io.BufferedReader`. This only happens when operating on a cached file, like NetCDF.
+        # if api_settings.enable_fsspec_cache and xr_engine == "h5netcdf":
+        #     #da.load()
+        #     pass
     return da
 
 
 def get_variable(
     ds: xarray.Dataset,
     variable: str,
+    xr_engine: str,
     time_slice: Optional[str] = None,
     drop_dim: Optional[str] = None,
 ) -> xarray.DataArray:
@@ -187,7 +194,7 @@ def get_variable(
     if drop_dim:
         dim_to_drop, dim_val = drop_dim.split("=")
         da = da.sel({dim_to_drop: dim_val}).drop(dim_to_drop)
-    da = arrange_coordinates(da)
+    da = arrange_coordinates(da, xr_engine=xr_engine)
 
     if (da.x > 180).any():
         # Adjust the longitude coordinates to the -180 to 180 range
@@ -264,6 +271,7 @@ def __attrs_post_init__(self):
         self.input = get_variable(
             self.ds,
             self.variable,
+            xr_engine=xarray_engine(self.src_path),
             time_slice=self.time_slice,
             drop_dim=self.drop_dim,
         )