diff --git a/src/netcdf/netcdf.f90 b/src/netcdf/netcdf.f90
index a21a3c4f8..4a269b7b4 100644
--- a/src/netcdf/netcdf.f90
+++ b/src/netcdf/netcdf.f90
@@ -190,6 +190,9 @@ module subroutine netcdf_initialize_output(self, param)
          end select
       end do
 
+      ! Take the file out of define mode
+      call check( nf90_enddef(self%ncid) )
+
       return
    end subroutine netcdf_initialize_output