diff --git a/esmvaltool/cmorizers/data/utilities.py b/esmvaltool/cmorizers/data/utilities.py
index 82da07c12e..853ebd8526 100644
--- a/esmvaltool/cmorizers/data/utilities.py
+++ b/esmvaltool/cmorizers/data/utilities.py
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ def set_global_atts(cube, attrs):
 
     # Additional attributes
     glob_dict.update(attrs)
-    cube.attributes = glob_dict
+    cube.attributes.globals = glob_dict
 
 
 def fix_bounds(cube, dim_coord):