diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index e45ca563..265c337e 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ classifiers = [
 requires-python = ">=3.10"
 dynamic = ["version"]
 dependencies = [
-    "xarray>=2024.10.0,<2025.0.0",
+    "xarray>=2025.1.1",
     "numpy>=2.0.0",
     "packaging",
     "universal-pathlib",
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ hdf_reader = [
     "numcodecs"
 ]
 icechunk = [
-    "icechunk==0.1.0a8",
+    "icechunk>=0.1.0a10",
 ]
 test = [
     "codecov",
diff --git a/virtualizarr/codecs.py b/virtualizarr/codecs.py
index ad2a3d9b..94f6d1aa 100644
--- a/virtualizarr/codecs.py
+++ b/virtualizarr/codecs.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def _get_manifestarray_codecs(
 ) -> Union[Codec, tuple["ArrayArrayCodec | ArrayBytesCodec | BytesBytesCodec", ...]]:
     """Get codecs for a ManifestArray based on its zarr_format."""
     if normalize_to_zarr_v3 or array.zarray.zarr_format == 3:
-        return array.zarray._v3_codec_pipeline()
+        return (array.zarray.serializer(),) + array.zarray._v3_codec_pipeline()
     elif array.zarray.zarr_format == 2:
         return array.zarray.codec
     else:
diff --git a/virtualizarr/writers/icechunk.py b/virtualizarr/writers/icechunk.py
index e6869c6f..eee68162 100644
--- a/virtualizarr/writers/icechunk.py
+++ b/virtualizarr/writers/icechunk.py
@@ -208,13 +208,13 @@ def write_virtual_variable_to_icechunk(
     else:
         append_axis = None
         # create array if it doesn't already exist
-
         arr = group.require_array(
             name=name,
             shape=zarray.shape,
-            chunk_shape=zarray.chunks,
+            chunks=zarray.chunks,
             dtype=encode_dtype(zarray.dtype),
-            codecs=zarray._v3_codec_pipeline(),
+            compressors=zarray._v3_codec_pipeline(),  # compressors,
+            serializer=zarray.serializer(),
             dimension_names=var.dims,
             fill_value=zarray.fill_value,
         )
diff --git a/virtualizarr/zarr.py b/virtualizarr/zarr.py
index e339a3f4..4c36e7dc 100644
--- a/virtualizarr/zarr.py
+++ b/virtualizarr/zarr.py
@@ -175,13 +175,6 @@ def _v3_codec_pipeline(self) -> Any:
             transpose = dict(name="transpose", configuration=dict(order=order))
             codec_configs.append(transpose)
 
-        # https://github.com/zarr-developers/zarr-python/pull/1944#issuecomment-2151994097
-        # "If no ArrayBytesCodec is supplied, we can auto-add a BytesCodec"
-        bytes = dict(
-            name="bytes", configuration={}
-        )  # TODO need to handle endianess configuration
-        codec_configs.append(bytes)
-
         # Noting here that zarr v3 has very few codecs specificed in the official spec,
         # and that there are far more codecs in `numcodecs`. We take a gamble and assume
         # that the codec names and configuration are simply mapped into zarrv3 "configurables".
@@ -198,6 +191,23 @@ def _v3_codec_pipeline(self) -> Any:
 
         return codec_pipeline
 
+    def serializer(self) -> Any:
+        """
+        testing
+        """
+        try:
+            from zarr.core.metadata.v3 import (  # type: ignore[import-untyped]
+                parse_codecs,
+            )
+        except ImportError:
+            raise ImportError("zarr v3 is required to generate v3 codec pipelines")
+        # https://github.com/zarr-developers/zarr-python/pull/1944#issuecomment-2151994097
+        # "If no ArrayBytesCodec is supplied, we can auto-add a BytesCodec"
+        bytes = dict(
+            name="bytes", configuration={}
+        )  # TODO need to handle endianess configuration
+        return parse_codecs([bytes])[0]
+
 
 def encode_dtype(dtype: np.dtype) -> str:
     # TODO not sure if there is a better way to get the '<i4' style representation of the dtype out