diff --git a/ush/python/pygw/src/pygw/attrdict.py b/ush/python/pygw/src/pygw/attrdict.py
index 16419695976..f2add20a196 100644
--- a/ush/python/pygw/src/pygw/attrdict.py
+++ b/ush/python/pygw/src/pygw/attrdict.py
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ def __setitem__(self, name, value):
                     object.__getattribute__(self, '__frozen'))
         if isFrozen and name not in super(AttrDict, self).keys():
             raise KeyError(name)
+        if isinstance(value, dict):
+            value = AttrDict(value)
         super(AttrDict, self).__setitem__(name, value)
         try:
             p = object.__getattribute__(self, '__parent')