diff --git a/lib/iris/cube.py b/lib/iris/cube.py
index c121849dc9..8aaf24b23e 100644
--- a/lib/iris/cube.py
+++ b/lib/iris/cube.py
@@ -1592,13 +1592,13 @@ def cell_methods(self, cell_methods):
     @property
     def shape(self):
         """The shape of the data of this cube."""
-        shape = self.lazy_data().shape
+        shape = self._my_data.shape
         return shape
 
     @property
     def dtype(self):
         """The :class:`numpy.dtype` of the data of this cube."""
-        return self.lazy_data().dtype
+        return self._my_data.dtype
 
     @property
     def ndim(self):