diff --git a/xarray/tests/test_interp.py b/xarray/tests/test_interp.py
index 63ea59c9125..86532a26f65 100644
--- a/xarray/tests/test_interp.py
+++ b/xarray/tests/test_interp.py
@@ -1058,7 +1058,28 @@ def test_interp1d_complex_out_of_bounds() -> None:
 
 
 @requires_scipy
-def test_interp_non_numeric() -> None:
+def test_interp_non_numeric_1d() -> None:
+    ds = xr.Dataset(
+        {
+            "numeric": ("time", 1 + np.arange(0, 4, 1)),
+            "non_numeric": ("time", np.array(["a", "b", "c", "d"])),
+        },
+        coords={"time": (np.arange(0, 4, 1))},
+    )
+    actual = ds.interp(time=np.linspace(0, 3, 7))
+
+    expected = xr.Dataset(
+        {
+            "numeric": ("time", 1 + np.linspace(0, 3, 7)),
+            "non_numeric": ("time", np.array(["a", "b", "b", "c", "c", "d", "d"])),
+        },
+        coords={"time": np.linspace(0, 3, 7)},
+    )
+    xr.testing.assert_identical(actual, expected)
+
+
+@requires_scipy
+def test_interp_non_numeric_nd() -> None:
     # regression test for GH8099, GH9839
     ds = xr.Dataset({"x": ("a", np.arange(4))}, coords={"a": (np.arange(4) - 1.5)})
     t = xr.DataArray(