diff --git a/ci/build-and-test-bindings.dockerfile b/ci/build-and-test-bindings.dockerfile
index 45eca30fa5..f74600fe50 100644
--- a/ci/build-and-test-bindings.dockerfile
+++ b/ci/build-and-test-bindings.dockerfile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 FROM pierrpebay/vt-tv:master AS build
 
 COPY . /opt/src/vt-tv
-RUN mkdir -p /opt/build/vt-tv
+RUN mkdir -p /opt/build/vt-tv/test_output
 
 # setup environment
 ENV VTTV_VTK_DIR=/opt/build/vtk-build
diff --git a/src/vt-tv/utility/qoi_serializer.h b/src/vt-tv/utility/qoi_serializer.h
index 53de4f84ae..5210c3dcd6 100644
--- a/src/vt-tv/utility/qoi_serializer.h
+++ b/src/vt-tv/utility/qoi_serializer.h
@@ -69,10 +69,13 @@ namespace nlohmann
     }
 
     static void from_json(const json &j, VariantTypes &value) {
-      if (j.is_number_unsigned()) {
-        value = j.get<ElementIDType>();
-      } else if (j.is_number_integer()) {
-        value = j.get<int>();
+      if (j.is_number_integer()) {
+        auto number = j.get<int64_t>();
+        if (number >= std::numeric_limits<int>::min() && number <= std::numeric_limits<int>::max()) {
+          value = static_cast<int>(number);
+        } else {
+          value = static_cast<ElementIDType>(number);
+        }
       } else if (j.is_number_float()) {
         value = j.get<double>();
       } else if (j.is_string()) {