diff --git a/src/componentarray.jl b/src/componentarray.jl
index ea09fa84..32b4d8f3 100644
--- a/src/componentarray.jl
+++ b/src/componentarray.jl
@@ -60,9 +60,8 @@ end
 # Entry from NamedTuple, Dict, or kwargs
 ComponentArray{T}(nt::NamedTuple) where T = ComponentArray(make_carray_args(T, nt)...)
 ComponentArray{T}(::NamedTuple{(), Tuple{}}) where T = ComponentArray(T[], (FlatAxis(),))
-ComponentArray(nt::NamedTuple) = ComponentArray(make_carray_args(nt)...)
+ComponentArray(nt::Union{NamedTuple, AbstractDict}) = ComponentArray(make_carray_args(nt)...)
 ComponentArray(::NamedTuple{(), Tuple{}}) = ComponentArray(Any[], (FlatAxis(),))
-ComponentArray(d::AbstractDict) = ComponentArray(NamedTuple{Tuple(keys(d))}(values(d)))
 ComponentArray{T}(;kwargs...) where T = ComponentArray{T}((;kwargs...))
 ComponentArray(;kwargs...) = ComponentArray((;kwargs...))
 
@@ -138,17 +137,22 @@ make_carray_args(::NamedTuple{(), Tuple{}}) = (Any[], FlatAxis())
 make_carray_args(::Type{T}, ::NamedTuple{(), Tuple{}}) where {T} = (T[], FlatAxis())
 function make_carray_args(nt)
     data, ax = make_carray_args(Vector, nt)
-    data = length(data)==1 ? [data[1]] : reduce(vcat, data)
+    data = length(data)==1 ? [data[1]] : map(identity, data)
     return (data, ax)
 end
 make_carray_args(::Type{T}, nt) where {T} = make_carray_args(Vector{T}, nt)
 function make_carray_args(A::Type{<:AbstractArray}, nt)
-    data, idx = make_idx([], nt, 0)
+    T = recursive_eltype(nt)
+    init = _isbitstype(T) ? T[] : []
+    data, idx = make_idx(init, nt, 0)
     return (A(data), Axis(idx))
 end
 
+_isbitstype(::Type{<:Union{T, Nothing, Missing}}) where {T} = isbitstype(T)
+_isbitstype(T) = isbitstype(T)
+
 # Builds up data vector and returns appropriate AbstractAxis type for each input type
-function make_idx(data, nt::NamedTuple, last_val)
+function make_idx(data, nt::Union{NamedTuple, AbstractDict}, last_val)
     len = recursive_length(nt)
     kvs = []
     lv = 0
@@ -325,4 +329,4 @@ julia> sum(prod(ca[k]) for k in valkeys(ca))
     k = Val.(keys(idxmap))
     return :($k)
 end
-valkeys(ca::ComponentVector) = valkeys(getaxes(ca)[1])
\ No newline at end of file
+valkeys(ca::ComponentVector) = valkeys(getaxes(ca)[1])
diff --git a/src/utils.jl b/src/utils.jl
index 1c84a256..7d0d129c 100644
--- a/src/utils.jl
+++ b/src/utils.jl
@@ -42,3 +42,10 @@ recursive_length(a::AbstractArray{T,N}) where {T<:Number,N} = length(a)
 recursive_length(a::AbstractArray) = recursive_length.(a) |> sum
 recursive_length(nt::NamedTuple) = values(nt) .|> recursive_length |> sum
 recursive_length(::Union{Nothing, Missing}) = 1
+
+# Find the highest element type
+recursive_eltype(nt::NamedTuple) = mapreduce(recursive_eltype, promote_type, nt)
+recursive_eltype(x::Vector) = mapreduce(recursive_eltype, promote_type, x)
+recursive_eltype(x::Dict) = mapreduce(recursive_eltype, promote_type, values(x))
+recursive_eltype(::AbstractArray{T,N})  where {T<:Number, N}= T
+recursive_eltype(x) = typeof(x)