diff --git a/satpy/readers/virr_l1b.py b/satpy/readers/virr_l1b.py
index a572d245b8..1bb84b19eb 100644
--- a/satpy/readers/virr_l1b.py
+++ b/satpy/readers/virr_l1b.py
@@ -92,10 +92,12 @@ def get_dataset(self, dataset_id, ds_info):
             file_key = file_key.replace('Data/', '')
         data = self[file_key]
         band_index = ds_info.get('band_index')
+        valid_range = data.attrs.pop('valid_range', None)
         if band_index is not None:
             data = data[band_index]
-            data = data.where((data >= self[file_key + '/attr/valid_range'][0]) &
-                              (data <= self[file_key + '/attr/valid_range'][1]))
+            if valid_range:
+                data = data.where((data >= valid_range[0]) &
+                                  (data <= valid_range[1]))
             if 'Emissive' in file_key:
                 slope = self._correct_slope(self[self.l1b_prefix + 'Emissive_Radiance_Scales'].
                                             data[:, band_index][:, np.newaxis])
@@ -121,8 +123,10 @@ def get_dataset(self, dataset_id, ds_info):
         else:
             slope = self._correct_slope(self[file_key + '/attr/Slope'])
             intercept = self[file_key + '/attr/Intercept']
-            data = data.where((data >= self[file_key + '/attr/valid_range'][0]) &
-                              (data <= self[file_key + '/attr/valid_range'][1]))
+
+            if valid_range:
+                data = data.where((data >= valid_range[0]) &
+                                  (data <= valid_range[1]))
             data = data * slope + intercept
         new_dims = {old: new for old, new in zip(data.dims, ('y', 'x'))}
         data = data.rename(new_dims)
diff --git a/satpy/tests/reader_tests/test_virr_l1b.py b/satpy/tests/reader_tests/test_virr_l1b.py
index 49f829e0b7..bce898bb59 100644
--- a/satpy/tests/reader_tests/test_virr_l1b.py
+++ b/satpy/tests/reader_tests/test_virr_l1b.py
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@ def _fy3_helper(self, platform_name, reader, Emissive_units):
                 self.assertEqual(('longitude', 'latitude'), attributes['coordinates'])
             self.assertEqual(band_values[dataset['name']],
                              round(float(np.array(ds[ds.shape[0] // 2][ds.shape[1] // 2])), 6))
+            assert "valid_range" not in ds.attrs
 
     def test_fy3b_file(self):
         """Test that FY3B files are recognized."""