diff --git a/src/array_api_compat/numpy/_info.py b/src/array_api_compat/numpy/_info.py
index 9ba004da..d5fd5d7c 100644
--- a/src/array_api_compat/numpy/_info.py
+++ b/src/array_api_compat/numpy/_info.py
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
 from numpy import (
     complex64,
     complex128,
-    dtype,
     float32,
     float64,
     int8,
@@ -186,10 +185,10 @@ def default_dtypes(
                 f' {device}'
             )
         return {
-            "real floating": dtype(float64),
-            "complex floating": dtype(complex128),
-            "integral": dtype(intp),
-            "indexing": dtype(intp),
+            "real floating": float64,
+            "complex floating": complex128,
+            "integral": intp,
+            "indexing": intp,
         }
 
     def dtypes(
@@ -259,71 +258,71 @@ def dtypes(
             )
         if kind is None:
             return {
-                "bool": dtype(bool),
-                "int8": dtype(int8),
-                "int16": dtype(int16),
-                "int32": dtype(int32),
-                "int64": dtype(int64),
-                "uint8": dtype(uint8),
-                "uint16": dtype(uint16),
-                "uint32": dtype(uint32),
-                "uint64": dtype(uint64),
-                "float32": dtype(float32),
-                "float64": dtype(float64),
-                "complex64": dtype(complex64),
-                "complex128": dtype(complex128),
+                "bool": bool,
+                "int8": int8,
+                "int16": int16,
+                "int32": int32,
+                "int64": int64,
+                "uint8": uint8,
+                "uint16": uint16,
+                "uint32": uint32,
+                "uint64": uint64,
+                "float32": float32,
+                "float64": float64,
+                "complex64": complex64,
+                "complex128": complex128,
             }
         if kind == "bool":
-            return {"bool": dtype(bool)}
+            return {"bool": bool}
         if kind == "signed integer":
             return {
-                "int8": dtype(int8),
-                "int16": dtype(int16),
-                "int32": dtype(int32),
-                "int64": dtype(int64),
+                "int8": int8,
+                "int16": int16,
+                "int32": int32,
+                "int64": int64,
             }
         if kind == "unsigned integer":
             return {
-                "uint8": dtype(uint8),
-                "uint16": dtype(uint16),
-                "uint32": dtype(uint32),
-                "uint64": dtype(uint64),
+                "uint8": uint8,
+                "uint16": uint16,
+                "uint32": uint32,
+                "uint64": uint64,
             }
         if kind == "integral":
             return {
-                "int8": dtype(int8),
-                "int16": dtype(int16),
-                "int32": dtype(int32),
-                "int64": dtype(int64),
-                "uint8": dtype(uint8),
-                "uint16": dtype(uint16),
-                "uint32": dtype(uint32),
-                "uint64": dtype(uint64),
+                "int8": int8,
+                "int16": int16,
+                "int32": int32,
+                "int64": int64,
+                "uint8": uint8,
+                "uint16": uint16,
+                "uint32": uint32,
+                "uint64": uint64,
             }
         if kind == "real floating":
             return {
-                "float32": dtype(float32),
-                "float64": dtype(float64),
+                "float32": float32,
+                "float64": float64,
             }
         if kind == "complex floating":
             return {
-                "complex64": dtype(complex64),
-                "complex128": dtype(complex128),
+                "complex64": complex64,
+                "complex128": complex128,
             }
         if kind == "numeric":
             return {
-                "int8": dtype(int8),
-                "int16": dtype(int16),
-                "int32": dtype(int32),
-                "int64": dtype(int64),
-                "uint8": dtype(uint8),
-                "uint16": dtype(uint16),
-                "uint32": dtype(uint32),
-                "uint64": dtype(uint64),
-                "float32": dtype(float32),
-                "float64": dtype(float64),
-                "complex64": dtype(complex64),
-                "complex128": dtype(complex128),
+                "int8": int8,
+                "int16": int16,
+                "int32": int32,
+                "int64": int64,
+                "uint8": uint8,
+                "uint16": uint16,
+                "uint32": uint32,
+                "uint64": uint64,
+                "float32": float32,
+                "float64": float64,
+                "complex64": complex64,
+                "complex128": complex128,
             }
         if isinstance(kind, tuple):
             res: dict[str, DType] = {}
diff --git a/tests/test_numpy.py b/tests/test_numpy.py
index f8d45e2d..b020d3e3 100644
--- a/tests/test_numpy.py
+++ b/tests/test_numpy.py
@@ -154,3 +154,26 @@ def test_reshape_copy_false_returns_a_view_without_deprecation():
 def test_reshape_copy_false_rejects_an_input_that_needs_a_copy():
     with pytest.raises((ValueError, AttributeError)):
         xp.reshape(np.arange(12).reshape(3, 4).T, (2, 6), copy=False)
+
+
+def test_inspection_dtypes_do_not_compare_equal_to_none():
+    """`dtypes()`/`default_dtypes()` must return the scalar types, not
+    `np.dtype` objects. gh-359.
+
+    `np.dtype(None)` is `float64` in NumPy, so `dtypes()["float64"] == None`
+    is True and a caller cannot tell "unsupported" from "supported". And
+    `np.dtype` objects have no `__name__`, so they are unusable for the
+    ordinary introspection callers do on the returned values.
+    """
+    info = xp.__array_namespace_info__()
+
+    assert info.dtypes()["float64"] is np.float64
+    assert info.default_dtypes()["real floating"] is np.float64
+
+    for dt in info.dtypes().values():
+        assert not (dt == None)  # noqa: E711
+        assert isinstance(dt.__name__, str)
+
+    for dt in info.default_dtypes().values():
+        assert not (dt == None)  # noqa: E711
+        assert isinstance(dt.__name__, str)