diff --git a/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_ParticlesOPENPMD.H b/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_ParticlesOPENPMD.H
index ba2371e33c3..c2966b89605 100644
--- a/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_ParticlesOPENPMD.H
+++ b/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_ParticlesOPENPMD.H
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ void CountParticles()
   for (auto currentLevel = 0; currentLevel <= this->finestLevel(); currentLevel++)
     {
       // numParticles in this processor
-      auto numParticles = static_cast<long long>(this->NumberOfParticlesAtLevel(currentLevel, false, false));
+      auto numParticles = static_cast<long long>(this->NumberOfParticlesAtLevel(currentLevel, true, true));
 
       unsigned long long offset=0; // offset of this level
       unsigned long long sum=0; // numParticles in this level (sum from all processors)
diff --git a/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_PlotFileOPENPMD.cpp b/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_PlotFileOPENPMD.cpp
index fa0862f8734..621dbe8d87e 100644
--- a/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_PlotFileOPENPMD.cpp
+++ b/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_PlotFileOPENPMD.cpp
@@ -271,6 +271,20 @@ namespace amrex::openpmd_api {
     } // CreateWriter()
 
 
+    void AMReX_openPMDHandler::SetWriter(amrex::openpmd_api::AMReX_openPMDWriter* w)
+    {
+       BL_ASSERT ( w != nullptr );
+
+       // assuer that input key/values are inherited
+       // so the openpmd filepath assigned from input file is still in use
+       w->m_openPMDPrefix = m_Writer->m_openPMDPrefix;
+       w->m_openPMDEncoding = m_Writer->m_openPMDEncoding;
+       w->m_openPMDFileType = m_Writer->m_openPMDFileType;
+       w->m_openPMDSeriesOptions = m_Writer->m_openPMDSeriesOptions;
+
+       m_Writer.reset(w);
+    }
+
     ////////////////////////////////////////
     //
     // Class AMReX_openPMDWriter
diff --git a/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_PlotFileUtilOPENPMD.H b/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_PlotFileUtilOPENPMD.H
index ea4b511c9dc..4ce0efe852e 100644
--- a/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_PlotFileUtilOPENPMD.H
+++ b/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_PlotFileUtilOPENPMD.H
@@ -418,6 +418,7 @@ namespace amrex::openpmd_api
 
       std::unique_ptr<AMReX_openPMDWriter> m_Writer;
 
+      void SetWriter(amrex::openpmd_api::AMReX_openPMDWriter* w);
     private:
       void CreateWriter(const std::string& prefix = std::string());
 
diff --git a/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_PlotFileUtilOPENPMD.cpp b/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_PlotFileUtilOPENPMD.cpp
index c5fa8cba4ea..0e020b9ae0f 100644
--- a/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_PlotFileUtilOPENPMD.cpp
+++ b/Src/Extern/openPMD-api/AMReX_PlotFileUtilOPENPMD.cpp
@@ -68,9 +68,7 @@ namespace amrex::openpmd_api
       BL_ASSERT ( m_OpenPMDHandler != nullptr );
       BL_ASSERT ( w != nullptr );
 
-      // so the openpmd filepath assigned from input file is still in use
-      w->m_openPMDPrefix = m_OpenPMDHandler->m_Writer->m_openPMDPrefix;
-      m_OpenPMDHandler->m_Writer.reset(w);
+      m_OpenPMDHandler->SetWriter(w);
     }
 
     void CloseHandler()