diff --git a/cubed/storage/virtual.py b/cubed/storage/virtual.py
index 5f585f2a..9203dae1 100644
--- a/cubed/storage/virtual.py
+++ b/cubed/storage/virtual.py
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ def __getitem__(self, key):
 
 
 def _key_to_index_tuple(selection):
+    if isinstance(selection, slice):
+        selection = (selection,)
     assert all(isinstance(s, (slice, Integral)) for s in selection)
     sel = []
     for s in selection:
diff --git a/cubed/tests/storage/test_virtual.py b/cubed/tests/storage/test_virtual.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..652582bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cubed/tests/storage/test_virtual.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+from itertools import product
+from math import prod
+
+import numpy as np
+import pytest
+
+from cubed.storage.virtual import virtual_offsets
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("shape", [(), (3,), (3, 2)])
+def test_virtual_offsets(shape):
+    v_offsets = virtual_offsets(shape)
+    offsets = np.arange(prod(shape)).reshape(shape, order="C")
+    for t in product(*(range(n) for n in shape)):
+        assert v_offsets[t] == offsets[t]
+
+    # test some length 1 slices
+    if len(shape) == 1:
+        assert v_offsets[1:2] == offsets[1:2]
+    elif len(shape) == 2:
+        assert v_offsets[1:2, 0:1] == offsets[1:2, 0:1]
+
+
+def test_virtual_offsets_fails():
+    with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError):
+        v_offsets = virtual_offsets((3,))
+        v_offsets[0:2]
+
+    with pytest.raises(NotImplementedError):
+        v_offsets = virtual_offsets((3, 2))
+        v_offsets[0:2, 1]