diff --git a/changes/4381.bugfix.md b/changes/4381.bugfix.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..12d4189400
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/4381.bugfix.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Zarr format 2 arrays with a `<u1` or `>u1` data type can now be read as unsigned 8-bit integers. Serialized metadata continues to use the canonical `|u1` spelling.
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/int.py b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/int.py
index c18fd01dd8..c6080dbc6a 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/int.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/dtype/npy/int.py
@@ -415,7 +415,11 @@ class UInt8(BaseInt[np.dtypes.UInt8DType, np.uint8]):
 
     dtype_cls = np.dtypes.UInt8DType
     _zarr_v3_name: ClassVar[Literal["uint8"]] = "uint8"
-    _zarr_v2_names: ClassVar[tuple[Literal["|u1"]]] = ("|u1",)
+    _zarr_v2_names: ClassVar[tuple[Literal["|u1"], Literal["<u1"], Literal[">u1"]]] = (
+        "|u1",
+        "<u1",
+        ">u1",
+    )
 
     @classmethod
     def from_native_dtype(cls, dtype: TBaseDType) -> Self:
diff --git a/tests/test_dtype/test_npy/test_int.py b/tests/test_dtype/test_npy/test_int.py
index 9eab053080..bbe2566701 100644
--- a/tests/test_dtype/test_npy/test_int.py
+++ b/tests/test_dtype/test_npy/test_int.py
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import numpy as np
+import pytest
 
 from tests.test_dtype.test_wrapper import BaseTestZDType
+from zarr.core.dtype import get_data_type_from_json
 from zarr.core.dtype.npy.int import Int8, Int16, Int32, Int64, UInt8, UInt16, UInt32, UInt64
+from zarr.errors import DataTypeValidationError
 
 
 class TestInt8(BaseTestZDType):
@@ -329,3 +332,30 @@ def test_string_integer_from_json_scalar() -> None:
     # Test that it works for v2 format too
     result = dtype_instance.from_json_scalar("123", zarr_format=2)
     assert result == np.int32(123)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("name", ["|u1", "<u1", ">u1"])
+def test_uint8_v2_aliases(name: str) -> None:
+    data = {"name": name, "object_codec_id": None}
+    dtype = UInt8.from_json(data, zarr_format=2)
+    assert dtype == UInt8()
+    assert get_data_type_from_json(data, zarr_format=2) == dtype
+    assert dtype.to_native_dtype() == np.dtype("uint8")
+    serialized = dtype.to_json(zarr_format=2)
+    assert serialized["name"] == "|u1"
+    assert serialized["object_codec_id"] is None
+    assert dtype.to_json(zarr_format=3) == "uint8"
+    with pytest.raises(DataTypeValidationError):
+        UInt8.from_json(name, zarr_format=3)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("name", ["|u1", "<u1", ">u1"])
+def test_uint8_v2_aliases_reject_object_codec(name: str) -> None:
+    with pytest.raises(DataTypeValidationError):
+        UInt8.from_json({"name": name, "object_codec_id": "vlen-utf8"}, zarr_format=2)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("name", ["|i1", "<u2", ">u2", "uint8", "invalid"])
+def test_uint8_v2_rejects_other_types(name: str) -> None:
+    with pytest.raises(DataTypeValidationError):
+        UInt8.from_json({"name": name, "object_codec_id": None}, zarr_format=2)
diff --git a/tests/test_metadata/test_v2.py b/tests/test_metadata/test_v2.py
index 1358f458d6..322c62c3e7 100644
--- a/tests/test_metadata/test_v2.py
+++ b/tests/test_metadata/test_v2.py
@@ -399,3 +399,26 @@ def test_structured_dtype_fill_value_serialization(
     root_group = zarr.open_group(group_path, mode="r")
     observed = root_group.metadata.consolidated_metadata.metadata["structured_dtype"].fill_value  # type: ignore[union-attr]
     assert observed == fill_value
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("dtype", ["|u1", "<u1", ">u1"])
+def test_open_uint8_dtype_aliases(tmp_path: Path, dtype: str) -> None:
+    metadata = {
+        "zarr_format": 2,
+        "shape": [3],
+        "chunks": [3],
+        "dtype": dtype,
+        "compressor": None,
+        "fill_value": 0,
+        "order": "C",
+        "filters": None,
+    }
+    metadata_path = tmp_path / ".zarray"
+    metadata_path.write_text(json.dumps(metadata))
+    (tmp_path / "0").write_bytes(bytes([0, 128, 255]))
+
+    array = zarr.open_array(tmp_path, mode="r")
+    assert array.dtype == np.dtype("uint8")
+    np.testing.assert_array_equal(array[:], np.array([0, 128, 255], dtype=np.uint8))
+    assert array.metadata.to_dict()["dtype"] == "|u1"
+    assert json.loads(metadata_path.read_text()) == metadata