diff --git a/python/cugraph/cugraph/structure/property_graph.py b/python/cugraph/cugraph/structure/property_graph.py
index 815192ef7b4..59f66f44f93 100644
--- a/python/cugraph/cugraph/structure/property_graph.py
+++ b/python/cugraph/cugraph/structure/property_graph.py
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ def add_vertex_data(self,
             # column in the incoming dataframe, since the initial merge may not
             # result in the same dtype. (see
             # https://github.com/rapidsai/cudf/issues/9981)
-            self.__update_dataframe_dtypes(
+            self.__vertex_prop_dataframe = self.__update_dataframe_dtypes(
                 self.__vertex_prop_dataframe,
                 {self.vertex_col_name: dataframe[vertex_col_name].dtype})
 
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ def add_edge_data(self,
             # column in the incoming dataframe, since the initial merge may not
             # result in the same dtype. (see
             # https://github.com/rapidsai/cudf/issues/9981)
-            self.__update_dataframe_dtypes(
+            self.__edge_prop_dataframe = self.__update_dataframe_dtypes(
                 self.__edge_prop_dataframe,
                 {self.src_col_name: dataframe[vertex_col_names[0]].dtype,
                  self.dst_col_name: dataframe[vertex_col_names[1]].dtype,
@@ -659,7 +659,7 @@ def extract_subgraph(self,
         # possibly had their dtypes converted in order to accommodate NaN
         # values. Restore the original dtypes in the resulting edges df prior
         # to creating a Graph.
-        self.__update_dataframe_dtypes(edges, self.__edge_prop_dtypes)
+        edges = self.__update_dataframe_dtypes(edges, self.__edge_prop_dtypes)
 
         return self.edge_props_to_graph(
             edges,
@@ -727,7 +727,9 @@ def annotate_dataframe(self, df, G, edge_vertex_col_names):
                       inplace=True)
 
         # restore the original dtypes
-        self.__update_dataframe_dtypes(new_df, self.__edge_prop_dtypes)
+        new_df = self.__update_dataframe_dtypes(
+            new_df, self.__edge_prop_dtypes
+        )
         for col in df.columns:
             new_df[col] = new_df[col].astype(df[col].dtype)
 
@@ -906,6 +908,7 @@ def __update_dataframe_dtypes(df, column_dtype_dict):
         This also handles converting standard integer dtypes to nullable
         integer dtypes, needed to accommodate NA values in columns.
         """
+        update_cols = {}
         for (col, dtype) in column_dtype_dict.items():
             # If the DataFrame is Pandas and the dtype is an integer type,
             # ensure a nullable integer array is used by specifying the correct
@@ -919,7 +922,11 @@ def __update_dataframe_dtypes(df, column_dtype_dict):
                 # Assigning to df[col] produces a (false?) warning with Pandas,
                 # but assigning to df.loc[:,col] does not update the df in
                 # cudf, so do one or the other based on type.
-                if type(df) is cudf.DataFrame:
-                    df[col] = df[col].astype(dtype_str)
-                else:
-                    df.loc[:, col] = df[col].astype(dtype_str)
+                update_cols[col] = df[col].astype(dtype_str)
+        if not update_cols:
+            return df
+        # Use df.assign to avoid assignment into df in case df is a view:
+        # https://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/user_guide/indexing.html
+        # #returning-a-view-versus-a-copy
+        # Note that this requires all column names to be strings.
+        return df.assign(**update_cols)
diff --git a/python/cugraph/cugraph/tests/test_property_graph.py b/python/cugraph/cugraph/tests/test_property_graph.py
index d4d185dac18..5a91d9d577f 100644
--- a/python/cugraph/cugraph/tests/test_property_graph.py
+++ b/python/cugraph/cugraph/tests/test_property_graph.py
@@ -118,6 +118,21 @@ def setup_function():
 # =============================================================================
 # Pytest fixtures
 # =============================================================================
+@pytest.fixture(scope="function", autouse=True)
+def raise_on_pandas_warning():
+    """Raise when pandas gives SettingWithCopyWarning warning"""
+    # Perhaps we should put this in pytest.ini, pyproject.toml, or conftest.py
+    import warnings
+
+    filters = list(warnings.filters)
+    warnings.filterwarnings(
+        "error",
+        category=pd.core.common.SettingWithCopyWarning
+    )
+    yield
+    warnings.filters = filters
+
+
 df_types = [cudf.DataFrame, pd.DataFrame]