diff --git a/pandas/core/algorithms.py b/pandas/core/algorithms.py
index dc2eefc00e2b6..277c0f189df7a 100644
--- a/pandas/core/algorithms.py
+++ b/pandas/core/algorithms.py
@@ -931,7 +931,7 @@ def value_counts_internal(
 
             # For backwards compatibility, we let Index do its normal type
             #  inference, _except_ for if if infers from object to bool.
-            idx = Index(keys, dtype=input_dtype)
+            idx = Index(keys, dtype=input_dtype if input_dtype != "float16" else None)
             if idx.dtype == bool and keys.dtype == object:
                 idx = idx.astype(object)
             elif (