diff --git a/torchvision/prototype/features/_label.py b/torchvision/prototype/features/_label.py
index c61419a61b6..b6b8588e478 100644
--- a/torchvision/prototype/features/_label.py
+++ b/torchvision/prototype/features/_label.py
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-from typing import Any, cast, Optional, Sequence, Union
+from typing import Any, Optional, Sequence, Union
 
 import torch
-from torchvision.prototype.utils._internal import apply_recursively
+from torch.utils._pytree import tree_map
 
 from ._feature import _Feature
 
@@ -43,10 +43,10 @@ def from_category(
         return cls(categories.index(category), categories=categories, **kwargs)
 
     def to_categories(self) -> Any:
-        if not self.categories:
-            raise RuntimeError()
+        if self.categories is None:
+            raise RuntimeError("Label does not have categories")
 
-        return apply_recursively(lambda idx: cast(Sequence[str], self.categories)[idx], self.tolist())
+        return tree_map(lambda idx: self.categories[idx], self.tolist())
 
 
 class OneHotLabel(_Feature):