diff --git a/src/rand/highlevel.jl b/src/rand/highlevel.jl
index 3807d22d..995a96bf 100644
--- a/src/rand/highlevel.jl
+++ b/src/rand/highlevel.jl
@@ -96,6 +96,16 @@ rand_logn(rng::RNG, T::LognormalType, dim1::Integer, dims::Integer...; kwargs...
 rand_poisson(rng::RNG, T::PoissonType, dim1::Integer, dims::Integer...; kwargs...) =
     rand_poisson(rng, T, Dims((dim1, dims...)); kwargs...)
 
+# scalar (slow, but provided for consistency)
+Random.rand(rng::RNG, T::UniformType=Float32) =
+    Random.rand!(rng, CuArray{T}(undef, 1))[1]
+Random.randn(rng::RNG, T::NormalType=Float32; kwargs...) =
+    Random.randn!(rng, CuArray{T}(undef, 2); kwargs...)[1]
+rand_logn(rng::RNG, T::LognormalType=Float32; kwargs...) =
+    rand_logn!(rng, CuArray{T}(undef, 2); kwargs...)[1]
+rand_poisson(rng::RNG, T::PoissonType=Cuint; kwargs...) =
+    rand_poisson!(rng, CuArray{T}(undef, 1); kwargs...)[1]
+
 
 ## functions that dispatch to either CURAND or GPUArrays
 
@@ -121,6 +131,12 @@ rand_logn(T::LognormalType, dim1::Integer, dims::Integer...; kwargs...) =
 rand_poisson(T::PoissonType, dim1::Integer, dims::Integer...; kwargs...) =
     rand_poisson(generator(), T, Dims((dim1, dims...)); kwargs...)
 
+# scalar
+rand(T::UniformType=Float32) = Random.rand(generator(), T)
+randn(T::NormalType=Float32; kwargs...) = Random.randn(generator(), T; kwargs...)
+rand_logn(T::LognormalType=Float32; kwargs...) = rand_logn(generator(), T; kwargs...)
+rand_poisson(T::PoissonType=Cuint; kwargs...) = rand_poisson(generator(), T; kwargs...)
+
 # GPUArrays in-place
 Random.rand!(A::CuArray) = Random.rand!(GPUArrays.global_rng(A), A)
 Random.randn!(A::CuArray; kwargs...) =
@@ -146,6 +162,12 @@ rand_logn(T::Type, dim1::Integer, dims::Integer...; kwargs...) =
 rand_poisson(T::Type, dim1::Integer, dims::Integer...; kwargs...) =
     rand_poisson!(CuArray{T}(undef, dim1, dims...); kwargs...)
 
+# scalar (slow, but provided for consistency)
+rand(T::Type) = Random.rand!(CuArray{T}(undef, 1))[1]
+randn(T::Type; kwargs...) = Random.randn!(CuArray{T}(undef, 1); kwargs...)[1]
+rand_logn(T::Type; kwargs...) = rand_logn!(CuArray{T}(undef, 1); kwargs...)[1]
+rand_poisson(T::Type; kwargs...) = rand_poisson!(CuArray{T}(undef, 1); kwargs...)[1]
+
 # untyped out-of-place
 rand(dim1::Integer, dims::Integer...) =
     Random.rand(generator(), Dims((dim1, dims...)))
diff --git a/test/rand.jl b/test/rand.jl
index 6cb93305..4e453709 100644
--- a/test/rand.jl
+++ b/test/rand.jl
@@ -52,4 +52,18 @@ end
 @test_throws ErrorException rand_logn!(CuArray{Cuint}(undef, 10))
 @test_throws ErrorException rand_poisson!(CuArray{Float64}(undef, 10))
 
+# scalars
+@allowscalar begin
+    for f in (CuArrays.rand, CuArrays.randn, CuArrays.rand_logn, CuArrays.rand_poisson)
+        @test isa(f(), Number)
+    end
+    for (f,T) in ((CuArrays.rand,Float32), (CuArrays.randn,Float32), (CuArrays.rand_logn,Float32),
+                (CuArrays.rand,Float64), (CuArrays.randn,Float64), (CuArrays.rand_logn,Float64),
+                (CuArrays.rand_poisson,Cuint),
+                (rand,Float32), (randn,Float32),
+                (rand,Float64), (randn,Float64))
+        @test isa(f(T), T)
+    end
+end
+
 end