diff --git a/mlx/random.h b/mlx/random.h
index 360bdbdb1..ab75eb488 100644
--- a/mlx/random.h
+++ b/mlx/random.h
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
+#include <chrono>
 #include <optional>
 
 #include "mlx/array.h"
@@ -18,12 +19,18 @@ class KeySequence {
 
   // static default
   static KeySequence& default_() {
-    static KeySequence ks(0);
+    static KeySequence ks(get_current_time_seed());
     return ks;
   }
 
  private:
   array key_;
+  static uint64_t get_current_time_seed() {
+    auto now = std::chrono::system_clock::now();
+    return std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::milliseconds>(
+               now.time_since_epoch())
+        .count();
+  }
 };
 
 /** Get a PRNG key from a seed. */