diff --git a/mlx/dtype.h b/mlx/dtype.h
index cdb8aa591..d52830485 100644
--- a/mlx/dtype.h
+++ b/mlx/dtype.h
@@ -84,6 +84,10 @@ inline bool is_floating_point(const Dtype& t) {
       kindof(t) == Dtype::Kind::c;
 }
 
+inline bool is_complex(const Dtype& t) {
+  return kindof(t) == Dtype::Kind::c;
+}
+
 inline bool is_integral(const Dtype& t) {
   return !(is_floating_point(t));
 }
diff --git a/mlx/random.cpp b/mlx/random.cpp
index e976c2b89..232c458f9 100644
--- a/mlx/random.cpp
+++ b/mlx/random.cpp
@@ -80,6 +80,16 @@ array split(const array& key, int num, StreamOrDevice s /* = {} */) {
   return bits({num, 2}, 4, key, s);
 }
 
+// Get the next representable value below 1.0 for half precision
+// floating point types (fp16, bf16)
+template <typename T>
+T below_one() {
+  T f = T(1.0);
+  uint16_t* m = (uint16_t*)&f;
+  *m -= 1;
+  return f;
+}
+
 array uniform(
     const array& low,
     const array& high,
@@ -87,9 +97,9 @@ array uniform(
     Dtype dtype /* = float32 */,
     const std::optional<array>& key /*= nullopt */,
     StreamOrDevice s /* = {} */) {
-  if (!is_floating_point(dtype)) {
+  if (!is_floating_point(dtype) && !is_complex(dtype)) {
     throw std::invalid_argument(
-        "Can only generate uniform numbers with floating point type.");
+        "Can only generate uniform numbers with real floating point type.");
   }
 
   auto stream = to_stream(s);
@@ -103,12 +113,29 @@ array uniform(
   }
   // Get random values between [0, nextafter(maxval, 0.0f)] since samples must
   // be in [low, high)
-  // TODO replace minimum with modulo uint32_t(nextafter(maxval, 0.0f)) to avoid
-  // clipping effects
-  float maxval = std::numeric_limits<uint32_t>::max();
-  auto upper = array(std::nextafter(maxval, 0.0f), dtype);
-  auto out = minimum(bits(shape, size_of(dtype), key, stream), upper, stream);
-  out = divide(out, array(maxval, dtype), stream);
+  auto get_limits = [&dtype]() {
+    switch (dtype) {
+      case float32:
+        return std::make_pair(
+            array(std::nextafter(1.0f, 0.0f), float32),
+            array(std::numeric_limits<uint32_t>::max(), float32));
+      case float16:
+        return std::make_pair(
+            array(below_one<float16_t>(), float16),
+            array(std::numeric_limits<uint16_t>::max(), float32));
+      case bfloat16:
+        return std::make_pair(
+            array(below_one<bfloat16_t>(), bfloat16),
+            array(std::numeric_limits<uint16_t>::max(), float32));
+      default:
+        throw std::runtime_error("[uniform] Unsupported type.");
+    }
+  };
+
+  auto [upper, maxval] = get_limits();
+  auto out = bits(shape, size_of(dtype), key, stream);
+  out = astype(divide(out, maxval, stream), dtype, stream);
+  out = minimum(out, upper, stream);
   return add(multiply(range, out, stream), low, stream);
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/random_tests.cpp b/tests/random_tests.cpp
index c878205e0..1a387febc 100644
--- a/tests/random_tests.cpp
+++ b/tests/random_tests.cpp
@@ -344,6 +344,27 @@ TEST_CASE("test random uniform") {
     CHECK(all(less(out, array(1.0f))).item<bool>());
     CHECK(all(greater_equal(out, array(-1.0f))).item<bool>());
   }
+
+  // Check float16
+  {
+    auto key = random::key(0);
+    auto out = random::uniform({100}, float16, key);
+    CHECK_EQ(out.dtype(), float16);
+    CHECK(all(less(out, array(1.0f))).item<bool>());
+    CHECK(all(greater_equal(out, array(0.0f))).item<bool>());
+    CHECK(!all(equal(out, array(0.0f))).item<bool>());
+    CHECK(abs(float(mean(out).item<float16_t>()) - 0.5f) < 0.02);
+  }
+
+  {
+    auto key = random::key(0);
+    auto out = random::uniform({100}, bfloat16, key);
+    CHECK_EQ(out.dtype(), bfloat16);
+    CHECK(all(less(out, array(1.0f))).item<bool>());
+    CHECK(all(greater_equal(out, array(0.0f))).item<bool>());
+    CHECK(!all(equal(out, array(0.0f))).item<bool>());
+    CHECK(abs(float(mean(out).item<bfloat16_t>()) - 0.5f) < 0.02);
+  }
 }
 
 TEST_CASE("test random normal") {
@@ -375,6 +396,25 @@ TEST_CASE("test random normal") {
     auto key = random::key(128291);
     auto out = random::normal({100}, key);
     CHECK(all(less(abs(out), array(inf))).item<bool>());
+    CHECK(abs(mean(out).item<float>()) < 0.1);
+  }
+
+  {
+    constexpr float inf = std::numeric_limits<float>::infinity();
+    auto key = random::key(128291);
+    auto out = random::normal({200}, float16, key);
+    CHECK_EQ(out.dtype(), float16);
+    CHECK(all(less(abs(out), array(inf))).item<bool>());
+    CHECK(abs(float(mean(out).item<float16_t>())) < 0.1);
+  }
+
+  {
+    constexpr float inf = std::numeric_limits<float>::infinity();
+    auto key = random::key(128291);
+    auto out = random::normal({200}, bfloat16, key);
+    CHECK_EQ(out.dtype(), bfloat16);
+    CHECK(all(less(abs(out), array(inf))).item<bool>());
+    CHECK(abs(float(mean(out).item<bfloat16_t>())) < 0.1);
   }
 }