diff --git a/python/src/convert.cpp b/python/src/convert.cpp
index 5f4cb127d..9c4d71b1b 100644
--- a/python/src/convert.cpp
+++ b/python/src/convert.cpp
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ nb::ndarray<NDParams...> mlx_to_nd_array_impl(
       a.data<T>(),
       a.ndim(),
       shape.data(),
-      nb::none(),
+      /* owner= */ nb::none(),
       strides.data(),
       t.value_or(nb::dtype<T>()));
 }
@@ -151,7 +151,8 @@ nb::ndarray<NDParams...> mlx_to_nd_array(const array& a) {
     case float16:
       return mlx_to_nd_array_impl<float16_t, NDParams...>(a);
     case bfloat16:
-      return mlx_to_nd_array_impl<bfloat16_t, NDParams...>(a, nb::bfloat16);
+      throw nb::type_error(
+          "bfloat16 arrays cannot be converted directly to NumPy.");
     case float32:
       return mlx_to_nd_array_impl<float, NDParams...>(a);
     case complex64: