diff --git a/mlx/ops.cpp b/mlx/ops.cpp
index 53f612642..aecf3a65c 100644
--- a/mlx/ops.cpp
+++ b/mlx/ops.cpp
@@ -1640,17 +1640,21 @@ array var(
     int ddof /* = 0*/,
     StreamOrDevice s /* = {}*/) {
   auto dtype = at_least_float(a.dtype());
-  auto mu2 = square(mean(a, axes, keepdims, s), s);
-  auto a2 = mean(square(a, s), axes, keepdims, s);
-  auto v = subtract(a2, mu2, s);
+  auto mu = mean(a, axes, /* keepdims= */ true, s);
+  auto v = sum(square(subtract(a, mu, s), s), axes, keepdims, s);
 
   if (ddof != 0) {
-    auto nelements = number_of_elements(a, axes, false, dtype, s);
-    auto factor = divide(
-        nelements,
-        maximum(subtract(nelements, array(ddof, dtype), s), array(0, dtype), s),
+    auto normalizer = maximum(
+        subtract(
+            number_of_elements(a, axes, false, dtype, s),
+            array(ddof, dtype),
+            s),
+        array(0, dtype),
         s);
-    v = multiply(v, factor, s);
+    v = divide(v, normalizer, s);
+  } else {
+    auto normalizer = number_of_elements(a, axes, true, dtype, s);
+    v = multiply(v, normalizer, s);
   }
 
   return v;