diff --git a/cubed/array_api/creation_functions.py b/cubed/array_api/creation_functions.py
index 8a4cf7be..a2b758d9 100644
--- a/cubed/array_api/creation_functions.py
+++ b/cubed/array_api/creation_functions.py
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ def asarray(
 
 
 def empty(shape, *, dtype=None, device=None, chunks="auto", spec=None) -> "Array":
+    shape = normalize_shape(shape)
     return empty_virtual_array(
         shape, dtype=dtype, device=device, chunks=chunks, spec=spec, hidden=False
     )