diff --git a/src/viser/_message_api.py b/src/viser/_message_api.py
index 47b37848b..fa785bc79 100644
--- a/src/viser/_message_api.py
+++ b/src/viser/_message_api.py
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ def _hex_from_hls(h: float, l: float, s: float) -> str:
 
 def _colors_to_uint8(colors: onp.ndarray) -> onpt.NDArray[onp.uint8]:
     """Convert intensity values to uint8. We assume the range [0,1] for floats, and
-    [0,255] for integers."""
+    [0,255] for integers. Accepts any shape."""
     if colors.dtype != onp.uint8:
         if onp.issubdtype(colors.dtype, onp.floating):
             colors = onp.clip(colors * 255.0, 0, 255).astype(onp.uint8)
@@ -429,18 +429,39 @@ def add_point_cloud(
         self,
         name: str,
         points: onp.ndarray,
-        colors: onp.ndarray,
+        colors: onp.ndarray | Tuple[float, float, float],
         point_size: float = 0.1,
         wxyz: Tuple[float, float, float, float] | onp.ndarray = (1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0),
         position: Tuple[float, float, float] | onp.ndarray = (0.0, 0.0, 0.0),
         visible: bool = True,
     ) -> PointCloudHandle:
-        """Add a point cloud to the scene."""
+        """Add a point cloud to the scene.
+
+        Args:
+            name: Name of scene node. Determines location in kinematic tree.
+            points: Location of points. Should have shape (N, 3).
+            colors: Colors of points. Should have shape (N, 3) or (3,).
+            point_size: Size of each point.
+            wxyz: Quaternion rotation to parent frame from local frame (R_pl).
+            position: Translation from parent frame to local frame (t_pl).
+            visible: Whether or not this point cloud is initially visible.
+        """
+        colors_cast = _colors_to_uint8(onp.asarray(colors))
+        assert (
+            len(points.shape) == 2 and points.shape[-1] == 3
+        ), "Shape of points should be (N, 3)."
+        assert colors_cast.shape == points.shape or colors_cast.shape == (
+            3,
+        ), "Shape of colors should be (N, 3) or (3,)."
+
+        if colors_cast.shape == (3,):
+            colors_cast = onp.tile(colors_cast[None, :], reps=(points.shape[0], 1))
+
         self._queue(
             _messages.PointCloudMessage(
                 name=name,
                 points=points.astype(onp.float32),
-                colors=_colors_to_uint8(colors),
+                colors=colors_cast,
                 point_size=point_size,
             )
         )