diff --git a/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/_src/handlers/standard_checkpoint_handler.py b/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/_src/handlers/standard_checkpoint_handler.py
index acbf3640..25adba96 100644
--- a/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/_src/handlers/standard_checkpoint_handler.py
+++ b/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/_src/handlers/standard_checkpoint_handler.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import dataclasses
+import numbers
 from typing import Any, List, Optional
 
 from absl import logging
@@ -91,6 +92,11 @@ def _validate_save_state(
   ):
     if item is None:
       raise ValueError('Must provide item to save.')
+    if isinstance(item, jax.Array | numbers.Number):
+      raise ValueError(
+          'StandardCheckpointHandler / StandardSave does not support single '
+          'arrays or scalars. Use ArrayCheckpointHandler / ArraySave'
+      )
     if save_args is None:
       save_args = jax.tree.map(lambda x: None, item)
 
diff --git a/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/single_host_test.py b/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/single_host_test.py
index 2eeea371..ab98484f 100644
--- a/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/single_host_test.py
+++ b/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/single_host_test.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 from orbax.checkpoint import test_utils
 from orbax.checkpoint._src.handlers import pytree_checkpoint_handler
+from orbax.checkpoint._src.handlers import standard_checkpoint_handler_test_utils
 from orbax.checkpoint._src.serialization import type_handlers
 import tensorstore as ts
 
@@ -147,6 +148,17 @@ def test_chunk_byte_size(self):
     np.testing.assert_array_equal(x, restored_tree['x'])
     assert isinstance(restored_tree['x'], jax.Array)
 
+  @parameterized.parameters({'x': jnp.array([1, 2])}, {'x': 1})
+  def test_save_singular_array_with_standard_checkpoint_handler(self, x):
+    handler = standard_checkpoint_handler_test_utils.StandardCheckpointHandler()
+    with self.assertRaisesRegex(
+        ValueError, '.*Use ArrayCheckpointHandler / ArraySave.*'
+    ):
+      handler.save(
+          self.ckpt_dir,
+          args=standard_checkpoint_handler_test_utils.StandardSaveArgs(x),
+      )
+
   @parameterized.product(
       dtype=[
           jnp.bfloat16,