diff --git a/jax/_src/numpy/lax_numpy.py b/jax/_src/numpy/lax_numpy.py
index 8f078ceee..7f3e05f95 100644
--- a/jax/_src/numpy/lax_numpy.py
+++ b/jax/_src/numpy/lax_numpy.py
@@ -710,9 +710,9 @@ def trunc(x: ArrayLike) -> Array:
            [ 1., -0.,  1.],
            [-8.,  5.,  3.]], dtype=float32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike('trunc', x)
+  x = util.ensure_arraylike('trunc', x)
   if dtypes.isdtype(dtypes.dtype(x), ('integral', 'bool')):
-    return lax_internal.asarray(x)
+    return x
   return where(lax.lt(x, _lax_const(x, 0)), ufuncs.ceil(x), ufuncs.floor(x))
 
 
@@ -827,8 +827,8 @@ def convolve(a: ArrayLike, v: ArrayLike, mode: str = 'full', *,
     >>> jnp.convolve(x1, y1)
     Array([ 3. +1.j, 11. -7.j, 15.+10.j,  7. -8.j, 31. +8.j], dtype=complex64)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("convolve", a, v)
-  return _conv(asarray(a), asarray(v), mode=mode, op='convolve',
+  a, v = util.ensure_arraylike("convolve", a, v)
+  return _conv(a, v, mode=mode, op='convolve',
                precision=precision, preferred_element_type=preferred_element_type)
 
 
@@ -913,8 +913,8 @@ def correlate(a: ArrayLike, v: ArrayLike, mode: str = 'valid', *,
     >>> jnp.correlate(x2, y2, mode='full')
     Array([ 3. +1.j,  3.+17.j, 18.+11.j, 27. +4.j,  8.-12.j], dtype=complex64)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("correlate", a, v)
-  return _conv(asarray(a), asarray(v), mode=mode, op='correlate',
+  a, v = util.ensure_arraylike("correlate", a, v)
+  return _conv(a, v, mode=mode, op='correlate',
                precision=precision, preferred_element_type=preferred_element_type)
 
 
@@ -1556,8 +1556,8 @@ def flip(m: ArrayLike, axis: int | Sequence[int] | None = None) -> Array:
            [[8, 7],
             [6, 5]]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("flip", m)
-  return _flip(asarray(m), reductions._ensure_optional_axes(axis))
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("flip", m)
+  return _flip(arr, reductions._ensure_optional_axes(axis))
 
 @partial(jit, static_argnames=('axis',))
 def _flip(m: Array, axis: int | tuple[int, ...] | None = None) -> Array:
@@ -1590,8 +1590,8 @@ def fliplr(m: ArrayLike) -> Array:
     Array([[2, 1],
            [4, 3]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("fliplr", m)
-  return _flip(asarray(m), 1)
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("fliplr", m)
+  return _flip(arr, 1)
 
 
 @export
@@ -1617,8 +1617,8 @@ def flipud(m: ArrayLike) -> Array:
     Array([[3, 4],
            [1, 2]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("flipud", m)
-  return _flip(asarray(m), 0)
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("flipud", m)
+  return _flip(arr, 0)
 
 
 @export
@@ -1786,8 +1786,7 @@ def diff(a: ArrayLike, n: int = 1, axis: int = -1,
     Array([[ 4, -3,  7, -6],
            [ 5, -1, -3, -3]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("diff", a)
-  arr = asarray(a)
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("diff", a)
   n = core.concrete_or_error(operator.index, n, "'n' argument of jnp.diff")
   axis = core.concrete_or_error(operator.index, axis, "'axis' argument of jnp.diff")
   if n == 0:
@@ -1802,22 +1801,22 @@ def diff(a: ArrayLike, n: int = 1, axis: int = -1,
 
   combined: list[Array] = []
   if prepend is not None:
-    util.check_arraylike("diff", prepend)
+    prepend = util.ensure_arraylike("diff", prepend)
     if not ndim(prepend):
       shape = list(arr.shape)
       shape[axis] = 1
       prepend = broadcast_to(prepend, tuple(shape))
-    combined.append(asarray(prepend))
+    combined.append(prepend)
 
   combined.append(arr)
 
   if append is not None:
-    util.check_arraylike("diff", append)
+    append = util.ensure_arraylike("diff", append)
     if not ndim(append):
       shape = list(arr.shape)
       shape[axis] = 1
       append = broadcast_to(append, tuple(shape))
-    combined.append(asarray(append))
+    combined.append(append)
 
   if len(combined) > 1:
     arr = concatenate(combined, axis)
@@ -1888,15 +1887,14 @@ def ediff1d(ary: ArrayLike, to_end: ArrayLike | None = None,
     >>> jnp.ediff1d(a2)
     Array([ -3,   5,   3,  -4,   2, -11,  15], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("ediff1d", ary)
-  arr = ravel(ary)
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("ediff1d", ary).ravel()
   result = lax.sub(arr[1:], arr[:-1])
   if to_begin is not None:
-    util.check_arraylike("ediff1d", to_begin)
-    result = concatenate((ravel(asarray(to_begin, dtype=arr.dtype)), result))
+    to_begin = util.ensure_arraylike("ediff1d", to_begin)
+    result = concatenate((ravel(to_begin.astype(arr.dtype)), result))
   if to_end is not None:
-    util.check_arraylike("ediff1d", to_end)
-    result = concatenate((result, ravel(asarray(to_end, dtype=arr.dtype))))
+    to_end = util.ensure_arraylike("ediff1d", to_end)
+    result = concatenate((result, ravel(to_end.astype(arr.dtype))))
   return result
 
 
@@ -2350,8 +2348,7 @@ def unravel_index(indices: ArrayLike, shape: Shape) -> tuple[Array, ...]:
     >>> jnp.ravel_multi_index(indices_2D, shape)
     Array([1, 3, 5], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("unravel_index", indices)
-  indices_arr = asarray(indices)
+  indices_arr = util.ensure_arraylike("unravel_index", indices)
   # Note: we do not convert shape to an array, because it may be passed as a
   # tuple of weakly-typed values, and asarray() would strip these weak types.
   try:
@@ -2480,8 +2477,8 @@ def squeeze(a: ArrayLike, axis: int | Sequence[int] | None = None) -> Array:
     >>> x.squeeze()
     Array([0, 1, 2], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("squeeze", a)
-  return _squeeze(asarray(a), _ensure_index_tuple(axis) if axis is not None else None)
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("squeeze", a)
+  return _squeeze(arr, _ensure_index_tuple(axis) if axis is not None else None)
 
 @partial(jit, static_argnames=('axis',), inline=True)
 def _squeeze(a: Array, axis: tuple[int, ...]) -> Array:
@@ -2662,8 +2659,8 @@ def moveaxis(a: ArrayLike, source: int | Sequence[int],
     >>> a.transpose(2, 3, 1, 0).shape
     (4, 5, 3, 2)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("moveaxis", a)
-  return _moveaxis(asarray(a), _ensure_index_tuple(source),
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("moveaxis", a)
+  return _moveaxis(arr, _ensure_index_tuple(source),
                    _ensure_index_tuple(destination))
 
 @partial(jit, static_argnames=('source', 'destination'), inline=True)
@@ -3266,8 +3263,7 @@ def broadcast_to(array: ArrayLike, shape: DimSize | Shape) -> Array:
 def _split(op: str, ary: ArrayLike,
            indices_or_sections: int | Sequence[int] | ArrayLike,
            axis: int = 0) -> list[Array]:
-  util.check_arraylike(op, ary)
-  ary = asarray(ary)
+  ary = util.ensure_arraylike(op, ary)
   axis = core.concrete_or_error(operator.index, axis, f"in jax.numpy.{op} argument `axis`")
   size = ary.shape[axis]
   if (isinstance(indices_or_sections, (tuple, list)) or
@@ -3430,8 +3426,7 @@ def hsplit(ary: ArrayLike, indices_or_sections: int | Sequence[int] | ArrayLike)
     - :func:`jax.numpy.array_split`: like ``split``, but allows ``indices_or_sections``
       to be an integer that does not evenly divide the size of the array.
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("hsplit", ary)
-  a = asarray(ary)
+  a = util.ensure_arraylike("hsplit", ary)
   return _split("hsplit", a, indices_or_sections, axis=0 if a.ndim == 1 else 1)
 
 
@@ -3616,7 +3611,7 @@ def round(a: ArrayLike, decimals: int = 0, out: None = None) -> Array:
     >>> jnp.round(x1)
     Array([10., 22., 12., 32.], dtype=float32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("round", a)
+  a = util.ensure_arraylike("round", a)
   decimals = core.concrete_or_error(operator.index, decimals, "'decimals' argument of jnp.round")
   if out is not None:
     raise NotImplementedError("The 'out' argument to jnp.round is not supported.")
@@ -3625,7 +3620,7 @@ def round(a: ArrayLike, decimals: int = 0, out: None = None) -> Array:
     if decimals < 0:
       raise NotImplementedError(
         "integer np.round not implemented for decimals < 0")
-    return asarray(a)  # no-op on integer types
+    return a  # no-op on integer types
 
   def _round_float(x: ArrayLike) -> Array:
     if decimals == 0:
@@ -3742,10 +3737,10 @@ def nan_to_num(x: ArrayLike, copy: bool = True, nan: ArrayLike = 0.0,
     Array([  0.,   0.,   1.,  inf,   2., -inf], dtype=float32)
   """
   del copy
-  util.check_arraylike("nan_to_num", x)
+  x = util.ensure_arraylike("nan_to_num", x)
   dtype = _dtype(x)
   if not issubdtype(dtype, inexact):
-    return asarray(x)
+    return x
   if issubdtype(dtype, complexfloating):
     return lax.complex(
       nan_to_num(lax.real(x), nan=nan, posinf=posinf, neginf=neginf),
@@ -3890,8 +3885,7 @@ def nonzero(a: ArrayLike, *, size: int | None = None,
     >>> nonzero_jit(x, size=5, fill_value=len(x))
     (Array([1, 3, 5, 6, 6], dtype=int32),)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("nonzero", a)
-  arr = asarray(a)
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("nonzero", a)
   del a
   if ndim(arr) == 0:
     raise ValueError("Calling nonzero on 0d arrays is not allowed. "
@@ -4020,8 +4014,7 @@ def unwrap(p: ArrayLike, discont: ArrayLike | None = None,
     a larger discontinuity it adds factors of the period to the data. For periodic signals
     that satisfy this assumption, :func:`unwrap` can recover the original phased signal.
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("unwrap", p)
-  p = asarray(p)
+  p = util.ensure_arraylike("unwrap", p)
   if issubdtype(p.dtype, np.complexfloating):
     raise ValueError("jnp.unwrap does not support complex inputs.")
   if p.shape[axis] == 0:
@@ -4648,8 +4641,7 @@ def unstack(x: ArrayLike, /, *, axis: int = 0) -> tuple[Array, ...]:
     Array([[1, 2, 3],
            [4, 5, 6]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("unstack", x)
-  x = asarray(x)
+  x = util.ensure_arraylike("unstack", x)
   if x.ndim == 0:
     raise ValueError(
       "Unstack requires arrays with rank > 0, however a scalar array was "
@@ -5712,8 +5704,7 @@ def astype(x: ArrayLike, dtype: DTypeLike | None,
     >>> y.astype(int)  # truncates fractional values
     Array([0, 0, 1], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("astype", x)
-  x_arr = asarray(x)
+  x_arr = util.ensure_arraylike("astype", x)
 
   if dtype is None:
     dtype = dtypes.canonicalize_dtype(float_)
@@ -6642,8 +6633,7 @@ def _eye(N: DimSize, M: DimSize | None = None,
   if isinstance(k, int):
     k = lax_internal._clip_int_to_valid_range(k, np.int32,
                                               "`argument `k` of jax.numpy.eye")
-  util.check_arraylike("eye", k)
-  offset = asarray(k)
+  offset = util.ensure_arraylike("eye", k)
   if not (offset.shape == () and dtypes.issubdtype(offset.dtype, np.integer)):
     raise ValueError(f"k must be a scalar integer; got {k}")
   N_int = core.canonicalize_dim(N, "argument of 'N' jnp.eye()")
@@ -6935,14 +6925,14 @@ def _linspace(start: ArrayLike, stop: ArrayLike, num: int = 50,
   dtypes.check_user_dtype_supported(dtype, "linspace")
   if num < 0:
     raise ValueError(f"Number of samples, {num}, must be non-negative.")
-  util.check_arraylike("linspace", start, stop)
+  start, stop = util.ensure_arraylike("linspace", start, stop)
 
   if dtype is None:
     dtype = dtypes.to_inexact_dtype(result_type(start, stop))
   dtype = _jnp_dtype(dtype)
   computation_dtype = dtypes.to_inexact_dtype(dtype)
-  start = asarray(start, dtype=computation_dtype)
-  stop = asarray(stop, dtype=computation_dtype)
+  start = start.astype(computation_dtype)
+  stop = stop.astype(computation_dtype)
 
   bounds_shape = list(lax.broadcast_shapes(shape(start), shape(stop)))
   broadcast_start = broadcast_to(start, bounds_shape)
@@ -7061,9 +7051,9 @@ def _logspace(start: ArrayLike, stop: ArrayLike, num: int = 50,
     dtype = dtypes.to_inexact_dtype(result_type(start, stop))
   dtype = _jnp_dtype(dtype)
   computation_dtype = dtypes.to_inexact_dtype(dtype)
-  util.check_arraylike("logspace", start, stop)
-  start = asarray(start, dtype=computation_dtype)
-  stop = asarray(stop, dtype=computation_dtype)
+  start, stop = util.ensure_arraylike("logspace", start, stop)
+  start = start.astype(computation_dtype)
+  stop = stop.astype(computation_dtype)
   lin = linspace(start, stop, num,
                  endpoint=endpoint, retstep=False, dtype=None, axis=axis)
   return lax.convert_element_type(ufuncs.power(base, lin), dtype)
@@ -7131,9 +7121,9 @@ def _geomspace(start: ArrayLike, stop: ArrayLike, num: int = 50, endpoint: bool
     dtype = dtypes.to_inexact_dtype(result_type(start, stop))
   dtype = _jnp_dtype(dtype)
   computation_dtype = dtypes.to_inexact_dtype(dtype)
-  util.check_arraylike("geomspace", start, stop)
-  start = asarray(start, dtype=computation_dtype)
-  stop = asarray(stop, dtype=computation_dtype)
+  start, stop = util.ensure_arraylike("geomspace", start, stop)
+  start = start.astype(computation_dtype)
+  stop = stop.astype(computation_dtype)
 
   sign = ufuncs.sign(start)
   res = sign * logspace(ufuncs.log10(start / sign), ufuncs.log10(stop / sign),
@@ -7207,8 +7197,7 @@ def meshgrid(*xi: ArrayLike, copy: bool = True, sparse: bool = False,
     [[10 20 30]
      [10 20 30]]
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("meshgrid", *xi)
-  args = [asarray(x) for x in xi]
+  args = list(util.ensure_arraylike_tuple("meshgrid", tuple(xi)))
   if not copy:
     raise ValueError("jax.numpy.meshgrid only supports copy=True")
   if indexing not in ["xy", "ij"]:
@@ -7310,11 +7299,10 @@ def ix_(*args: ArrayLike) -> tuple[Array, ...]:
     Array([[ 20,  40],
            [100, 120]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("ix", *args)
+  args = util.ensure_arraylike_tuple("ix", args)
   n = len(args)
   output = []
   for i, a in enumerate(args):
-    a = asarray(a)
     if len(a.shape) != 1:
       msg = "Arguments to jax.numpy.ix_ must be 1-dimensional, got shape {}"
       raise ValueError(msg.format(a.shape))
@@ -7457,14 +7445,12 @@ def repeat(a: ArrayLike, repeats: ArrayLike, axis: int | None = None, *,
     Array([[1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2],
            [3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("repeat", a)
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("repeat", a)
   core.is_dim(repeats) or util.check_arraylike("repeat", repeats)
 
   if axis is None:
-    a = ravel(a)
+    arr = arr.ravel()
     axis = 0
-  else:
-    a = asarray(a)
 
   axis = core.concrete_or_error(operator.index, axis, "'axis' argument of jnp.repeat()")
   assert isinstance(axis, int)  # to appease mypy
@@ -7482,44 +7468,44 @@ def repeat(a: ArrayLike, repeats: ArrayLike, axis: int | None = None, *,
       "value to `total_repeat_length`.")
 
     # Fast path for when repeats is a scalar.
-    if np.ndim(repeats) == 0 and ndim(a) != 0:
-      input_shape = shape(a)
+    if np.ndim(repeats) == 0 and ndim(arr) != 0:
+      input_shape = arr.shape
       axis = _canonicalize_axis(axis, len(input_shape))
       aux_axis = axis + 1
       aux_shape: list[DimSize] = list(input_shape)
       aux_shape.insert(aux_axis, operator.index(repeats) if core.is_constant_dim(repeats) else repeats)  # type: ignore
-      a = lax.broadcast_in_dim(
-        a, aux_shape, [i for i in range(len(aux_shape)) if i != aux_axis])
+      arr = lax.broadcast_in_dim(
+        arr, aux_shape, [i for i in range(len(aux_shape)) if i != aux_axis])
       result_shape: list[DimSize] = list(input_shape)
       result_shape[axis] *= repeats
-      return reshape(a, result_shape)
+      return arr.reshape(result_shape)
 
     repeats = np.ravel(repeats)
-    if ndim(a) != 0:
-      repeats = np.broadcast_to(repeats, [shape(a)[axis]])
+    if arr.ndim != 0:
+      repeats = np.broadcast_to(repeats, [arr.shape[axis]])
     total_repeat_length = np.sum(repeats)
   else:
     repeats = ravel(repeats)
-    if ndim(a) != 0:
-      repeats = broadcast_to(repeats, [shape(a)[axis]])
+    if arr.ndim != 0:
+      repeats = broadcast_to(repeats, [arr.shape[axis]])
 
   # Special case when a is a scalar.
-  if ndim(a) == 0:
+  if arr.ndim == 0:
     if shape(repeats) == (1,):
-      return full([total_repeat_length], a)
+      return full([total_repeat_length], arr)
     else:
       raise ValueError('`repeat` with a scalar parameter `a` is only '
       'implemented for scalar values of the parameter `repeats`.')
 
   # Special case if total_repeat_length is zero.
   if total_repeat_length == 0:
-    result_shape = list(shape(a))
+    result_shape = list(arr.shape)
     result_shape[axis] = 0
-    return reshape(array([], dtype=_dtype(a)), result_shape)
+    return reshape(array([], dtype=arr.dtype), result_shape)
 
   # If repeats is on a zero sized axis, then return the array.
-  if shape(a)[axis] == 0:
-    return asarray(a)
+  if arr.shape[axis] == 0:
+    return arr
 
   # This implementation of repeat avoid having to instantiate a large.
   # intermediate tensor.
@@ -7533,7 +7519,7 @@ def repeat(a: ArrayLike, repeats: ArrayLike, axis: int | None = None, *,
   block_split_indicators = block_split_indicators.at[scatter_indices].add(1)
   # Cumsum again to get scatter indices for repeat, e.g. [0,1,1,3,3,3,3,3]
   gather_indices = reductions.cumsum(block_split_indicators) - 1
-  return take(a, gather_indices, axis=axis)
+  return take(arr, gather_indices, axis=axis)
 
 
 @export
@@ -8213,9 +8199,7 @@ def fill_diagonal(a: ArrayLike, val: ArrayLike, wrap: bool = False, *,
     raise NotImplementedError("JAX arrays are immutable, must use inplace=False")
   if wrap:
     raise NotImplementedError("wrap=True is not implemented, must use wrap=False")
-  util.check_arraylike("fill_diagonal", a, val)
-  a = asarray(a)
-  val = asarray(val)
+  a, val = util.ensure_arraylike("fill_diagonal", a, val)
   if a.ndim < 2:
     raise ValueError("array must be at least 2-d")
   if a.ndim > 2 and not all(n == a.shape[0] for n in a.shape[1:]):
@@ -8685,11 +8669,10 @@ def delete(
     >>> jit_delete(a, indices, assume_unique_indices=True)
     Array([6, 8, 9], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("delete", arr)
+  a = util.ensure_arraylike("delete", arr)
   if axis is None:
-    arr = ravel(arr)
+    a = a.ravel()
     axis = 0
-  a = asarray(arr)
   axis = _canonicalize_axis(axis, a.ndim)
 
   # Case 1: obj is a static integer.
@@ -8788,9 +8771,7 @@ def insert(arr: ArrayLike, obj: ArrayLike | slice, values: ArrayLike,
     Array([[ 1, 10,  2,  3, 11],
            [ 4, 12,  5,  6, 13]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("insert", arr, 0 if isinstance(obj, slice) else obj, values)
-  a = asarray(arr)
-  values_arr = asarray(values)
+  a, _, values_arr = util.ensure_arraylike("insert", arr, 0 if isinstance(obj, slice) else obj, values)
 
   if axis is None:
     a = ravel(a)
@@ -8960,8 +8941,7 @@ def apply_over_axes(func: Callable[[ArrayLike, int], Array], a: ArrayLike,
     >>> jnp.prod(x, [0, 1], keepdims=True)
     Array([[720]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("apply_over_axes", a)
-  a_arr = asarray(a)
+  a_arr = util.ensure_arraylike("apply_over_axes", a)
   for axis in axes:
     b = func(a_arr, axis)
     if b.ndim == a_arr.ndim:
@@ -9041,9 +9021,8 @@ def dot(a: ArrayLike, b: ArrayLike, *,
     >>> jnp.matmul(a, b).shape
     (3, 2, 1)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("dot", a, b)
+  a, b = util.ensure_arraylike("dot", a, b)
   dtypes.check_user_dtype_supported(preferred_element_type, "dot")
-  a, b = asarray(a), asarray(b)
   if preferred_element_type is None:
     preferred_element_type, output_weak_type = dtypes.result_type(a, b, return_weak_type_flag=True)
   else:
@@ -9124,9 +9103,8 @@ def matmul(a: ArrayLike, b: ArrayLike, *,
     Array([[22, 28],
            [49, 64]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("matmul", a, b)
+  a, b = util.ensure_arraylike("matmul", a, b)
   dtypes.check_user_dtype_supported(preferred_element_type, "matmul")
-  a, b = asarray(a), asarray(b)
   for i, x in enumerate((a, b)):
     if ndim(x) < 1:
       msg = (f"matmul input operand {i} must have ndim at least 1, "
@@ -9368,8 +9346,7 @@ def vecdot(x1: ArrayLike, x2: ArrayLike, /, *, axis: int = -1,
     >>> jnp.linalg.vecdot(a, b, axis=-1)
     Array([20, 47], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("jnp.vecdot", x1, x2)
-  x1_arr, x2_arr = asarray(x1), asarray(x2)
+  x1_arr, x2_arr = util.ensure_arraylike("jnp.vecdot", x1, x2)
   if x1_arr.shape[axis] != x2_arr.shape[axis]:
     raise ValueError(f"axes must match; got shapes {x1_arr.shape} and {x2_arr.shape} with {axis=}")
   x1_arr = jax.numpy.moveaxis(x1_arr, axis, -1)
@@ -9454,9 +9431,8 @@ def tensordot(a: ArrayLike, b: ArrayLike,
     Array([[1, 2, 3],
            [2, 4, 6]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("tensordot", a, b)
+  a, b = util.ensure_arraylike("tensordot", a, b)
   dtypes.check_user_dtype_supported(preferred_element_type, "tensordot")
-  a, b = asarray(a), asarray(b)
   a_ndim = ndim(a)
   b_ndim = ndim(b)
 
@@ -10083,7 +10059,7 @@ def inner(
     >>> jnp.inner(a, b).shape
     (2, 5)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("inner", a, b)
+  a, b = util.ensure_arraylike("inner", a, b)
   if ndim(a) == 0 or ndim(b) == 0:
     a = asarray(a, dtype=preferred_element_type)
     b = asarray(b, dtype=preferred_element_type)
@@ -10320,8 +10296,7 @@ def vander(
            [ 1,  3,  9, 27],
            [ 1,  4, 16, 64]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("vander", x)
-  x = asarray(x)
+  x = util.ensure_arraylike("vander", x)
   if x.ndim != 1:
     raise ValueError("x must be a one-dimensional array")
   N = x.shape[0] if N is None else core.concrete_or_error(
@@ -10440,10 +10415,10 @@ def argmax(a: ArrayLike, axis: int | None = None, out: None = None,
     Array([[1],
            [0]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("argmax", a)
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("argmax", a)
   if out is not None:
     raise NotImplementedError("The 'out' argument to jnp.argmax is not supported.")
-  return _argmax(asarray(a), None if axis is None else operator.index(axis),
+  return _argmax(arr, None if axis is None else operator.index(axis),
                  keepdims=bool(keepdims))
 
 @partial(jit, static_argnames=('axis', 'keepdims'), inline=True)
@@ -10496,10 +10471,10 @@ def argmin(a: ArrayLike, axis: int | None = None, out: None = None,
     Array([[0],
            [2]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("argmin", a)
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("argmin", a)
   if out is not None:
     raise NotImplementedError("The 'out' argument to jnp.argmin is not supported.")
-  return _argmin(asarray(a), None if axis is None else operator.index(axis),
+  return _argmin(arr, None if axis is None else operator.index(axis),
                  keepdims=bool(keepdims))
 
 @partial(jit, static_argnames=('axis', 'keepdims'), inline=True)
@@ -10693,17 +10668,15 @@ def sort(
     - :func:`jax.numpy.lexsort`: lexicographical sort of multiple arrays.
     - :func:`jax.lax.sort`: lower-level function wrapping XLA's Sort operator.
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("sort", a)
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("sort", a)
   if kind is not None:
     raise TypeError("'kind' argument to sort is not supported. Use"
                     " stable=True or stable=False to specify sort stability.")
   if order is not None:
     raise TypeError("'order' argument to sort is not supported.")
   if axis is None:
-    arr = ravel(a)
+    arr = arr.ravel()
     axis = 0
-  else:
-    arr = asarray(a)
   dimension = _canonicalize_axis(axis, arr.ndim)
   result = lax.sort(arr, dimension=dimension, is_stable=stable)
   return lax.rev(result, dimensions=[dimension]) if descending else result
@@ -10742,8 +10715,8 @@ def sort_complex(a: ArrayLike) -> Array:
     Array([[3.+0.j, 4.+0.j, 5.+0.j],
            [2.+0.j, 6.+0.j, 9.+0.j]], dtype=complex64)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("sort_complex", a)
-  a = lax.sort(asarray(a))
+  a = util.ensure_arraylike("sort_complex", a)
+  a = lax.sort(a)
   return lax.convert_element_type(a, dtypes.to_complex_dtype(a.dtype))
 
 
@@ -10810,9 +10783,7 @@ def lexsort(keys: Array | np.ndarray | Sequence[ArrayLike], axis: int = -1) -> A
     Array([[0, 1, 0, 1],
            [1, 0, 1, 0]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  key_tuple = tuple(keys)
-  util.check_arraylike("lexsort", *key_tuple)
-  key_arrays = tuple(asarray(k) for k in key_tuple)
+  key_arrays = util.ensure_arraylike_tuple("lexsort", tuple(keys))
   if len(key_arrays) == 0:
     raise TypeError("need sequence of keys with len > 0 in lexsort")
   if len({shape(key) for key in key_arrays}) > 1:
@@ -10881,18 +10852,15 @@ def argsort(
     - :func:`jax.numpy.lexsort`: lexicographical sort of multiple arrays.
     - :func:`jax.lax.sort`: lower-level function wrapping XLA's Sort operator.
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("argsort", a)
-  arr = asarray(a)
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("argsort", a)
   if kind is not None:
     raise TypeError("'kind' argument to argsort is not supported. Use"
                     " stable=True or stable=False to specify sort stability.")
   if order is not None:
     raise TypeError("'order' argument to argsort is not supported.")
   if axis is None:
-    arr = ravel(arr)
+    arr = arr.ravel()
     axis = 0
-  else:
-    arr = asarray(a)
   dimension = _canonicalize_axis(axis, arr.ndim)
   use_64bit_index = not core.is_constant_dim(arr.shape[dimension]) or arr.shape[dimension] >= (1 << 31)
   iota = lax.broadcasted_iota(int64 if use_64bit_index else int_, arr.shape, dimension)
@@ -10959,8 +10927,7 @@ def partition(a: ArrayLike, kth: int, axis: int = -1) -> Array:
     order is arbitrary and implementation-dependent.
   """
   # TODO(jakevdp): handle NaN values like numpy.
-  util.check_arraylike("partition", a)
-  arr = asarray(a)
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("partition", a)
   if issubdtype(arr.dtype, np.complexfloating):
     raise NotImplementedError("jnp.partition for complex dtype is not implemented.")
   axis = _canonicalize_axis(axis, arr.ndim)
@@ -11031,8 +10998,7 @@ def argpartition(a: ArrayLike, kth: int, axis: int = -1) -> Array:
     order is arbitrary and implementation-dependent.
   """
   # TODO(jakevdp): handle NaN values like numpy.
-  util.check_arraylike("partition", a)
-  arr = asarray(a)
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("partition", a)
   if issubdtype(arr.dtype, np.complexfloating):
     raise NotImplementedError("jnp.argpartition for complex dtype is not implemented.")
   axis = _canonicalize_axis(axis, arr.ndim)
@@ -11123,8 +11089,7 @@ def roll(a: ArrayLike, shift: ArrayLike | Sequence[int],
            [ 9, 10, 11,  8],
            [ 1,  2,  3,  0]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("roll", a)
-  arr = asarray(a)
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("roll", a)
   if axis is None:
     return roll(arr.ravel(), shift, 0).reshape(arr.shape)
   axis = _ensure_index_tuple(axis)
@@ -11262,8 +11227,7 @@ def packbits(a: ArrayLike, axis: int | None = None, bitorder: str = "big") -> Ar
     Array([[1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0],
            [0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1]], dtype=uint8)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("packbits", a)
-  arr = asarray(a)
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("packbits", a)
   if not (issubdtype(arr.dtype, integer) or issubdtype(arr.dtype, bool_)):
     raise TypeError('Expected an input array of integer or boolean data type')
   if bitorder not in ['little', 'big']:
@@ -11357,9 +11321,8 @@ def unpackbits(
     >>> jnp.unpackbits(vals, count=-5)  # specify 5 bits to be trimmed
     Array([1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1], dtype=uint8)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("unpackbits", a)
-  arr = asarray(a)
-  if _dtype(a) != uint8:
+  arr = util.ensure_arraylike("unpackbits", a)
+  if arr.dtype != uint8:
     raise TypeError("Expected an input array of unsigned byte data type")
   if bitorder not in ['little', 'big']:
     raise ValueError("'order' must be either 'little' or 'big'")
@@ -11473,9 +11436,7 @@ def _take(a, indices, axis: int | None = None, out=None, mode=None,
           unique_indices=False, indices_are_sorted=False, fill_value=None):
   if out is not None:
     raise NotImplementedError("The 'out' argument to jnp.take is not supported.")
-  util.check_arraylike("take", a, indices)
-  a = asarray(a)
-  indices = asarray(indices)
+  a, indices = util.ensure_arraylike("take", a, indices)
 
   if axis is None:
     a = ravel(a)
@@ -11618,8 +11579,7 @@ def take_along_axis(
     Array([[3],
            [2]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("take_along_axis", arr, indices)
-  a = asarray(arr)
+  a, indices = util.ensure_arraylike("take_along_axis", arr, indices)
   index_dtype = dtypes.dtype(indices)
   idx_shape = shape(indices)
   if not dtypes.issubdtype(index_dtype, integer):
@@ -11791,10 +11751,7 @@ def put_along_axis(
       "jax.numpy.put_along_axis cannot modify arrays in-place, because JAX arrays"
       "are immutable. Pass inplace=False to instead return an updated array.")
 
-  util.check_arraylike("put_along_axis", arr, indices, values)
-  arr = asarray(arr)
-  indices = asarray(indices)
-  values = asarray(values)
+  arr, indices, values = util.ensure_arraylike("put_along_axis", arr, indices, values)
 
   original_axis = axis
   original_arr_shape = arr.shape
@@ -12814,17 +12771,17 @@ def compress(condition: ArrayLike, a: ArrayLike, axis: int | None = None,
            [ 6,  0,  0,  0],
            [ 9, 12,  0,  0]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("compress", condition, a, fill_value)
-  condition_arr = asarray(condition).astype(bool)
+  condition_arr, arr, fill_value = util.ensure_arraylike("compress", condition, a, fill_value)
+  condition_arr = condition_arr.astype(bool)
   if out is not None:
     raise NotImplementedError("The 'out' argument to jnp.compress is not supported.")
   if condition_arr.ndim != 1:
     raise ValueError("condition must be a 1D array")
   if axis is None:
     axis = 0
-    arr = ravel(a)
+    arr = ravel(arr)
   else:
-    arr = moveaxis(a, axis, 0)
+    arr = moveaxis(arr, axis, 0)
   condition_arr, extra = condition_arr[:arr.shape[0]], condition_arr[arr.shape[0]:]
   arr = arr[:condition_arr.shape[0]]
 
@@ -12965,7 +12922,7 @@ def cov(m: ArrayLike, y: ArrayLike | None = None, rowvar: bool = True,
 
   w: Array | None = None
   if fweights is not None:
-    util.check_arraylike("cov", fweights)
+    fweights = util.ensure_arraylike("cov", fweights)
     if ndim(fweights) > 1:
       raise RuntimeError("cannot handle multidimensional fweights")
     if shape(fweights)[0] != X.shape[1]:
@@ -12973,16 +12930,16 @@ def cov(m: ArrayLike, y: ArrayLike | None = None, rowvar: bool = True,
     if not issubdtype(_dtype(fweights), integer):
       raise TypeError("fweights must be integer.")
     # Ensure positive fweights; note that numpy raises an error on negative fweights.
-    w = asarray(ufuncs.abs(fweights))
+    w = abs(fweights)
   if aweights is not None:
-    util.check_arraylike("cov", aweights)
+    aweights = util.ensure_arraylike("cov", aweights)
     if ndim(aweights) > 1:
       raise RuntimeError("cannot handle multidimensional aweights")
     if shape(aweights)[0] != X.shape[1]:
       raise RuntimeError("incompatible numbers of samples and aweights")
     # Ensure positive aweights: note that numpy raises an error for negative aweights.
-    aweights = ufuncs.abs(aweights)
-    w = asarray(aweights) if w is None else w * asarray(aweights)
+    aweights = abs(aweights)
+    w = aweights if w is None else w * aweights
 
   avg, w_sum = reductions.average(X, axis=1, weights=w, returned=True)
   w_sum = w_sum[0]
@@ -13218,7 +13175,7 @@ def searchsorted(a: ArrayLike, v: ArrayLike, side: str = 'left',
       'sort': _searchsorted_via_sort,
       'compare_all': _searchsorted_via_compare_all,
   }[method]
-  return impl(asarray(a), asarray(v), side, dtype)  # type: ignore
+  return impl(a, v, side, dtype)  # type: ignore
 
 
 @export
@@ -13261,9 +13218,8 @@ def digitize(x: ArrayLike, bins: ArrayLike, right: bool = False,
     >>> jnp.digitize(x, bins)
     Array([2, 1, 1, 2, 0, 0], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("digitize", x, bins)
+  x, bins_arr = util.ensure_arraylike("digitize", x, bins)
   right = core.concrete_or_error(bool, right, "right argument of jnp.digitize()")
-  bins_arr = asarray(bins)
   if bins_arr.ndim != 1:
     raise ValueError(f"digitize: bins must be a 1-dimensional array; got {bins=}")
   if bins_arr.shape[0] == 0:
@@ -13347,7 +13303,7 @@ def piecewise(x: ArrayLike, condlist: Array | Sequence[ArrayLike],
     >>> jnp.piecewise(x, condlist, funclist)
     Array([-40, -30, -20, -10,   0,  10,  20,  30,  40], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("piecewise", x)
+  x_arr = util.ensure_arraylike("piecewise", x)
   nc, nf = len(condlist), len(funclist)
   if nf == nc + 1:
     funclist = funclist[-1:] + funclist[:-1]
@@ -13357,7 +13313,7 @@ def piecewise(x: ArrayLike, condlist: Array | Sequence[ArrayLike],
     raise ValueError(f"with {nc} condition(s), either {nc} or {nc+1} functions are expected; got {nf}")
   consts = {i: c for i, c in enumerate(funclist) if not callable(c)}
   funcs = {i: f for i, f in enumerate(funclist) if callable(f)}
-  return _piecewise(asarray(x), asarray(condlist, dtype=bool_), consts,
+  return _piecewise(x_arr, asarray(condlist, dtype=bool_), consts,
                     frozenset(funcs.items()),  # dict is not hashable.
                     *args, **kw)
 
@@ -13444,7 +13400,8 @@ def place(arr: ArrayLike, mask: ArrayLike, vals: ArrayLike, *,
            [0, 5, 0, 0, 1],
            [0, 0, 3, 0, 0]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("place", arr, mask, vals)
+  data, mask_arr, vals_arr = util.ensure_arraylike("place", arr, mask, vals)
+  vals_arr = vals_arr.ravel()
   data, mask_arr, vals_arr = asarray(arr), asarray(mask), ravel(vals)
   if inplace:
     raise ValueError(
@@ -13526,8 +13483,9 @@ def put(a: ArrayLike, ind: ArrayLike, v: ArrayLike,
            [ 0,  0, 20,  0,  0],
            [ 0,  0,  0,  0, 30]], dtype=int32)
   """
-  util.check_arraylike("put", a, ind, v)
-  arr, ind_arr, v_arr = asarray(a), ravel(ind), ravel(v)
+  arr, ind_arr, _ = util.ensure_arraylike("put", a, ind, v)
+  ind_arr = ind_arr.ravel()
+  v_arr = ravel(v)
   if not arr.size or not ind_arr.size or not v_arr.size:
     return arr
   v_arr = _tile_to_size(v_arr, len(ind_arr))
diff --git a/jax/_src/numpy/util.py b/jax/_src/numpy/util.py
index 6ca5b2f0a..7a5adfc40 100644
--- a/jax/_src/numpy/util.py
+++ b/jax/_src/numpy/util.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ from __future__ import annotations
 
 from collections.abc import Sequence
 from functools import partial
-from typing import Any
+from typing import Any, overload
 
 import warnings
 
@@ -133,6 +133,42 @@ def _arraylike(x: ArrayLike) -> bool:
           hasattr(x, '__jax_array__') or np.isscalar(x))
 
 
+def _arraylike_asarray(x: Any) -> Array:
+  """Convert an array-like object to an array."""
+  if hasattr(x, '__jax_array__'):
+    x = x.__jax_array__()
+  elif isinstance(x, (bool, int, float, complex)):
+    x = dtypes.coerce_to_array(x)
+  return lax.asarray(x)
+
+
+@overload
+def ensure_arraylike(fun_name: str, /) -> tuple[()]: ...
+@overload
+def ensure_arraylike(fun_name: str, a1: Any, /) -> Array: ...
+@overload
+def ensure_arraylike(fun_name: str, a1: Any, a2: Any, /) -> tuple[Array, Array]: ...
+@overload
+def ensure_arraylike(fun_name: str, a1: Any, a2: Any, a3: Any, /) -> tuple[Array, Array, Array]: ...
+@overload
+def ensure_arraylike(fun_name: str, a1: Any, a2: Any, a3: Any, a4: Any, /, *args: Any) -> tuple[Array, ...]: ...
+def ensure_arraylike(fun_name: str, /, *args: Any) -> Array | tuple[Array, ...]:
+  """Check that arguments are arraylike and convert them to arrays."""
+  check_arraylike(fun_name, *args)
+  if len(args) == 1:
+    return _arraylike_asarray(args[0])  # pytype: disable=bad-return-type
+  return tuple(_arraylike_asarray(arg) for arg in args)  # pytype: disable=bad-return-type
+
+
+def ensure_arraylike_tuple(fun_name: str, tup: tuple[Any, ...]) -> tuple[Array, ...]:
+  """Check that argument elements are arraylike and convert to a tuple of arrays.
+
+  This is useful because ensure_arraylike with a single argument returns a single array.
+  """
+  check_arraylike(fun_name, *tup)
+  return tuple(_arraylike_asarray(arg) for arg in tup)
+
+
 def check_arraylike(fun_name: str, *args: Any, emit_warning=False, stacklevel=3):
   """Check if all args fit JAX's definition of arraylike."""
   assert isinstance(fun_name, str), f"fun_name must be a string. Got {fun_name}"