diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index f05f2c669ab16..785dc5be73f3e 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -163,9 +163,13 @@ Standard library changes
 
 #### SparseArrays
 
-* Display large sparse matrices with a Unicode "spy" plot of their nonzero patterns, and display small sparse matrices by an `Matrix`-like 2d layout of their contents.
+* Display large sparse matrices with a Unicode "spy" plot of their nonzero patterns,
+  and display small sparse matrices by an `Matrix`-like 2d layout of their contents.
+* New convenient `spdiagm([m, n,] v::AbstractVector)` methods which call
+  `spdiagm([m, n,] 0 => v)`, consistently with their dense `diagm` counterparts. ([#37684])
 
 #### Dates
+
 * `Quarter` period is defined ([#35519]).
 * Zero-valued `FixedPeriod`s and `OtherPeriod`s now compare equal, e.g.,
   `Year(0) == Day(0)`. The behavior of non-zero `Period`s is not changed. ([#37486])
@@ -180,6 +184,7 @@ Standard library changes
 
 
 #### UUIDs
+
 * Change `uuid1` and `uuid4` to use `Random.RandomDevice()` as default random number generator ([#35872]).
 * Added `parse(::Type{UUID}, ::AbstractString)` method
 
diff --git a/stdlib/SparseArrays/src/sparsematrix.jl b/stdlib/SparseArrays/src/sparsematrix.jl
index fbb2adf3b66a1..7eb7f0dc529cf 100644
--- a/stdlib/SparseArrays/src/sparsematrix.jl
+++ b/stdlib/SparseArrays/src/sparsematrix.jl
@@ -3491,37 +3491,55 @@ function istril(A::AbstractSparseMatrixCSC)
     return true
 end
 
+_nnz(v::AbstractSparseVector) = nnz(v)
+_nnz(v::AbstractVector) = length(v)
+
+function _indices(v::AbstractSparseVector, row, col)
+    ix = nonzeroinds(v)
+    return (row .+ ix, col .+ ix)
+end
+function _indices(v::AbstractVector, row, col)
+    veclen = length(v)
+    return (row+1:row+veclen, col+1:col+veclen)
+end
+
+_nzvals(v::AbstractSparseVector) = nonzeros(v)
+_nzvals(v::AbstractVector) = v
 
 function spdiagm_internal(kv::Pair{<:Integer,<:AbstractVector}...)
     ncoeffs = 0
     for p in kv
-        ncoeffs += length(p.second)
+        ncoeffs += _nnz(p.second)
     end
     I = Vector{Int}(undef, ncoeffs)
     J = Vector{Int}(undef, ncoeffs)
     V = Vector{promote_type(map(x -> eltype(x.second), kv)...)}(undef, ncoeffs)
     i = 0
+    m = 0
+    n = 0
     for p in kv
-        dia = p.first
-        vect = p.second
-        numel = length(vect)
-        if dia < 0
-            row = -dia
+        k = p.first
+        v = p.second
+        if k < 0
+            row = -k
             col = 0
-        elseif dia > 0
+        elseif k > 0
             row = 0
-            col = dia
+            col = k
         else
             row = 0
             col = 0
         end
+        numel = _nnz(v)
         r = 1+i:numel+i
-        I[r] = row+1:row+numel
-        J[r] = col+1:col+numel
-        copyto!(view(V, r), vect)
+        I[r], J[r] = _indices(v, row, col)
+        copyto!(view(V, r), _nzvals(v))
+        veclen = length(v)
+        m = max(m, row + veclen)
+        n = max(n, col + veclen)
         i += numel
     end
-    return I, J, V
+    return I, J, V, m, n
 end
 
 """
@@ -3547,9 +3565,39 @@ julia> spdiagm(-1 => [1,2,3,4], 1 => [4,3,2,1])
 """
 spdiagm(kv::Pair{<:Integer,<:AbstractVector}...) = _spdiagm(nothing, kv...)
 spdiagm(m::Integer, n::Integer, kv::Pair{<:Integer,<:AbstractVector}...) = _spdiagm((Int(m),Int(n)), kv...)
+
+"""
+    spdiagm(v::AbstractVector)
+    spdiagm(m::Integer, n::Integer, v::AbstractVector)
+
+Construct a sparse matrix with elements of the vector as diagonal elements.
+By default (no given `m` and `n`), the matrix is square and its size is given
+by `length(v)`, but a non-square size `m`×`n` can be specified by passing `m`
+and `n` as the first arguments.
+
+!!! compat "Julia 1.6"
+    These functions require at least Julia 1.6.
+
+# Examples
+```jldoctest
+julia> spdiagm([1,2,3])
+3×3 SparseMatrixCSC{Int64, Int64} with 3 stored entries:
+ 1  ⋅  ⋅
+ ⋅  2  ⋅
+ ⋅  ⋅  3
+
+julia> spdiagm(sparse([1,0,3]))
+3×3 SparseMatrixCSC{Int64, Int64} with 2 stored entries:
+ 1  ⋅  ⋅
+ ⋅  ⋅  ⋅
+ ⋅  ⋅  3
+```
+"""
+spdiagm(v::AbstractVector) = _spdiagm(nothing, 0 => v)
+spdiagm(m::Integer, n::Integer, v::AbstractVector) = _spdiagm((Int(m), Int(n)), 0 => v)
+
 function _spdiagm(size, kv::Pair{<:Integer,<:AbstractVector}...)
-    I, J, V = spdiagm_internal(kv...)
-    mmax, nmax = dimlub(I), dimlub(J)
+    I, J, V, mmax, nmax = spdiagm_internal(kv...)
     mnmax = max(mmax, nmax)
     m, n = something(size, (mnmax,mnmax))
     (m ≥ mmax && n ≥ nmax) || throw(DimensionMismatch("invalid size=$size"))
diff --git a/stdlib/SparseArrays/test/sparse.jl b/stdlib/SparseArrays/test/sparse.jl
index 79e5a98d6bc22..7c228fd7f619d 100644
--- a/stdlib/SparseArrays/test/sparse.jl
+++ b/stdlib/SparseArrays/test/sparse.jl
@@ -1750,6 +1750,13 @@ end
     # promotion
     @test spdiagm(0 => [1,2], 1 => [3.5], -1 => [4+5im]) == [1 3.5; 4+5im 2]
 
+    # convenience constructor
+    @test spdiagm(x)::SparseMatrixCSC == diagm(x)
+    @test nnz(spdiagm(x)) == count(!iszero, x)
+    @test nnz(spdiagm(sparse([x; 0]))) == 2
+    @test spdiagm(3, 4, x)::SparseMatrixCSC == diagm(3, 4, x)
+    @test nnz(spdiagm(3, 4, sparse([x; 0]))) == 2
+
     # non-square:
     for m=1:4, n=2:4
         if m < 2 || n < 3
@@ -1760,6 +1767,11 @@ end
             @test spdiagm(m,n, 0 => x,  1 => x) == M
         end
     end
+
+    # sparsity-preservation
+    x = sprand(10, 0.2); y = ones(9)
+    @test spdiagm(0 => x, 1 => y) == diagm(0 => x, 1 => y)
+    @test nnz(spdiagm(0 => x, 1 => y)) == length(y) + nnz(x)
 end
 
 @testset "diag" begin