diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/column.py b/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/column.py
index c13ec33c51c..79ec25c1843 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/column.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/core/column/column.py
@@ -1866,7 +1866,7 @@ def as_memoryview(arbitrary: Any) -> Optional[memoryview]:
 
 def as_column(
     arbitrary: Any,
-    nan_as_null: Optional[bool] = None,
+    nan_as_null: Optional[bool] = False,
     dtype: Optional[Dtype] = None,
     length: Optional[int] = None,
 ):
@@ -1918,20 +1918,18 @@ def as_column(
         if dtype is not None:
             column = column.astype(dtype)
         return column
-    elif isinstance(arbitrary, ColumnBase):
-        if dtype is not None:
-            return arbitrary.astype(dtype)
+    elif isinstance(arbitrary, (ColumnBase, cudf.Series, cudf.BaseIndex)):
+        if isinstance(arbitrary, cudf.Series):
+            column = arbitrary._column
+        elif isinstance(arbitrary, cudf.BaseIndex):
+            column = arbitrary._values
         else:
-            return arbitrary
-    elif isinstance(arbitrary, cudf.Series):
-        data = arbitrary._column
-        if dtype is not None:
-            data = data.astype(dtype)
-    elif isinstance(arbitrary, cudf.BaseIndex):
-        data = arbitrary._values
+            column = arbitrary
+        if column.dtype.kind == "f" and (nan_as_null is None or nan_as_null):
+            column = column.nans_to_nulls()
         if dtype is not None:
-            data = data.astype(dtype)
-
+            column = column.astype(dtype)
+        return column
     elif hasattr(arbitrary, "__cuda_array_interface__"):
         desc = arbitrary.__cuda_array_interface__
         shape = desc["shape"]
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/core/reshape.py b/python/cudf/cudf/core/reshape.py
index 3cbe58ed39c..a7b2027f9f0 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/core/reshape.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/core/reshape.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright (c) 2018-2023, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+# Copyright (c) 2018-2024, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
 
 import itertools
 import warnings
@@ -770,7 +770,7 @@ def get_dummies(
                 result_data.update(col_enc_data)
             return cudf.DataFrame._from_data(result_data, index=df._index)
     else:
-        ser = cudf.Series(df)
+        ser = cudf.Series(df, nan_as_null=False)
         unique = _get_unique(column=ser._column, dummy_na=dummy_na)
         data = _one_hot_encode_column(
             column=ser._column,
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/core/series.py b/python/cudf/cudf/core/series.py
index bc1eaef86db..1208b9382fd 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/core/series.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/core/series.py
@@ -1705,7 +1705,7 @@ def _concat(cls, objs, axis=0, index=True):
         if len(objs):
             col = col._with_type_metadata(objs[0].dtype)
 
-        return cls(data=col, index=index, name=name)
+        return cls._from_data({name: col}, index=index)
 
     @property  # type: ignore
     @_cudf_nvtx_annotate
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_dlpack.py b/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_dlpack.py
index 6e34817c4fd..1a2890f09a1 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_dlpack.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_dlpack.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright (c) 2019-2022, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+# Copyright (c) 2019-2023, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
 
 import itertools
 from contextlib import ExitStack as does_not_raise
diff --git a/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_series.py b/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_series.py
index 36033a72479..848da861acc 100644
--- a/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_series.py
+++ b/python/cudf/cudf/tests/test_series.py
@@ -2616,6 +2616,14 @@ def test_series_error_nan_non_float_dtypes():
         s[0] = np.nan
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("klass", [cudf.Index, cudf.Series])
+def test_nan_as_null_from_cudf_objects(klass):
+    data = klass(pa.array([float("nan")]))
+    result = klass(data, nan_as_null=True)
+    expected = klass(pa.array([None], type=pa.float64()))
+    assert_eq(result, expected)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "dtype",
     [