diff --git a/python/kvikio/kvikio/_lib/arr.pxd b/python/kvikio/kvikio/_lib/arr.pxd
index a9d2b7e7f1..47bad21a3b 100644
--- a/python/kvikio/kvikio/_lib/arr.pxd
+++ b/python/kvikio/kvikio/_lib/arr.pxd
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ cdef class Array:
     cpdef Py_ssize_t _nbytes(self)
 
 
+cpdef Array asarray(obj)
+
+
 cdef pair[uintptr_t, size_t] parse_buffer_argument(
     buf, size, bint accept_host_buffer
 ) except *
diff --git a/python/kvikio/kvikio/_lib/arr.pyx b/python/kvikio/kvikio/_lib/arr.pyx
index 793a414b17..45c7430313 100644
--- a/python/kvikio/kvikio/_lib/arr.pyx
+++ b/python/kvikio/kvikio/_lib/arr.pyx
@@ -289,9 +289,18 @@ cdef inline Py_ssize_t _nbytes(Py_ssize_t itemsize,
         nbytes *= shape_mv[i]
     return nbytes
 
-cpdef asarray(obj):
+
+cpdef Array asarray(obj):
+    """Coerce other objects to ``Array``. No-op for existing ``Array``s.
+
+    Args:
+        obj: Object exposing the Python buffer protocol or ``__cuda_array_interface__``
+
+    Returns:
+        Array: An instance of the ``Array`` class
+    """
     if isinstance(obj, Array):
-        return obj
+        return <Array>obj
     else:
         return Array(obj)