diff --git a/checkpoint/CHANGELOG.md b/checkpoint/CHANGELOG.md
index 9fba7c0d9..a6c064c7d 100644
--- a/checkpoint/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/checkpoint/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - Add colocated runtime helpers for Pathways MTC.
 - #v1 Centralize `StorageOptions` into `ArrayOptions` and implement field-level
 merging.
+- Support single Jax.random.key item as a PyTree.
 
 ## [0.11.36] - 2026-04-14
 
diff --git a/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/_src/handlers/base_pytree_checkpoint_handler.py b/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/_src/handlers/base_pytree_checkpoint_handler.py
index ce6f90fb5..215d06a1b 100644
--- a/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/_src/handlers/base_pytree_checkpoint_handler.py
+++ b/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/_src/handlers/base_pytree_checkpoint_handler.py
@@ -648,7 +648,7 @@ async def async_save(
     """
     start_time = time.time()
     item = args.item
-    if not item:
+    if item is None:
       raise ValueError('Found empty item.')
     save_args = args.save_args
     ocdbt_target_data_file_size = args.ocdbt_target_data_file_size
diff --git a/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/_src/serialization/jax_array_handlers.py b/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/_src/serialization/jax_array_handlers.py
index 7b75807ee..111a8f623 100644
--- a/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/_src/serialization/jax_array_handlers.py
+++ b/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/_src/serialization/jax_array_handlers.py
@@ -723,7 +723,7 @@ async def _deserialize_shardings(
           ' checkpoint was saved with.'
       )
       assert info.parent_dir is not None
-      if info.name:
+      if info.name is not None:
         tspec_sharding = ts_utils.get_sharding_tensorstore_spec(
             info.parent_dir.as_posix(), info.name
         )
diff --git a/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/single_host_test.py b/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/single_host_test.py
index c192a8923..7a18863ce 100644
--- a/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/single_host_test.py
+++ b/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/single_host_test.py
@@ -66,6 +66,34 @@ def test_save_and_restore_jax_array(self, use_zarr3):
     np.testing.assert_array_equal(x, restored_tree['x'])
     assert isinstance(restored_tree['x'], jax.Array)
 
+  @parameterized.named_parameters(
+      # using lambda to avoid jax creation during class initialization
+      ('array', lambda: jnp.array([1, 2, 3])),
+      ('random_key', lambda: jax.random.key(1)),
+      ('random_prng', lambda: jax.random.PRNGKey(2)),
+      ('int', lambda: 1),
+      ('float', lambda: 1.0),
+      ('np', lambda: np.array([1, 2, 3])),
+  )
+  def test_save_and_restore_single_item(self, value_fn):
+    value = value_fn()
+    handler = PyTreeCheckpointHandler(use_ocdbt=True, use_zarr3=True)
+    handler.save(
+        self.ckpt_dir,
+        args=pytree_checkpoint_handler.PyTreeSaveArgs(value),
+    )
+    restored_tree = handler.restore(self.ckpt_dir)
+    test_utils.assert_tree_equal(self, value, restored_tree)
+
+    # Special validation for jax.random.key type.
+    if isinstance(value, jax.Array) and jax.dtypes.issubdtype(
+        value.dtype, jax.dtypes.prng_key
+    ):
+      self.assertIsInstance(restored_tree, jax.Array)
+      self.assertTrue(
+          jax.dtypes.issubdtype(restored_tree.dtype, jax.dtypes.prng_key)
+      )
+
   def test_save_and_restore_zarrv3_jax_array_default_chunk_size(self):
     handler = PyTreeCheckpointHandler(use_zarr3=True)
     key = jax.random.PRNGKey(0)