diff --git a/jax/_src/pallas/mosaic/sc_lowering.py b/jax/_src/pallas/mosaic/sc_lowering.py
index 029c87f39c0d..788758e13fbc 100644
--- a/jax/_src/pallas/mosaic/sc_lowering.py
+++ b/jax/_src/pallas/mosaic/sc_lowering.py
@@ -323,12 +323,6 @@ def _load_lowering_rule(
   assert isinstance(ref_aval, state.AbstractRef)
   [out_aval] = ctx.avals_out
   assert isinstance(out_aval, jax_core.ShapedArray)
-  in_smem = ref_aval.memory_space is tpu_core.MemorySpace.SMEM
-  if in_smem:
-    if out_aval.ndim:
-      raise NotImplementedError("Get can only load scalars from SMEM")
-  else:
-    _check_aval_is_supported("Get", out_aval)
 
   transforms = list(jax.tree.unflatten(tree, flat_transforms))
   if not transforms or not isinstance(transforms[-1], indexing.NDIndexer):
@@ -350,11 +344,16 @@ def _load_lowering_rule(
         "Get only supports slices with stride 1, got {strides}"
     )
 
-  if in_smem:
+  if not out_aval.ndim:
     if mask is not None:
-      raise NotImplementedError("Get does not support masked loads from SMEM")
+      raise NotImplementedError("Get does not support masked scalar loads")
     return memref.load(ref, starts)
 
+  if ref_aval.memory_space is tpu_core.MemorySpace.SMEM:
+    raise NotImplementedError("Get can only load scalars from SMEM")
+  else:
+    _check_aval_is_supported("Get", out_aval)
+
   vec_type = ir.VectorType.get(
       out_aval.shape, _dtype_to_ir_type(ref_aval.dtype)
   )
@@ -378,13 +377,6 @@ def _store_lowering_rule(
   [out_aval] = ctx.avals_out
   assert isinstance(out_aval, jax_core.ShapedArray)
 
-  in_smem = ref_aval.memory_space is tpu_core.MemorySpace.SMEM
-  if in_smem:
-    if out_aval.ndim:
-      raise NotImplementedError("Swap can only store scalars to SMEM")
-  else:
-    _check_aval_is_supported("Swap", out_aval)
-
   transforms = list(jax.tree.unflatten(tree, flat_transforms))
   if not transforms or not isinstance(transforms[-1], indexing.NDIndexer):
     ref_shape = (
@@ -409,17 +401,22 @@ def _store_lowering_rule(
         "Swap only supports slices with stride 1, got {strides}"
     )
 
-  if in_smem:
+  if not out_aval.ndim:
     if mask is not None:
-      raise NotImplementedError("Swap does not support masked stores to SMEM")
+      raise NotImplementedError("Swap does not support masked scalar stores")
     if add:
       # TODO(slebedev): We can use memref.atomic_rmw here, but the SC compiler
       # doesn't support it yet.
-      raise NotImplementedError("Swap does not support atomic adds to SMEM")
+      raise NotImplementedError("Swap does not support atomic scalar adds")
     old_val = memref.load(ref, starts)
     memref.store(val, ref, starts)
     return old_val
 
+  if ref_aval.memory_space is tpu_core.MemorySpace.SMEM:
+    raise NotImplementedError("Swap can only store scalars to SMEM")
+  else:
+    _check_aval_is_supported("Swap", out_aval)
+
   vec_type = ir.VectorType.get(
       out_aval.shape, _dtype_to_ir_type(ref_aval.dtype)
   )
diff --git a/tests/pallas/tpu_sparsecore_pallas_test.py b/tests/pallas/tpu_sparsecore_pallas_test.py
index 931c500aa783..2b7f81b20187 100644
--- a/tests/pallas/tpu_sparsecore_pallas_test.py
+++ b/tests/pallas/tpu_sparsecore_pallas_test.py
@@ -728,6 +728,22 @@ def kernel(x_ref, o_ref):
           x_ref.at[pl.ds(2, 8)], mask=jnp.arange(8) % 2 == 0)
     np.testing.assert_array_equal(kernel(x)[5:13:2], x[2:6])
 
+  def test_scalar_load_store(self):
+
+    @vector_subcore_kernel(
+        in_specs=(pl.BlockSpec(memory_space=pltpu.HBM),),
+        out_specs=pl.BlockSpec(memory_space=pltpu.VMEM),
+        out_shape=jax.ShapeDtypeStruct((8,), jnp.int32),
+        scratch_shapes=(pltpu.VMEM((1,), jnp.int32),),
+    )
+    def kernel(x_ref, o_ref, tmp_ref):
+      pltpu.sync_copy(x_ref, tmp_ref)
+      o_ref[...] = lax.broadcast(tmp_ref[0], o_ref.shape)
+
+    np.testing.assert_array_equal(
+        kernel(jnp.ones((1,), jnp.int32)), jnp.ones((8,), jnp.int32)
+    )
+
   @parameterized.named_parameters(
       ("mixed", [0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0], 2),
       ("all_zero", [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], 8),