diff --git a/mlx/backend/cpu/simd/base_simd.h b/mlx/backend/cpu/simd/base_simd.h
index 775f5dfd10..9529312c82 100644
--- a/mlx/backend/cpu/simd/base_simd.h
+++ b/mlx/backend/cpu/simd/base_simd.h
@@ -99,7 +99,6 @@ DEFAULT_UNARY(atanh, std::atanh)
 DEFAULT_UNARY(ceil, std::ceil)
 DEFAULT_UNARY(conj, std::conj)
 DEFAULT_UNARY(cosh, std::cosh)
-DEFAULT_UNARY(expm1, std::expm1)
 DEFAULT_UNARY(floor, std::floor)
 DEFAULT_UNARY(log, std::log)
 DEFAULT_UNARY(log10, std::log10)
@@ -130,6 +129,16 @@ Simd<T, 1> log1p(Simd<T, 1> in) {
   }
 }
 
+template <typename T>
+Simd<T, 1> expm1(Simd<T, 1> in) {
+  if constexpr (is_complex<T>) {
+    // std::expm1 has no complex overload; use the defining identity.
+    return Simd<T, 1>{std::exp(in.value) - T(1)};
+  } else {
+    return Simd<T, 1>{std::expm1(in.value)};
+  }
+}
+
 template <typename T>
 Simd<T, 1> log2(Simd<T, 1> in) {
   if constexpr (is_complex<T>) {
diff --git a/python/tests/test_ops.py b/python/tests/test_ops.py
index 660ea76c8d..476173b2b7 100644
--- a/python/tests/test_ops.py
+++ b/python/tests/test_ops.py
@@ -1038,6 +1038,14 @@ def test_expm1(self):
         np.seterr(over=errs["over"])
         self.assertTrue(np.allclose(result, expected, rtol=1e-3, atol=1e-4))
 
+        # Complex inputs: expm1(z) = exp(z) - 1, not expm1(Re(z)).
+        c = np.array(
+            [0.5 + 0.7j, -1.0 + 2.0j, 0.0 + 1.0j, 2.0 - 0.5j, 0.01 + 0.02j],
+            dtype=np.complex64,
+        )
+        result = mx.expm1(mx.array(c))
+        self.assertTrue(np.allclose(result, np.exp(c) - 1, rtol=1e-4, atol=1e-5))
+
     def test_erf(self):
         inputs = [-5, 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 10.0]
         x = mx.array(inputs)