diff --git a/grudge/trace_pair.py b/grudge/trace_pair.py
index 1ab14f511..6fef5ab10 100644
--- a/grudge/trace_pair.py
+++ b/grudge/trace_pair.py
@@ -707,7 +707,7 @@ def send_single_array(key, local_subary):
         def recv_single_array(key, remote_subary_template):
             if isinstance(remote_subary_template, Number):
                 # NOTE: Assumes that the same number is passed on every rank
-                return Number
+                return remote_subary_template
             else:
                 ary_tag = (comm_tag, key)
                 return DistributedSendRefHolder(