diff --git a/python/mxnet/ndarray/sparse_ndarray.py b/python/mxnet/ndarray/sparse_ndarray.py
index 9248a43e9627..6c8bb44b0ae3 100644
--- a/python/mxnet/ndarray/sparse_ndarray.py
+++ b/python/mxnet/ndarray/sparse_ndarray.py
@@ -545,7 +545,7 @@ def __setitem__(self, key, value):
         ----------
         key : slice
             The indexing key.
-        value : NDArray or numpy.ndarray
+        value : scalar, NDArray or numpy.ndarray
             The value to set.
 
         Examples
@@ -568,6 +568,12 @@ def __setitem__(self, key, value):
         array([[ 1.,  1.,  1.],
                [ 1.,  1.,  1.],
                [ 1.,  1.,  1.]], dtype=float32)
+        >>> # assign scalar to RowSparseNDArray
+        >>> x[:] = 7
+        >>> x.asnumpy()
+        array([[ 7.,  7.,  7.],
+               [ 7.,  7.,  7.],
+               [ 7.,  7.,  7.]], dtype=float32)
         """
         if not self.writable:
             raise ValueError('Failed to assign to a readonly RowSparseNDArray')
@@ -580,8 +586,7 @@ def __setitem__(self, key, value):
                 if value.handle is not self.handle:
                     value.copyto(self)
             elif isinstance(value, numeric_types):
-                raise ValueError("Assigning numeric types to RowSparseNDArray " \
-                                 "is not implemented yet.")
+                _internal._set_value(float(value), out=self)
             elif isinstance(value, (np.ndarray, np.generic)):
                 warnings.warn('Assigning non-NDArray object to RowSparseNDArray is not efficient',
                               RuntimeWarning)
diff --git a/src/ndarray/ndarray.cc b/src/ndarray/ndarray.cc
index 0d2968626d79..9f5b7bab820a 100644
--- a/src/ndarray/ndarray.cc
+++ b/src/ndarray/ndarray.cc
@@ -295,9 +295,21 @@ void SetValueOp(const real_t &rhs, NDArray *out) {
   switch (ret.ctx().dev_mask()) {
     case cpu::kDevMask: {
       Engine::Get()->PushSync([rhs, ret](RunContext ctx) {
-          CHECK(ret.storage_type() == kDefaultStorage);
-          TBlob tmp = ret.data();
-          ndarray::Eval<cpu>(rhs, &tmp, ctx);
+          auto ret_stype = ret.storage_type();
+          mshadow::Stream<cpu> *s = ctx.get_stream<cpu>();
+          if (ret_stype == kRowSparseStorage) {
+            NDArray out = ret;
+            // indices
+            nnvm::dim_t nnr = ret.shape()[0];
+            out.CheckAndAlloc({mshadow::Shape1(nnr)});
+            op::PopulateFullIdxRspImpl(s, &out);
+            // data
+            TBlob tmp = out.data();
+            ndarray::Eval<cpu>(rhs, &tmp, ctx);
+          } else {
+            TBlob tmp = ret.data();
+            ndarray::Eval<cpu>(rhs, &tmp, ctx);
+          }
         }, ret.ctx(), {}, {ret.var()},
         FnProperty::kNormal, 0, PROFILER_MESSAGE_FUNCNAME);
       break;
@@ -305,8 +317,21 @@ void SetValueOp(const real_t &rhs, NDArray *out) {
 #if MXNET_USE_CUDA
     case gpu::kDevMask: {
       Engine::Get()->PushSync([rhs, ret](RunContext ctx) {
-          TBlob tmp = ret.data();
-          ndarray::Eval<gpu>(rhs, &tmp, ctx);
+          auto ret_stype = ret.storage_type();
+          mshadow::Stream<gpu> *s = ctx.get_stream<gpu>();
+          if (ret_stype == kRowSparseStorage) {
+            NDArray out = ret;
+            // indices
+            nnvm::dim_t nnr = ret.shape()[0];
+            out.CheckAndAlloc({mshadow::Shape1(nnr)});
+            op::PopulateFullIdxRspImpl(s, &out);
+            // data
+            TBlob tmp = out.data();
+            ndarray::Eval<gpu>(rhs, &tmp, ctx);
+          } else {
+            TBlob tmp = ret.data();
+            ndarray::Eval<gpu>(rhs, &tmp, ctx);
+          }
           // Wait GPU kernel to complete
           ctx.get_stream<gpu>()->Wait();
         }, ret.ctx(), {}, {ret.var()},
diff --git a/tests/python/unittest/test_sparse_ndarray.py b/tests/python/unittest/test_sparse_ndarray.py
index cbce588549a1..6c4fb01978d4 100644
--- a/tests/python/unittest/test_sparse_ndarray.py
+++ b/tests/python/unittest/test_sparse_ndarray.py
@@ -102,7 +102,8 @@ def test_sparse_nd_setitem():
     def check_sparse_nd_setitem(stype, shape, dst):
         x = mx.nd.zeros(shape=shape, stype=stype)
         x[:] = dst
-        dst_nd = mx.nd.array(dst) if isinstance(dst, (np.ndarray, np.generic)) else dst
+        dst_nd = mx.nd.zeros(shape=shape)
+        dst_nd[:] = dst
         assert same(x.asnumpy(), dst_nd.asnumpy())
 
     shape = rand_shape_2d()
@@ -112,6 +113,10 @@ def check_sparse_nd_setitem(stype, shape, dst):
         check_sparse_nd_setitem(stype, shape, rand_ndarray(shape, stype))
         # numpy assignment
         check_sparse_nd_setitem(stype, shape, np.ones(shape))
+        if stype == 'row_sparse':
+            # scalar assignment
+            check_sparse_nd_setitem(stype, shape, 0)
+            check_sparse_nd_setitem(stype, shape, 1)
 
 
 def test_sparse_nd_slice():