diff --git a/src/symmetric.jl b/src/symmetric.jl
index 50f34022..fd4b9ada 100644
--- a/src/symmetric.jl
+++ b/src/symmetric.jl
@@ -1003,6 +1003,7 @@ end
 
 """
     hermitianpart(A::AbstractMatrix, uplo::Symbol=:U) -> Hermitian
+    hermitianpart(x::Number) -> Number
 
 Return the Hermitian part of the square matrix `A`, defined as `(A + A') / 2`, as a
 [`Hermitian`](@ref) matrix. For real matrices `A`, this is also known as the symmetric part
@@ -1016,6 +1017,7 @@ See also [`hermitianpart!`](@ref) for the corresponding in-place operation.
     This function requires Julia 1.10 or later.
 """
 hermitianpart(A::AbstractMatrix, uplo::Symbol=:U) = Hermitian(_hermitianpart(A), uplo)
+hermitianpart(x::Number) = real(x)
 
 """
     hermitianpart!(A::AbstractMatrix, uplo::Symbol=:U) -> Hermitian
diff --git a/test/symmetric.jl b/test/symmetric.jl
index 031dac27..03529fc0 100644
--- a/test/symmetric.jl
+++ b/test/symmetric.jl
@@ -1035,6 +1035,12 @@ end
         @test Aherm isa Hermitian
         @test Aherm.uplo == LinearAlgebra.char_uplo(uplo)
     end
+    @testset "hermitianpart for numbers" begin
+        @test hermitianpart(3 + 4im) == 3
+        @test hermitianpart(5) == 5.0
+        @test hermitianpart(2.5 + 4.3im) == 2.5
+        @test hermitianpart(-1 + 0im) == -1
+    end
 end
 
 @testset "Structured display" begin