diff --git a/tripy/examples/nanogpt/weight_loader.py b/tripy/examples/nanogpt/weight_loader.py
index 19018348..b770ec12 100644
--- a/tripy/examples/nanogpt/weight_loader.py
+++ b/tripy/examples/nanogpt/weight_loader.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-
 #
 # SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 1993-2024 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
@@ -50,7 +49,7 @@ def load_weights_from_hf(model, model_type, dtype):
                 weight = hf_state_dict[key].t().contiguous()
         if "ln" not in key:
             weight = weight.to(torch_dtype)
-        param = tp.Parameter(weight)
+        param = tp.Parameter(tp.Tensor(weight))
         tripy_state_dict[key] = param
 
     model.load_from_state_dict(tripy_state_dict)
@@ -110,7 +109,7 @@ def get_submodule(module, attr_name):
 
         if "ln" not in key:
             weight = weight.to(torch_dtype)
-        param = tp.Parameter(weight.contiguous())
+        param = tp.Parameter(tp.Tensor(weight.contiguous()))
         tripy_state_dict[key] = param
 
     model.load_from_state_dict(tripy_state_dict)
diff --git a/tripy/tests/frontend/test_shape.py b/tripy/tests/frontend/test_shape.py
index 5537b242..eb658956 100644
--- a/tripy/tests/frontend/test_shape.py
+++ b/tripy/tests/frontend/test_shape.py
@@ -29,11 +29,10 @@ def values(request):
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(
-    params=[[4, 5], tp.Tensor([4, 5], dtype=tp.int32), np.array([4, 5], dtype=np.int32)],
+    params=[[4, 5], tp.Tensor([4, 5], dtype=tp.int32)],
     ids=[
         "python_list",
         "tripy_tensor",
-        "numpy_array",
     ],
 )
 def other_values(request):
@@ -95,7 +94,7 @@ def test_plus_override(self, values, other_values):
         appended = [4, 5]
         s = tp.Shape(values)
 
-        # conversion is implicit except for tp.Tensor
+        # conversion must be explicit for tp.Tensor
         lhs_shape = other_values if not isinstance(other_values, tp.Tensor) else tp.Shape(other_values)
         new_shape = s + lhs_shape
         assert isinstance(new_shape, tp.Shape)
@@ -308,7 +307,7 @@ def test_right_addition(self, other_values):
         appended = [4, 5]
         s = tp.Shape(values)
 
-        # conversion is implicit except for tp.Tensor
+        # conversion must be explicit for tp.Tensor
         rhs_shape = other_values if not isinstance(other_values, tp.Tensor) else tp.Shape(other_values)
 
         new_shape = rhs_shape + s
@@ -418,19 +417,29 @@ def test_invalid_input_rank_tensor(self):
         with raises(tp.TripyException, match="Shape tensors must be of rank 1, but input tensor is rank 2"):
             _ = tp.Shape(tp.ones((3, 2), dtype=tp.int32))
 
+    def test_invalid_mul_sequence(self, values):
+        s = tp.Shape(values)
+        with raises(tp.TripyException, match="Attempting to multiply a Tripy Shape by a sequence, which is undefined"):
+            _ = s * values
+
     def test_invalid_mul_rank(self, values):
         s = tp.Shape(values)
+        t = tp.Tensor(values)
         with raises(
             tp.TripyException, match="Attempting to multiply a Tripy Shape by a tensor of rank >= 1, which is undefined"
         ):
-            _ = s * values
+            _ = s * t
 
     def test_invalid_plus_type(self, values):
         s = tp.Shape(values)
         t = tp.Tensor(values, dtype=tp.int32)
         with raises(
             tp.TripyException,
-            match="Attempting to add a Tripy Tensor to a Tripy Shape, which is not allowed. Consider calling tp.Shape explicitly",
+            match=(
+                "Invalid types for addition with a Tripy Shape: "
+                "Implicit conversions are done only for sequences of Python ints. "
+                "Consider calling tp.Shape for an explicit conversion."
+            ),
         ):
             s + t
 
@@ -439,7 +448,11 @@ def test_invalid_right_addition_type(self, values):
         t = tp.Tensor(values, dtype=tp.int32)
         with raises(
             tp.TripyException,
-            match="Attempting to add a Tripy Tensor to a Tripy Shape, which is not allowed. Consider calling tp.Shape explicitly",
+            match=(
+                "Invalid types for addition with a Tripy Shape: "
+                "Implicit conversions are done only for sequences of Python ints. "
+                "Consider calling tp.Shape for an explicit conversion."
+            ),
         ):
             t + s
 
@@ -469,8 +482,6 @@ def test_unary_elementwise_fails_at_run_time(self, values):
 
     def test_shape_equality(self, other_values):
         a = tp.Shape([4, 5])
-        if isinstance(other_values, np.ndarray):
-            pytest.skip("numpy array cannot be implicitly cast to Shape type")
         eq = a == other_values
         assert isinstance(eq, bool)
         assert eq
diff --git a/tripy/tests/frontend/test_utils.py b/tripy/tests/frontend/test_utils.py
index 2d666626..00669c09 100644
--- a/tripy/tests/frontend/test_utils.py
+++ b/tripy/tests/frontend/test_utils.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 #
 
 import cupy as cp
+import numpy as np
 
 import tripy as tp
 from tripy.frontend.utils import convert_inputs_to_tensors
@@ -291,3 +292,17 @@ def test_sync_arg_type_invalid(self):
             match=r"At least one of the arguments: \('a', 'b', 'c'\) must be a \`tripy.Tensor\`.",
         ):
             x, y, z = sync_arg_types(3.0, 3, 4)
+
+    def test_invalid_argument_type(self):
+        with helper.raises(
+            tp.TripyException,
+            match=r"convert_inputs_to_tensors decorator supports conversion only for Python numbers or sequences thereof",
+        ):
+            _ = func(np.array([1, 2, 3]))
+
+    def test_invalid_argument_type_in_sequence(self):
+        with helper.raises(
+            tp.TripyException,
+            match=r"convert_inputs_to_tensors decorator supports conversion only for Python numbers or sequences thereof",
+        ):
+            _ = func([np.array([1, 2, 3]), np.array([4, 5, 6])])
diff --git a/tripy/tests/frontend/trace/ops/test_binary_elementwise.py b/tripy/tests/frontend/trace/ops/test_binary_elementwise.py
index 1d65dada..d594ce02 100644
--- a/tripy/tests/frontend/trace/ops/test_binary_elementwise.py
+++ b/tripy/tests/frontend/trace/ops/test_binary_elementwise.py
@@ -59,10 +59,8 @@ class TestBinaryElementwise:
         "lhs, rhs, left_side_is_non_tensor",
         [
             (tp.Tensor([1.0]), tp.Tensor([2.0]), False),
-            (tp.Tensor([1.0]), np.array([2.0], dtype=np.float32), False),
             # shape of (0,) is broadcastable with (1,)
             (tp.Tensor([], dtype=tp.float32), tp.Tensor([1.0], dtype=tp.float32), False),
-            (np.array([1.0], dtype=np.float32), tp.Tensor([2.0]), True),
             (tp.Tensor([1.0]), 2.0, False),
             (1.0, tp.Tensor([2.0]), True),
         ],
@@ -86,8 +84,6 @@ def test_op_funcs(self, kind, func, lhs, rhs, left_side_is_non_tensor):
         "lhs, rhs, expected_rank",
         [
             (tp.Tensor([1.0]), tp.Tensor([2.0]), 1),
-            (tp.Tensor([1.0]), np.array([2.0], dtype=np.float32), 1),
-            (np.array([1.0], dtype=np.float32), tp.Tensor([2.0]), 1),
             (tp.Tensor([1.0]), 2.0, 1),
             (1.0, tp.Tensor([2.0]), 1),
             (tp.ones((2, 3)), 2.0, 2),
diff --git a/tripy/tests/integration/test_functional.py b/tripy/tests/integration/test_functional.py
index 1b71aa50..e35fa325 100644
--- a/tripy/tests/integration/test_functional.py
+++ b/tripy/tests/integration/test_functional.py
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ def test_multiple_copy_2(self):
         assert out.tolist() == [1, 2]
         assert out.device.kind == "gpu"
 
+
 class TestConversionToTripyType:
     @pytest.mark.parametrize(
         "reverse_direction",
@@ -157,8 +158,8 @@ def test_element_wise_prod(self, reverse_direction, input0, input1):
         if isinstance(input1, torch.Tensor):
             input1 = input1.to("cuda")
         if reverse_direction:
-            out = input1 * a
+            out = tp.Tensor(input1) * a
             input0, input1 = input1, input0
         else:
-            out = a * input1
+            out = a * tp.Tensor(input1)
         assert cp.array_equal(cp.from_dlpack(out), cp.array(input0) * cp.array(input1))
diff --git a/tripy/tests/integration/test_groupnorm.py b/tripy/tests/integration/test_groupnorm.py
index a1353dd3..1f47bcb5 100644
--- a/tripy/tests/integration/test_groupnorm.py
+++ b/tripy/tests/integration/test_groupnorm.py
@@ -22,10 +22,8 @@
 import tripy as tp
 from tripy.common.exception import TripyException
 
-DTYPES = [
-    (torch.float16, tp.float16),
-    (torch.float32, tp.float32)
-]
+DTYPES = [(torch.float16, tp.float16), (torch.float32, tp.float32)]
+
 
 class TestGroupNorm:
 
@@ -49,8 +47,8 @@ def test_groupnorm_accuracy(self, torch_dtype, tp_dtype, input_shape, num_groups
             dtype=tp_dtype,
         )
 
-        tp_groupnorm.weight = tp.Parameter(groupnorm.weight.detach())
-        tp_groupnorm.bias = tp.Parameter(groupnorm.bias.detach())
+        tp_groupnorm.weight = tp.Parameter(tp.Tensor(groupnorm.weight.detach()))
+        tp_groupnorm.bias = tp.Parameter(tp.Tensor(groupnorm.bias.detach()))
 
         input = torch.arange(torch.prod(torch.Tensor(input_shape))).reshape(input_shape).to(torch_dtype)
         tp_input = tp.Tensor(input, dtype=tp_dtype)
diff --git a/tripy/tests/integration/test_layernorm.py b/tripy/tests/integration/test_layernorm.py
index 82f4389d..c6aa5b49 100644
--- a/tripy/tests/integration/test_layernorm.py
+++ b/tripy/tests/integration/test_layernorm.py
@@ -23,10 +23,8 @@
 import tripy as tp
 from tests import helper
 
-DTYPES = [
-    (torch.float16, tp.float16),
-    (torch.float32, tp.float32)
-]
+DTYPES = [(torch.float16, tp.float16), (torch.float32, tp.float32)]
+
 
 class TestLayerNorm:
 
@@ -48,8 +46,8 @@ def test_layernorm_accuracy(self, torch_dtype, tp_dtype, input_shape, normalized
         )
 
         # use Tripy's parameters
-        tp_layernorm.weight = tp.Parameter(layernorm.weight.detach())
-        tp_layernorm.bias = tp.Parameter(layernorm.bias.detach())
+        tp_layernorm.weight = tp.Parameter(tp.Tensor(layernorm.weight.detach()))
+        tp_layernorm.bias = tp.Parameter(tp.Tensor(layernorm.bias.detach()))
 
         input = torch.arange(torch.prod(torch.Tensor(input_shape))).reshape(input_shape).to(torch_dtype)
         tp_input = tp.Tensor(input, dtype=tp_dtype)
@@ -65,7 +63,7 @@ def test_layernorm_improper_dimensions(self):
         tp_layernorm = tp.LayerNorm(
             normalized_shape=[2, 2],
         )
-        x = tp.ones((5,5,5))
+        x = tp.ones((5, 5, 5))
         with helper.raises(
             tp.TripyException,
             match=re.escape("size of operand dimension 1 (5) is not compatible with size of result dimension 1 (2)"),
diff --git a/tripy/tests/integration/test_linear.py b/tripy/tests/integration/test_linear.py
index d55940b5..25a3f5a1 100644
--- a/tripy/tests/integration/test_linear.py
+++ b/tripy/tests/integration/test_linear.py
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ def test_quant_linear(self, use_input_scale, quant_dtype, weight_quant_dim):
         ids=["block-wise", "per-tensor", "per-channel-0", "per-channel-1"],
     )
     def test_quant_linear_int4_weight_only(self, weight_quant_dim, scale):
-        scale = tp.Parameter(scale)
+        scale = tp.Parameter(tp.Tensor(scale))
 
         linear = tp.Linear(4, 8, quant_dtype=tp.int4, weight_quant_dim=weight_quant_dim)
         linear.weight_scale = scale
diff --git a/tripy/tripy/frontend/shape.py b/tripy/tripy/frontend/shape.py
index e803f5fd..44e43739 100644
--- a/tripy/tripy/frontend/shape.py
+++ b/tripy/tripy/frontend/shape.py
@@ -155,25 +155,30 @@ def __str__(self) -> str:
 
     # addition for shapes is concatenation, not tensor addition
 
+    def _validate_add_argument(self, other):
+        if isinstance(other, Shape):
+            return
+        if not isinstance(other, Sequence) or (len(other) != 0 and not isinstance(other[0], int)):
+            raise_error(
+                "Invalid types for addition with a Tripy Shape: "
+                "Implicit conversions are done only for sequences of Python ints. "
+                "Consider calling tp.Shape for an explicit conversion.",
+                details=[other],
+            )
+
     def __add__(self, other):
         from tripy.frontend.trace.ops.concatenate import concatenate
 
-        if not isinstance(other, Shape) and isinstance(other, Tensor):
-            raise_error(
-                "Attempting to add a Tripy Tensor to a Tripy Shape, which is not allowed. Consider calling tp.Shape explicitly"
-            )
-        elif not isinstance(other, Shape):
+        self._validate_add_argument(other)
+        if not isinstance(other, Shape):
             other = Shape(other)
         return concatenate([self, other], 0)
 
     def __radd__(self, other):
         from tripy.frontend.trace.ops.concatenate import concatenate
 
-        if not isinstance(other, Shape) and isinstance(other, Tensor):
-            raise_error(
-                "Attempting to add a Tripy Tensor to a Tripy Shape, which is not allowed. Consider calling tp.Shape explicitly"
-            )
-        elif not isinstance(other, Shape):
+        self._validate_add_argument(other)
+        if not isinstance(other, Shape):
             other = Shape(other)
         return concatenate([other, self], 0)
 
@@ -191,6 +196,15 @@ def __mul__(self, other):
 
         # Only defined with a scalar argument
         if not isinstance(other, Tensor):
+            # note: Python does not accept floats as arguments for list multiplication either
+            if isinstance(other, Sequence):
+                raise_error("Attempting to multiply a Tripy Shape by a sequence, which is undefined", details=[other])
+            if not isinstance(other, int):
+                raise_error(
+                    "Attempting to multiply an invalid datatype with a Tripy Shape. "
+                    "Implicit conversions are done only for Python ints. Consider calling tp.Shape explicitly.",
+                    details=[other],
+                )
             other = Tensor(other, dtype=int32)
         if other.rank >= 1:
             raise_error(
diff --git a/tripy/tripy/frontend/utils.py b/tripy/tripy/frontend/utils.py
index ea274823..acd8b63e 100644
--- a/tripy/tripy/frontend/utils.py
+++ b/tripy/tripy/frontend/utils.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 from tripy.frontend.trace.ops import BaseTraceOp
 
 
-# Decorator to preprocess inputs of a function and convert numpy, python types to tripy tensors.
+# Decorator to preprocess inputs of a function and convert Python numbers to tripy tensors.
 def convert_inputs_to_tensors(
     sync_arg_types: Optional[List[Tuple[str]]] = None,
     exclude: Optional[List[str]] = None,
@@ -34,8 +34,9 @@ def convert_inputs_to_tensors(
     skip_num_stack_entries: int = 0,
 ):
     """
-    Decorator that converts all arguments to `Tensor`s before passing them along
-    to the decorated function.
+    Decorator that converts all arguments to `Tensor`s or `Shape`s before passing them along
+    to the decorated function. Converts only Python numbers or lists of Python numbers;
+    inputs like `numpy` arrays should be handled manually.
 
     Args:
         sync_arg_types: A list of tuples of strings indicating the parameter indices for parameters
@@ -193,6 +194,20 @@ def find_sync_target_dtype(arg_name):
                     return None
 
                 def convert_nontensor_arg(arg, list_index=None):
+                    def is_valid_sequence(seq_arg: Sequence) -> bool:
+                        if len(seq_arg) == 0:
+                            return True
+                        if isinstance(seq_arg[0], Sequence):
+                            return is_valid_sequence(seq_arg[0])
+                        return isinstance(seq_arg[0], (int, float))
+
+                    if not isinstance(arg, (int, float)) and not (isinstance(arg, Sequence) and is_valid_sequence(arg)):
+                        raise_error(
+                            "convert_inputs_to_tensors decorator supports conversion only"
+                            f" for Python numbers or sequences thereof. Given argument of type {type(arg)}",
+                            [arg],
+                        )
+
                     cast_dtype = find_sync_target_dtype(name)
                     return add_column_info_for_non_tensor(
                         arg, index, is_kwarg=name in kwargs, dtype=cast_dtype, list_index=list_index