diff --git a/src/besselk.jl b/src/besselk.jl
index 0335546..ba1382f 100644
--- a/src/besselk.jl
+++ b/src/besselk.jl
@@ -243,7 +243,11 @@ end
 
 Scaled modified Bessel function of the second kind of order nu, ``K_{nu}(x)*e^{x}``.
 """
-function besselkx(nu, x::T) where T <: Union{Float32, Float64}
+besselkx(nu::Real, x::Real) = _besselkx(nu, float(x))
+
+_besselkx(nu, x::Float16) = Float16(_besselkx(nu, Float32(x)))
+
+function _besselkx(nu, x::T) where T <: Union{Float32, Float64}
     # dispatch to avoid uniform expansion when nu = 0 
     iszero(nu) && return besselk0x(x)
 
diff --git a/test/besseli_test.jl b/test/besseli_test.jl
index 6374008..e20dfe9 100644
--- a/test/besseli_test.jl
+++ b/test/besseli_test.jl
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ t = [besseli(m, x) for m in m, x in x]
 t = [besselix(m, x) for m in m, x in x]
 @test t[10] isa Float64
 @test t ≈ [SpecialFunctions.besselix(m, x) for m in m, x in x]
+@test besselix(10, Float16(1.0)) isa Float16
 
 ## Tests for besselk
 
diff --git a/test/besselk_test.jl b/test/besselk_test.jl
index aaa8de6..cc8b037 100644
--- a/test/besselk_test.jl
+++ b/test/besselk_test.jl
@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ end
 
 # test Float16
 @test besselk(10, Float16(1.0)) isa Float16
+@test besselkx(10, Float16(1.0)) isa Float16
 
 # test Inf
 @test iszero(besselk(2, Inf))