diff --git a/docs/release-notes/0.10.9.md b/docs/release-notes/0.10.9.md
index e6434979..5496144b 100644
--- a/docs/release-notes/0.10.9.md
+++ b/docs/release-notes/0.10.9.md
@@ -14,3 +14,4 @@
 ```
 * refactor docstrings to work better in RTD {pr}`242` {smaller}`S Dicks`
 * remove Conda from CI {pr}`247` {smaller}`S Dicks`
+* add `cupy` as rapids dependency {pr}`254` {smaller}`S Dicks`
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index f44950b7..d67882ea 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ dependencies = [
 ]
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
-rapids11 = ["cudf-cu11==24.8.*", "cuml-cu11==24.8.*", "cugraph-cu11==24.8.*"]
-rapids12 = ["cudf-cu12==24.8.*", "cuml-cu12==24.8.*", "cugraph-cu12==24.8.*"]
+rapids11 = ["cupy-cuda11x","cudf-cu11==24.8.*", "cuml-cu11==24.8.*", "cugraph-cu11==24.8.*"]
+rapids12 = ["cupy-cuda12x","cudf-cu12==24.8.*", "cuml-cu12==24.8.*", "cugraph-cu12==24.8.*"]
 doc = [
     "sphinx>=4.5.0",
     "sphinx-copybutton",