diff --git a/changes/4415.bugfix.md b/changes/4415.bugfix.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1b1777c9e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/4415.bugfix.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+`zarr.save` now takes `storage_options` as an option instead of treating it as one of the arrays to save: saving a single array with `storage_options` set no longer produces a group holding `arr_0`, and the options now reach the store. `zarr.save_group` no longer fails with `'storage_options' was provided but unused` when the arrays are passed positionally.
diff --git a/src/zarr/api/asynchronous.py b/src/zarr/api/asynchronous.py
index 1fc10cdd1e..caca7b5888 100644
--- a/src/zarr/api/asynchronous.py
+++ b/src/zarr/api/asynchronous.py
@@ -435,6 +435,7 @@ async def save(
     *args: NDArrayLike,
     zarr_format: ZarrFormat | None = None,
     path: str | None = None,
+    storage_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     **kwargs: Any,  # TODO: type kwargs as valid args to save
 ) -> None:
     """Convenience function to save an array or group of arrays to the local file system.
@@ -451,6 +452,9 @@ async def save(
         The zarr format to use when saving.
     path : str or None, optional
         The path within the group where the arrays will be saved.
+    storage_options : dict
+        If using an fsspec URL to create the store, these will be passed to
+        the backend implementation. Ignored otherwise.
     **kwargs
         NumPy arrays with data to save.
     """
@@ -458,9 +462,18 @@ async def save(
     if len(args) == 0 and len(kwargs) == 0:
         raise ValueError("at least one array must be provided")
     if len(args) == 1 and len(kwargs) == 0:
-        await save_array(store, args[0], zarr_format=zarr_format, path=path)
+        await save_array(
+            store, args[0], zarr_format=zarr_format, path=path, storage_options=storage_options
+        )
     else:
-        await save_group(store, *args, zarr_format=zarr_format, path=path, **kwargs)
+        await save_group(
+            store,
+            *args,
+            zarr_format=zarr_format,
+            path=path,
+            storage_options=storage_options,
+            **kwargs,
+        )
 
 
 async def save_array(
@@ -566,16 +579,10 @@ async def save_group(
     if len(args) == 0 and len(kwargs) == 0:
         raise ValueError("at least one array must be provided")
     aws = []
+    # `store_path` already consumed `storage_options`, so passing them on again would
+    # make `make_store_path` reject them as unused.
     for i, arr in enumerate(args):
-        aws.append(
-            save_array(
-                store_path,
-                arr,
-                zarr_format=zarr_format,
-                path=f"arr_{i}",
-                storage_options=storage_options,
-            )
-        )
+        aws.append(save_array(store_path, arr, zarr_format=zarr_format, path=f"arr_{i}"))
     for k, arr in kwargs.items():
         aws.append(save_array(store_path, arr, zarr_format=zarr_format, path=k))
     await asyncio.gather(*aws)
diff --git a/src/zarr/api/synchronous.py b/src/zarr/api/synchronous.py
index 6975f6d953..8d71239133 100644
--- a/src/zarr/api/synchronous.py
+++ b/src/zarr/api/synchronous.py
@@ -259,6 +259,7 @@ def save(
     *args: NDArrayLike,
     zarr_format: ZarrFormat | None = None,
     path: str | None = None,
+    storage_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     **kwargs: Any,  # TODO: type kwargs as valid args to async_api.save
 ) -> None:
     """Save an array or group of arrays to the local file system.
@@ -275,10 +276,22 @@ def save(
         The zarr format to use when saving.
     path : str or None, optional
         The path within the group where the arrays will be saved.
+    storage_options : dict
+        If using an fsspec URL to create the store, these will be passed to
+        the backend implementation. Ignored otherwise.
     **kwargs
         NumPy arrays with data to save.
     """
-    return sync(async_api.save(store, *args, zarr_format=zarr_format, path=path, **kwargs))
+    return sync(
+        async_api.save(
+            store,
+            *args,
+            zarr_format=zarr_format,
+            path=path,
+            storage_options=storage_options,
+            **kwargs,
+        )
+    )
 
 
 def save_array(
diff --git a/tests/test_api.py b/tests/test_api.py
index 45d0c0dee4..16dc5bbffb 100644
--- a/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/tests/test_api.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 import pytest
 from numpy.testing import assert_array_equal
+from packaging.version import parse as parse_version
 
 import zarr
 import zarr.api.asynchronous
@@ -477,6 +478,32 @@ def test_save_errors() -> None:
         zarr.save("data/example.zarr", a, mode="w")
 
 
+def test_save_storage_options_is_not_an_array(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    # `storage_options` is an option of `save`, not one of the arrays to save, so a
+    # single array still lands as an array and not as a group holding `arr_0`.
+    data = np.arange(10)
+    save(str(tmp_path / "a.zarr"), data, storage_options=None)
+    node = zarr.api.synchronous.open(str(tmp_path / "a.zarr"))
+    assert isinstance(node, Array)
+    assert_array_equal(node[:], data)
+
+
+def test_save_group_storage_options_positional_args(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    # `storage_options` has to reach the store for positional arrays too, exactly as it
+    # does for keyword arrays.
+    fsspec = pytest.importorskip("fsspec")
+    # An fsspec URL for a sync filesystem needs AsyncFileSystemWrapper, which landed in
+    # fsspec 2024.12.0. The min-deps CI job pins an older one.
+    if parse_version(fsspec.__version__) < parse_version("2024.12.0"):
+        pytest.skip("No AsyncFileSystemWrapper")
+    data = np.arange(10)
+    url = f"local://{tmp_path}/group.zarr"
+    save_group(url, data, data, storage_options={"auto_mkdir": True})
+    group = zarr.api.synchronous.open(str(tmp_path / "group.zarr"))
+    assert isinstance(group, Group)
+    assert sorted(group) == ["arr_0", "arr_1"]
+
+
 def test_open_with_mode_r(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     # 'r' means read only (must exist)
     with pytest.raises(FileNotFoundError):