diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index f4966babc60ae..5768a1b00ffd2 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ Standard library changes
 
 * When seeding RNGs provided by `Random`, negative integer seeds can now be used ([#51416]).
 
+* `rand` now supports sampling over `Pair` types ([#28705]).
+
 #### REPL
 
 * Tab complete hints now show in lighter text while typing in the repl. To disable
diff --git a/stdlib/Random/src/Random.jl b/stdlib/Random/src/Random.jl
index e3f5cae5a430e..432e32a4de691 100644
--- a/stdlib/Random/src/Random.jl
+++ b/stdlib/Random/src/Random.jl
@@ -330,8 +330,11 @@ Pick a random element or array of random elements from the set of values specifi
 
   + a user-defined type and set of values; for implementation guidance please see [Hooking into the `Random` API](@ref rand-api-hook)
 
-  + `S` can also be a tuple type of known size and where each parameter of `S` is itself a sampleable type; return a value of type `S`.
-    Note that tuple types such as `Tuple{Vararg{T}}` (unknown size) and `Tuple{1:2}` (parameterized with a value) are not supported.
+  + a tuple type of known size and where each parameter of `S` is itself a sampleable type; return a value of type `S`.
+    Note that tuple types such as `Tuple{Vararg{T}}` (unknown size) and `Tuple{1:2}` (parameterized with a value) are not supported
+
+  + a `Pair` type, e.g. `Pair{X, Y}` such that `rand` is defined for `X` and `Y`,
+    in which case random pairs are produced.
 
 
 `S` defaults to [`Float64`](@ref).
diff --git a/stdlib/Random/src/generation.jl b/stdlib/Random/src/generation.jl
index 1e3edea21c03b..afc17dd7079e2 100644
--- a/stdlib/Random/src/generation.jl
+++ b/stdlib/Random/src/generation.jl
@@ -182,6 +182,19 @@ function rand(rng::AbstractRNG, sp::SamplerTag{T}) where T<:Tuple
     ntuple(i -> rand(rng, sp.data[min(i, length(sp.data))]), Val{fieldcount(T)}())::T
 end
 
+### random pairs
+
+function Sampler(::Type{RNG}, ::Type{Pair{A, B}}, n::Repetition) where {RNG<:AbstractRNG, A, B}
+    sp1 = Sampler(RNG, A, n)
+    sp2 = A === B ? sp1 : Sampler(RNG, B, n)
+    SamplerTag{Ref{Pair{A,B}}}(sp1 => sp2) # Ref so that the gentype is Pair{A, B}
+                                           # in SamplerTag's constructor
+end
+
+rand(rng::AbstractRNG, sp::SamplerTag{<:Ref{<:Pair}}) =
+    rand(rng, sp.data.first) => rand(rng, sp.data.second)
+
+
 ## Generate random integer within a range
 
 ### BitInteger
diff --git a/stdlib/Random/test/runtests.jl b/stdlib/Random/test/runtests.jl
index e885d6f69aa4a..f49187045b492 100644
--- a/stdlib/Random/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/stdlib/Random/test/runtests.jl
@@ -285,7 +285,8 @@ end
 for rng in ([], [MersenneTwister(0)], [RandomDevice()], [Xoshiro()])
     ftypes = [Float16, Float32, Float64, FakeFloat64, BigFloat]
     cftypes = [ComplexF16, ComplexF32, ComplexF64, ftypes...]
-    types = [Bool, Char, BigFloat, Tuple{Bool, Tuple{Int, Char}}, Base.BitInteger_types..., cftypes...]
+    types = [Bool, Char, BigFloat, Tuple{Bool, Tuple{Int, Char}}, Pair{Int8, UInt32},
+             Base.BitInteger_types..., cftypes...]
     randset = Set(rand(Int, 20))
     randdict = Dict(zip(rand(Int,10), rand(Int, 10)))
 
@@ -365,7 +366,7 @@ for rng in ([], [MersenneTwister(0)], [RandomDevice()], [Xoshiro()])
     end
     for f! in [rand!, randn!, randexp!]
         for T in functypes[f!]
-            (T <: Tuple) && continue
+            (T <: Tuple || T <: Pair) && continue
             X = T == Bool ? T[0,1] : T[0,1,2]
             for A in (Vector{T}(undef, 5),
                       Matrix{T}(undef, 2, 3),
@@ -1180,3 +1181,16 @@ end
     @test Random.hash_seed(map(UInt64, seed32)) == hash32
     @test hash32 ∉ keys(vseeds)
 end
+
+@testset "rand(::Type{<:Pair})" begin
+    @test rand(Pair{Int, Int}) isa Pair{Int, Int}
+    @test rand(Pair{Int, Float64}) isa Pair{Int, Float64}
+    @test rand(Pair{Int, Float64}, 3) isa Array{Pair{Int, Float64}}
+
+    # test that making an array out of a sampler works
+    # (i.e. that gentype(sp) is correct)
+    sp = Random.Sampler(AbstractRNG, Pair{Bool, Char})
+    xs = rand(sp, 3)
+    @test xs isa Vector{Pair{Bool, Char}}
+    @test length(xs) == 3
+end