diff --git a/src/uu/sort/src/numeric_str_cmp.rs b/src/uu/sort/src/numeric_str_cmp.rs
index 03806b0c8..461f72670 100644
--- a/src/uu/sort/src/numeric_str_cmp.rs
+++ b/src/uu/sort/src/numeric_str_cmp.rs
@@ -46,7 +46,12 @@ impl Default for NumInfoParseSettings {
 
 impl NumInfo {
     /// Parse NumInfo for this number.
-    /// Also returns the range of num that should be passed to numeric_str_cmp later
+    /// Also returns the range of num that should be passed to numeric_str_cmp later.
+    ///
+    /// Leading zeros will be excluded from the returned range. If the number consists of only zeros,
+    /// an empty range (idx..idx) is returned so that idx is the char after the last zero.
+    /// If the input is not a number (which has to be treated as zero), the returned empty range
+    /// will be 0..0.
     pub fn parse(num: &str, parse_settings: NumInfoParseSettings) -> (Self, Range<usize>) {
         let mut exponent = -1;
         let mut had_decimal_pt = false;
@@ -105,7 +110,15 @@ impl NumInfo {
                             sign: if had_digit { sign } else { Sign::Positive },
                             exponent: 0,
                         },
-                        0..0,
+                        if had_digit {
+                            // In this case there were only zeroes.
+                            // For debug output to work properly, we have to match the character after the last zero.
+                            idx..idx
+                        } else {
+                            // This was no number at all.
+                            // For debug output to work properly, we have to match 0..0.
+                            0..0
+                        },
                     )
                 };
             }
diff --git a/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs b/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs
index ab3b06451..f47b561ed 100644
--- a/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs
+++ b/src/uu/sort/src/sort.rs
@@ -414,19 +414,29 @@ impl<'a> Line<'a> {
                     selection.start += num_range.start;
                     selection.end = selection.start + num_range.len();
 
-                    // include a trailing si unit
-                    if selector.settings.mode == SortMode::HumanNumeric
-                        && self.line[selection.end..initial_selection.end]
-                            .starts_with(&['k', 'K', 'M', 'G', 'T', 'P', 'E', 'Z', 'Y'][..])
-                    {
-                        selection.end += 1;
-                    }
+                    if num_range != (0..0) {
+                        // include a trailing si unit
+                        if selector.settings.mode == SortMode::HumanNumeric
+                            && self.line[selection.end..initial_selection.end]
+                                .starts_with(&['k', 'K', 'M', 'G', 'T', 'P', 'E', 'Z', 'Y'][..])
+                        {
+                            selection.end += 1;
+                        }
 
-                    // include leading zeroes, a leading minus or a leading decimal point
-                    while self.line[initial_selection.start..selection.start]
-                        .ends_with(&['-', '0', '.'][..])
-                    {
-                        selection.start -= 1;
+                        // include leading zeroes, a leading minus or a leading decimal point
+                        while self.line[initial_selection.start..selection.start]
+                            .ends_with(&['-', '0', '.'][..])
+                        {
+                            selection.start -= 1;
+                        }
+                    } else {
+                        // This was not a valid number.
+                        // Report no match at the first non-whitespace character.
+                        let leading_whitespace = self.line[selection.clone()]
+                            .find(|c: char| !c.is_whitespace())
+                            .unwrap_or(0);
+                        selection.start += leading_whitespace;
+                        selection.end += leading_whitespace;
                     }
                 }
                 SortMode::GeneralNumeric => {
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs b/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs
index d2b447925..02636b027 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_sort.rs
@@ -123,6 +123,14 @@ fn test_multiple_decimals_numeric() {
     )
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn test_numeric_with_trailing_invalid_chars() {
+    test_helper(
+        "numeric_trailing_chars",
+        &["-n", "--numeric-sort", "--sort=numeric"],
+    )
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn test_check_zero_terminated_failure() {
     new_ucmd!()
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/sort/human_block_sizes.expected b/tests/fixtures/sort/human_block_sizes.expected
index 74fad9fdf..0e4fdfbb6 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/sort/human_block_sizes.expected
+++ b/tests/fixtures/sort/human_block_sizes.expected
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+K
 844K
 981K
 11M
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/sort/human_block_sizes.expected.debug b/tests/fixtures/sort/human_block_sizes.expected.debug
index 5f4860a85..cde98628e 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/sort/human_block_sizes.expected.debug
+++ b/tests/fixtures/sort/human_block_sizes.expected.debug
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+K
+^ no match for key
+_
 844K
 ____
 ____
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/sort/human_block_sizes.txt b/tests/fixtures/sort/human_block_sizes.txt
index 803666dbe..9cc2b3c6c 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/sort/human_block_sizes.txt
+++ b/tests/fixtures/sort/human_block_sizes.txt
@@ -9,3 +9,4 @@
 844K
 981K
 13M
+K
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/sort/numeric_trailing_chars.expected b/tests/fixtures/sort/numeric_trailing_chars.expected
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..96226fd38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/sort/numeric_trailing_chars.expected
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+-.05,
+-x
+0.abc
+0foo
+100 
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/sort/numeric_trailing_chars.expected.debug b/tests/fixtures/sort/numeric_trailing_chars.expected.debug
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0226a636f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/sort/numeric_trailing_chars.expected.debug
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+-.05,
+____
+_____
+-x
+^ no match for key
+__
+0.abc
+__
+_____
+0foo
+_
+____
+100 
+___
+____
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/sort/numeric_trailing_chars.txt b/tests/fixtures/sort/numeric_trailing_chars.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d6fe3e48d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/sort/numeric_trailing_chars.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+0foo
+0.abc
+100 
+-.05,
+-x
\ No newline at end of file