diff --git a/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/num_format.rs b/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/num_format.rs
index 819ba6a5f..3e9c44f22 100644
--- a/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/num_format.rs
+++ b/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/num_format.rs
@@ -140,45 +140,25 @@ impl Formatter for UnsignedInt {
     fn fmt(&self, mut writer: impl Write, x: Self::Input) -> std::io::Result<()> {
         let mut s = match self.variant {
             UnsignedIntVariant::Decimal => format!("{x}"),
-            UnsignedIntVariant::Octal(Prefix::No) => format!("{x:o}"),
-            UnsignedIntVariant::Octal(Prefix::Yes) => {
-                // The prefix that rust uses is `0o`, but GNU uses `0`.
-                // We also need to take into account that 0 should not be 00 and
-                // that GNU pads prefixed octals with zeros.
-                //
-                // Since this is an unsigned int, we do not need to take the minus
-                // sign into account.
-                if x < 8u64.pow(self.precision.saturating_sub(1) as u32) {
-                    format!("{x:0>width$o}", width = self.precision)
-                } else {
-                    format!("0{x:o}")
-                }
-            }
-            UnsignedIntVariant::Hexadecimal(Case::Lowercase, Prefix::No) => {
+            UnsignedIntVariant::Octal(_) => format!("{x:o}"),
+            UnsignedIntVariant::Hexadecimal(Case::Lowercase, _) => {
                 format!("{x:x}")
             }
-            UnsignedIntVariant::Hexadecimal(Case::Lowercase, Prefix::Yes) => {
-                if x == 0 {
-                    "0".to_string()
-                } else {
-                    format!("{x:#x}")
-                }
-            }
-            UnsignedIntVariant::Hexadecimal(Case::Uppercase, Prefix::No) => {
+            UnsignedIntVariant::Hexadecimal(Case::Uppercase, _) => {
                 format!("{x:X}")
             }
-            UnsignedIntVariant::Hexadecimal(Case::Uppercase, Prefix::Yes) => {
-                if x == 0 {
-                    "0".to_string()
-                } else {
-                    format!("{x:#X}")
-                }
-            }
         };
 
-        if self.precision > s.len() {
-            s = format!("{:0width$}", s, width = self.precision);
-        }
+        // Zeroes doe not get a prefix. An octal value does also not get a
+        // prefix if the padded value will not start with a zero.
+        let prefix = match (x, self.variant) {
+            (1.., UnsignedIntVariant::Hexadecimal(Case::Lowercase, Prefix::Yes)) => "0x",
+            (1.., UnsignedIntVariant::Hexadecimal(Case::Uppercase, Prefix::Yes)) => "0X",
+            (1.., UnsignedIntVariant::Octal(Prefix::Yes)) if s.len() >= self.precision => "0",
+            _ => "",
+        };
+
+        s = format!("{prefix}{s:0>width$}", width = self.precision);
 
         match self.alignment {
             NumberAlignment::Left => write!(writer, "{s:<width$}", width = self.width),
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_printf.rs b/tests/by-util/test_printf.rs
index 86d9060ae..46340c28e 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_printf.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_printf.rs
@@ -668,7 +668,7 @@ fn sub_alternative_upper_hex() {
     new_ucmd!()
         .args(&["%#X", "42"])
         .succeeds()
-        .stdout_only("0x2A");
+        .stdout_only("0X2A");
 }
 
 #[test]
@@ -708,3 +708,31 @@ fn pad_octal_with_prefix() {
         .succeeds()
         .stdout_only(">        0123456<");
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn pad_unsigned_zeroes() {
+    for format in ["%.3u", "%.3x", "%.3X", "%.3o"] {
+        new_ucmd!()
+            .args(&[format, "0"])
+            .succeeds()
+            .stdout_only("000");
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn pad_unsigned_three() {
+    for (format, expected) in [
+        ("%.3u", "003"),
+        ("%.3x", "003"),
+        ("%.3X", "003"),
+        ("%.3o", "003"),
+        ("%#.3x", "0x003"),
+        ("%#.3X", "0X003"),
+        ("%#.3o", "003"),
+    ] {
+        new_ucmd!()
+            .args(&[format, "3"])
+            .succeeds()
+            .stdout_only(expected);
+    }
+}