diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/collectionOperations.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/collectionOperations.scala
index 7da4c3cc6b9f..21308bcec035 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/collectionOperations.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/collectionOperations.scala
@@ -1394,8 +1394,14 @@ case class ArrayPosition(left: Expression, right: Expression)
     TypeUtils.getInterpretedOrdering(right.dataType)
 
   override def dataType: DataType = LongType
-  override def inputTypes: Seq[AbstractDataType] =
-    Seq(ArrayType, left.dataType.asInstanceOf[ArrayType].elementType)
+
+  override def inputTypes: Seq[AbstractDataType] = {
+    val elementType = left.dataType match {
+      case t: ArrayType => t.elementType
+      case _ => AnyDataType
+    }
+    Seq(ArrayType, elementType)
+  }
 
   override def checkInputDataTypes(): TypeCheckResult = {
     super.checkInputDataTypes() match {
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameFunctionsSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameFunctionsSuite.scala
index df23e07e441a..afa952528631 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameFunctionsSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameFunctionsSuite.scala
@@ -708,6 +708,11 @@ class DataFrameFunctionsSuite extends QueryTest with SharedSQLContext {
       df.selectExpr("array_position(array(1, null), array(1, null)[0])"),
       Seq(Row(1L), Row(1L))
     )
+
+    val e = intercept[AnalysisException] {
+      Seq(("a string element", "a")).toDF().selectExpr("array_position(_1, _2)")
+    }
+    assert(e.message.contains("argument 1 requires array type, however, '`_1`' is of string type"))
   }
 
   test("element_at function") {