diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/util/IntervalUtils.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/util/IntervalUtils.scala
index 725ff81ef410e..46584b67097ce 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/util/IntervalUtils.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/util/IntervalUtils.scala
@@ -505,7 +505,9 @@ object IntervalUtils {
     var days: Int = 0
     var microseconds: Long = 0
     var fractionScale: Int = 0
+    val initialFractionScale = (NANOS_PER_SECOND / 10).toInt
     var fraction: Int = 0
+    var pointPrefixed: Boolean = false
 
     def trimToNextState(b: Byte, next: ParseState): Unit = {
       b match {
@@ -545,6 +547,7 @@ object IntervalUtils {
           // We preset the scale to an invalid value to track fraction presence in the UNIT_BEGIN
           // state. If we meet '.', the scale become valid for the VALUE_FRACTIONAL_PART state.
           fractionScale = -1
+          pointPrefixed = false
           b match {
             case '-' =>
               isNegative = true
@@ -556,7 +559,8 @@ object IntervalUtils {
               isNegative = false
             case '.' =>
               isNegative = false
-              fractionScale = (NANOS_PER_SECOND / 10).toInt
+              fractionScale = initialFractionScale
+              pointPrefixed = true
               i += 1
               state = VALUE_FRACTIONAL_PART
             case _ => throwIAE( s"unrecognized number '$currentWord'")
@@ -572,7 +576,7 @@ object IntervalUtils {
               }
             case ' ' => state = TRIM_BEFORE_UNIT
             case '.' =>
-              fractionScale = (NANOS_PER_SECOND / 10).toInt
+              fractionScale = initialFractionScale
               state = VALUE_FRACTIONAL_PART
             case _ => throwIAE(s"invalid value '$currentWord'")
           }
@@ -582,7 +586,7 @@ object IntervalUtils {
             case _ if '0' <= b && b <= '9' && fractionScale > 0 =>
               fraction += (b - '0') * fractionScale
               fractionScale /= 10
-            case ' ' =>
+            case ' ' if !pointPrefixed || fractionScale < initialFractionScale =>
               fraction /= NANOS_PER_MICROS.toInt
               state = TRIM_BEFORE_UNIT
             case _ if '0' <= b && b <= '9' =>
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/util/IntervalUtilsSuite.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/util/IntervalUtilsSuite.scala
index 73a2adbaec1db..ee3db0391ed00 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/util/IntervalUtilsSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/util/IntervalUtilsSuite.scala
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ class IntervalUtilsSuite extends SparkFunSuite {
     checkFromInvalidString("2234567890 days", "integer overflow")
     checkFromInvalidString("\n", "Error parsing '\n' to interval")
     checkFromInvalidString("\t", "Error parsing '\t' to interval")
-
+    checkFromInvalidString(". seconds", "invalid value '.'")
   }
 
   test("string to interval: seconds with fractional part") {