diff --git a/core/src/main/java/com/schibsted/spt/data/jslt/impl/NodeUtils.java b/core/src/main/java/com/schibsted/spt/data/jslt/impl/NodeUtils.java
index 66bcc7c..2cc2af2 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/com/schibsted/spt/data/jslt/impl/NodeUtils.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/com/schibsted/spt/data/jslt/impl/NodeUtils.java
@@ -150,14 +150,6 @@ private static JsonNode parseNumber(String number) {
     if (number.length() == 0)
       return null;
 
-    if (number.startsWith("-.")) {
-      number = "-0." + number.substring(2);
-    }
-
-    if (number.startsWith(".")) {
-      number = "0" + number;
-    }
-
     int sign = 1;
     int pos = 0;
     if (number.charAt(0) == '-') {
@@ -167,8 +159,6 @@ private static JsonNode parseNumber(String number) {
     int intStart = pos;
 
     int endInteger = scanDigits(number, pos);
-    if (endInteger == pos)
-      return null;
     if (endInteger == number.length()) {
       if (number.length() < 10)
         return new IntNode(Integer.parseInt(number));
@@ -180,7 +170,12 @@ else if (number.length() < 19)
 
     // since there's stuff after the initial integer it must be either
     // the decimal part or the exponent
-    long intPart = Long.parseLong(number.substring(intStart, endInteger));
+    long intPart;
+    if (endInteger == pos)
+      intPart = 0; // this means there was no zero before the period
+    else
+      intPart = Long.parseLong(number.substring(intStart, endInteger));
+
     pos = endInteger;
     double value = intPart * sign;
 
diff --git a/core/src/test/resources/function-tests.json b/core/src/test/resources/function-tests.json
index 37155de..83ffa7f 100644
--- a/core/src/test/resources/function-tests.json
+++ b/core/src/test/resources/function-tests.json
@@ -762,6 +762,16 @@
       "input" : "{}",
       "output" : "-10.0"
    },
+   {
+      "query" : "number(\".1E2\")",
+      "input" : "{}",
+      "output" : "10.0"
+   },
+   {
+      "query" : "number(\"-.1E2\")",
+      "input" : "{}",
+      "output" : "-10.0"
+   },
    {
       "query" : "number(\"0.1e-2\")",
       "input" : "{}",
diff --git a/functions.md b/functions.md
index 3846bd1..3065ce0 100644
--- a/functions.md
+++ b/functions.md
@@ -152,19 +152,21 @@ if it is a string that cannot be parsed, then the `fallback` value is
 returned.
 
 The number format supported is the same as in JSON literals, except
-that leading zeroes are allowed.
+that leading zeroes are allowed, and it's allowed to omit the zero
+before the period.
 
 Examples:
 
 ```
-number(23)    => 23
-number("23")  => 23
-number("023") => 23
-number(23.0)  => 23.0
-number(.23)   =>  0.23
-number(-.23)  => -0.23
-number(null)  => null
-number("ab")  => error
+number(23)      => 23
+number("23")    => 23
+number("023")   => 23
+number(23.0)    => 23.0
+number(".23")   =>  0.23
+number("-.23")  => -0.23
+number(null)    => null
+number("ab")    => error
+number("ab", 0) => 0
 ```
 
 ### _round(float) -> integer_