diff --git a/decimal/decimal.go b/decimal/decimal.go
index a57f1d05..335866e5 100644
--- a/decimal/decimal.go
+++ b/decimal/decimal.go
@@ -49,18 +49,26 @@ func NewFromInt(i int64) Decimal {
 	return Decimal(i) * scaleFactor
 }
 
+var errEmpty = errors.New("empty string")
+var errTooBig = errors.New("number too big")
+var errInvalid = errors.New("invalid syntax")
+
 // atoi64 is equivalent to strconv.Atoi
 func atoi64(s string) (bool, int64, error) {
 	sLen := len(s)
-	if sLen < 1 || sLen > 18 {
-		return false, 0, errors.New("atoi failed")
+	if sLen < 1 {
+		return false, 0, errEmpty
+	}
+	if sLen > 18 {
+		return false, 0, errTooBig
 	}
+
 	neg := false
 	if s[0] == '-' {
 		neg = true
 		s = s[1:]
 		if len(s) < 1 {
-			return false, 0, errors.New("atoi failed")
+			return neg, 0, errEmpty
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -68,7 +76,7 @@ func atoi64(s string) (bool, int64, error) {
 	for _, ch := range []byte(s) {
 		ch -= '0'
 		if ch > 9 {
-			return false, 0, errors.New("atoi failed")
+			return neg, 0, errInvalid
 		}
 		n = n*10 + int64(ch)
 	}
@@ -82,21 +90,15 @@ func atoi64(s string) (bool, int64, error) {
 // error if integer parsing fails.
 func NewFromString(s string) (Decimal, error) {
 	if whole, frac, split := strings.Cut(s, "."); split {
-		var neg bool
-		var w int64
-		if whole == "-" {
-			neg = true
-		} else if whole != "" {
-			var err error
-			neg, w, err = atoi64(whole)
-			if err != nil {
-				return Zero, err
-			}
+		neg, w, err := atoi64(whole)
+		// if fractional portion exists, whole part can be empty
+		if err != nil && err != errEmpty {
+			return Zero, err
 		}
 
 		// overflow
 		if w > parseMax || w < parseMin {
-			return Zero, errors.New("number too big")
+			return Zero, errTooBig
 		}
 		w = w * int64(scaleFactor)
 
@@ -106,7 +108,7 @@ func NewFromString(s string) (Decimal, error) {
 		for _, b := range frac {
 			f *= 10
 			if b < '0' || b > '9' {
-				return Zero, errors.New("invalid syntax")
+				return Zero, errInvalid
 			}
 			f += int64(b - '0')
 			seen++
@@ -126,7 +128,7 @@ func NewFromString(s string) (Decimal, error) {
 	} else {
 		_, i, err := atoi64(s)
 		if i > parseMax || i < parseMin {
-			return Zero, errors.New("number too big")
+			return Zero, errTooBig
 		}
 		i = i * int64(scaleFactor)
 		return Decimal(i), err
diff --git a/decimal/decimal_test.go b/decimal/decimal_test.go
index 5320bfaf..7fe624ec 100644
--- a/decimal/decimal_test.go
+++ b/decimal/decimal_test.go
@@ -298,47 +298,47 @@ var testParseCases = []testCase{
 	},
 	{
 		"error-1",
-		"number too big",
+		errTooBig.Error(),
 		"100000000000000000",
 	},
 	{
 		"error-2",
-		"number too big",
+		errTooBig.Error(),
 		"10000000000000000",
 	},
 	{
 		"error-3",
-		"number too big",
+		errTooBig.Error(),
 		"10000000000000000.56",
 	},
 	{
 		"error-4",
-		"invalid syntax",
+		errInvalid.Error(),
 		"0.e0",
 	},
 	{
 		"error-5",
-		"atoi failed",
+		errTooBig.Error(),
 		"5555555555555555555555555550000000000000000",
 	},
 	{
 		"error-6",
-		"atoi failed",
+		errEmpty.Error(),
 		"-",
 	},
 	{
 		"error-7",
-		"atoi failed",
+		errEmpty.Error(),
 		"",
 	},
 	{
 		"error-badint-1",
-		`atoi failed`,
+		errInvalid.Error(),
 		"1QZ.56",
 	},
 	{
 		"error-expr-1",
-		`atoi failed`,
+		errInvalid.Error(),
 		"(123 * 6)",
 	},
 	{
@@ -351,6 +351,21 @@ var testParseCases = []testCase{
 		"-0.50",
 		"-.50",
 	},
+	{
+		"missingfrac",
+		"5.00",
+		"5.",
+	},
+	{
+		"neg-missingfrac",
+		"-5.00",
+		"-5.",
+	},
+	{
+		"just-a-decimal",
+		"0.00",
+		".",
+	},
 }
 
 func TestStringParse(t *testing.T) {
@@ -364,6 +379,9 @@ func TestStringParse(t *testing.T) {
 				t.Fatalf("Error(%s): expected `%s`, got `%s`", tc.name, tc.Result, err)
 			}
 		}
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(tc.name, "error") && err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Error(%s): unexpected error `%s`", tc.name, err)
+		}
 		if !strings.HasPrefix(tc.name, "error") && tc.Result != d.StringFixedBank() {
 			t.Errorf("Error(%s): expected \n`%s`, \ngot \n`%s`", tc.name, tc.Result, d.StringFixedBank())
 		}
@@ -395,7 +413,7 @@ func FuzzStringParse(f *testing.F) {
 }
 
 func BenchmarkNewFromString(b *testing.B) {
-	numbers := []string{"10.0", "245.6", "354", "2.456"}
+	numbers := []string{"10.0", "245.6", "354", "2.456", "-31.2"}
 	for n := 0; n < b.N; n++ {
 		for _, numStr := range numbers {
 			NewFromString(numStr)