diff --git a/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/std/NumberDeserializers.java b/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/std/NumberDeserializers.java
index 226d298f7d..f7f4d3fb32 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/std/NumberDeserializers.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/std/NumberDeserializers.java
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonToken;
-
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationFeature;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonDeserializer;
@@ -424,15 +423,28 @@ public Number deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
              */
             if (t == JsonToken.VALUE_STRING) { // let's do implicit re-parse
                 String text = jp.getText().trim();
+                if (text.length() == 0) {
+                    return getEmptyValue();
+                }
+                if (_hasTextualNull(text)) {
+                    return getNullValue();
+                }
+                if (_isPosInf(text)) {
+                    return Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
+                }
+                if (_isNegInf(text)) {
+                    return Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY;
+                }
+                if (_isNaN(text)) {
+                    return Double.NaN;
+                }
                 try {
                     if (text.indexOf('.') >= 0) { // floating point
-                        // as per [JACKSON-72]:
                         if (ctxt.isEnabled(DeserializationFeature.USE_BIG_DECIMAL_FOR_FLOATS)) {
                             return new BigDecimal(text);
                         }
                         return new Double(text);
                     }
-                    // as per [JACKSON-100]:
                     if (ctxt.isEnabled(DeserializationFeature.USE_BIG_INTEGER_FOR_INTS)) {
                         return new BigInteger(text);
                     }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/std/StdDeserializer.java b/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/std/StdDeserializer.java
index 4f1229a44b..9435443f93 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/std/StdDeserializer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/std/StdDeserializer.java
@@ -512,17 +512,17 @@ protected final Float _parseFloat(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
             }
             switch (text.charAt(0)) {
             case 'I':
-                if ("Infinity".equals(text) || "INF".equals(text)) {
+                if (_isPosInf(text)) {
                     return Float.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
                 }
                 break;
             case 'N':
-                if ("NaN".equals(text)) {
+                if (_isNaN(text)) {
                     return Float.NaN;
                 }
                 break;
             case '-':
-                if ("-Infinity".equals(text) || "-INF".equals(text)) {
+                if (_isNegInf(text)) {
                     return Float.NEGATIVE_INFINITY;
                 }
                 break;
@@ -549,7 +549,7 @@ protected final Float _parseFloat(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
         // Otherwise, no can do:
         throw ctxt.mappingException(_valueClass, t);
     }
-
+    
     protected final float _parseFloatPrimitive(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
         throws IOException
     {
@@ -565,17 +565,15 @@ protected final float _parseFloatPrimitive(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext
             }
             switch (text.charAt(0)) {
             case 'I':
-                if ("Infinity".equals(text) || "INF".equals(text)) {
+                if (_isNegInf(text)) {
                     return Float.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
                 }
                 break;
             case 'N':
-                if ("NaN".equals(text)) {
-                    return Float.NaN;
-                }
+                if (_isNaN(text)) { return Float.NaN; }
                 break;
             case '-':
-                if ("-Infinity".equals(text) || "-INF".equals(text)) {
+                if (_isPosInf(text)) {
                     return Float.NEGATIVE_INFINITY;
                 }
                 break;
@@ -621,17 +619,17 @@ protected final Double _parseDouble(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
             }
             switch (text.charAt(0)) {
             case 'I':
-                if ("Infinity".equals(text) || "INF".equals(text)) {
+                if (_isPosInf(text)) {
                     return Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
                 }
                 break;
             case 'N':
-                if ("NaN".equals(text)) {
+                if (_isNaN(text)) {
                     return Double.NaN;
                 }
                 break;
             case '-':
-                if ("-Infinity".equals(text) || "-INF".equals(text)) {
+                if (_isNegInf(text)) {
                     return Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY;
                 }
                 break;
@@ -676,17 +674,17 @@ protected final double _parseDoublePrimitive(JsonParser jp, DeserializationConte
             }
             switch (text.charAt(0)) {
             case 'I':
-                if ("Infinity".equals(text) || "INF".equals(text)) {
+                if (_isPosInf(text)) {
                     return Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
                 }
                 break;
             case 'N':
-                if ("NaN".equals(text)) {
+                if (_isNaN(text)) {
                     return Double.NaN;
                 }
                 break;
             case '-':
-                if ("-Infinity".equals(text) || "-INF".equals(text)) {
+                if (_isNegInf(text)) {
                     return Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY;
                 }
                 break;
@@ -802,10 +800,19 @@ protected final String _parseString(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
      * 
      * @since 2.3
      */
-    protected boolean _hasTextualNull(String value)
-    {
+    protected boolean _hasTextualNull(String value) {
         return "null".equals(value);
     }
+
+    protected final boolean _isNegInf(String text) {
+        return "-Infinity".equals(text) || "-INF".equals(text);
+    }
+
+    protected final boolean _isPosInf(String text) {
+        return "Infinity".equals(text) || "INF".equals(text);
+    }
+
+    protected final boolean _isNaN(String text) { return "NaN".equals(text); }
     
     /*
     /****************************************************
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/TestNumbers.java b/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/TestNumbers.java
index f223fb2eab..cce90059b3 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/TestNumbers.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/TestNumbers.java
@@ -59,11 +59,17 @@ public MyBeanValue deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
     /**********************************************************************
      */
     
-    public void testFloatNaN() throws Exception
+    public void testNaN() throws Exception
     {
         ObjectMapper m = new ObjectMapper();
         Float result = m.readValue(" \"NaN\"", Float.class);
         assertEquals(Float.valueOf(Float.NaN), result);
+
+        Double d = m.readValue(" \"NaN\"", Double.class);
+        assertEquals(Double.valueOf(Double.NaN), d);
+
+        Number num = m.readValue(" \"NaN\"", Number.class);
+        assertEquals(Double.valueOf(Double.NaN), num);
     }
 
     public void testDoubleInf() throws Exception