diff --git a/release-notes/CREDITS-2.x b/release-notes/CREDITS-2.x
index d5b08eb7..52ea55d7 100644
--- a/release-notes/CREDITS-2.x
+++ b/release-notes/CREDITS-2.x
@@ -244,3 +244,9 @@ Peter Haumer (phaumer@github)
 
 * Reported #404: (yaml) Cannot serialize YAML with Deduction-Based Polymorphism
  (2.15.1)
+
+Arthur Chan (arthurscchan@github)
+
+* Contributed fix for #445: `YAMLParser` throws unexpected `NullPointerException` in certain
+  number parsing cases
+ (2.16.1)
diff --git a/release-notes/VERSION-2.x b/release-notes/VERSION-2.x
index 8546b8f7..9906fd12 100644
--- a/release-notes/VERSION-2.x
+++ b/release-notes/VERSION-2.x
@@ -18,6 +18,12 @@ Active Maintainers:
 
 -
 
+2.16.1 (not yet released)
+
+#445: `YAMLParser` throws unexpected `NullPointerException` in certain
+  number parsing cases
+ (fix contributed by Arthur C)
+
 2.16.0 (15-Nov-2023)
 
 #198: (csv) Support writing numbers as quoted Strings with
diff --git a/yaml/src/main/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/yaml/YAMLParser.java b/yaml/src/main/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/yaml/YAMLParser.java
index e85e1fcd..ab761643 100644
--- a/yaml/src/main/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/yaml/YAMLParser.java
+++ b/yaml/src/main/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/yaml/YAMLParser.java
@@ -920,10 +920,18 @@ public Object getNumberValueDeferred() throws JacksonException {
         //   due to refactoring. So let's try to cobble something together
 
         if (_currToken == JsonToken.VALUE_NUMBER_INT) {
-            // For integrals, use eager decoding for all ints, longs (and
-            // some cheaper BigIntegers)
-            if (_cleanedTextValue.length() <= 18) {
-                return getNumberValue();
+            // We might already have suitable value?
+            if ((_numTypesValid & NR_INT) != 0) {
+                return _numberInt;
+            }
+            if ((_numTypesValid & NR_LONG) != 0) {
+                return _numberLong;
+            }
+            if ((_numTypesValid & NR_BIGINT) != 0) {
+                return _getBigInteger();
+            }
+            if (_cleanedTextValue == null) {
+                _reportError("Internal number decoding error: `_cleanedTextValue` null when nothing decoded for `JsonToken.VALUE_NUMBER_INT`");
             }
             return _cleanedTextValue;
         }
diff --git a/yaml/src/test/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/yaml/deser/FuzzYAMLReadTest.java b/yaml/src/test/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/yaml/deser/FuzzYAMLReadTest.java
index f78dea8e..65e47387 100644
--- a/yaml/src/test/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/yaml/deser/FuzzYAMLReadTest.java
+++ b/yaml/src/test/java/tools/jackson/dataformat/yaml/deser/FuzzYAMLReadTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 package tools.jackson.dataformat.yaml.deser;
 
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
+
+import tools.jackson.core.JacksonException;
 import tools.jackson.core.JsonToken;
 import tools.jackson.core.exc.StreamReadException;
 
@@ -88,4 +92,28 @@ public void testNumberDecoding61823() throws Exception
             verifyException(e, "Invalid number");
         }
     }
+
+    // [dataformats-text#445]: NPE
+    static class ModelContainer445
+    {
+        public String string;
+
+        @JsonCreator
+        public ModelContainer445(@JsonProperty(value = "string")  String string) {
+            this.string = string;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // [dataformats-text#445]: NPE
+    // https://bugs.chromium.org/p/oss-fuzz/issues/detail?id=64662
+    public void testNullPointerException445_64662() throws Exception
+    {
+        // Content itself odd, generated by Fuzz; but needs to trigger buffering to work
+        try {
+            YAML_MAPPER.readValue(" :: ! 0000000000000000000000000000", ModelContainer445.class);
+            fail("Should not pass");
+        } catch (JacksonException e) {
+            verifyException(e, "Unrecognized property");
+        }
+    }
 }