diff --git a/projects/Lang/44/org/apache/commons/lang/NumberUtils.java b/projects/Lang/44/org/apache/commons/lang/NumberUtils.java
index 18a05ef..c5ca8cd 100644
--- a/projects/Lang/44/org/apache/commons/lang/NumberUtils.java
+++ b/projects/Lang/44/org/apache/commons/lang/NumberUtils.java
@@ -142,6 +142,9 @@ public static Number createNumber(String val) throws NumberFormatException {
         if (val.length() == 0) {
             throw new NumberFormatException("\"\" is not a valid number.");
         }
+        if (val.length() == 1 && !Character.isDigit(val.charAt(0))) {
+            throw new NumberFormatException(val + " is not a valid number.");
+        }
         if (val.startsWith("--")) {
             // this is protection for poorness in java.lang.BigDecimal.
             // it accepts this as a legal value, but it does not appear