diff --git a/datafusion/functions/src/unicode/substr.rs b/datafusion/functions/src/unicode/substr.rs
index 5a8c2500900b..1df33542e1da 100644
--- a/datafusion/functions/src/unicode/substr.rs
+++ b/datafusion/functions/src/unicode/substr.rs
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ impl ScalarUDFImpl for SubstrFunc {
         let first_data_type = match &arg_types[0] {
             DataType::Null => Ok(DataType::Utf8),
             DataType::LargeUtf8 | DataType::Utf8View | DataType::Utf8 => Ok(arg_types[0].clone()),
+            DataType::Int64 | DataType::Int32 => Ok(DataType::Utf8), // Allows for first arg to be int
             DataType::Dictionary(key_type, value_type) => {
                 if key_type.is_integer() {
                     match value_type.as_ref() {
diff --git a/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/functions.slt b/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/functions.slt
index 5b6017b08a00..e8577a95633f 100644
--- a/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/functions.slt
+++ b/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/functions.slt
@@ -193,12 +193,6 @@ SELECT substr('alphabet', 3, CAST(NULL AS int))
 ----
 NULL
 
-statement error The first argument of the substr function can only be a string, but got Int64
-SELECT substr(1, 3)
-
-statement error The first argument of the substr function can only be a string, but got Int64
-SELECT substr(1, 3, 4)
-
 query T
 SELECT translate('12345', '143', 'ax')
 ----
diff --git a/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/string/string_literal.slt b/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/string/string_literal.slt
index 5d847747693d..2c5944d61487 100644
--- a/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/string/string_literal.slt
+++ b/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/string/string_literal.slt
@@ -123,18 +123,17 @@ SELECT substr('Hello🌏世界', 5, 3)
 ----
 o🌏世
 
-statement error The first argument of the substr function can only be a string, but got Int64
-SELECT substr(1, 3)
-
-statement error The first argument of the substr function can only be a string, but got Int64
-SELECT substr(1, 3, 4)
-
 statement error Execution error: negative substring length not allowed
 select substr(arrow_cast('foo', 'Utf8View'), 1, -1);
 
 statement error Execution error: negative substring length not allowed
 select substr('', 1, -1);
 
+query T
+select substr(123456, 3);
+----
+3456
+
 # StringView scalar to StringView scalar
 
 query BBBB