diff --git a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveShim.scala b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveShim.scala
index 3a53a2a8dadd..351cde58427c 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveShim.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveShim.scala
@@ -101,10 +101,19 @@ private[hive] object HiveShim {
 
   def toCatalystDecimal(hdoi: HiveDecimalObjectInspector, data: Any): Decimal = {
     if (hdoi.preferWritable()) {
-      Decimal(hdoi.getPrimitiveWritableObject(data).getHiveDecimal().bigDecimalValue,
-        hdoi.precision(), hdoi.scale())
+      val value = hdoi.getPrimitiveWritableObject(data)
+      if (value == null) {
+        null
+      } else {
+        Decimal(value.getHiveDecimal().bigDecimalValue, hdoi.precision(), hdoi.scale())
+      }
     } else {
-      Decimal(hdoi.getPrimitiveJavaObject(data).bigDecimalValue(), hdoi.precision(), hdoi.scale())
+      val value = hdoi.getPrimitiveJavaObject(data)
+      if (value == null) {
+        null
+      } else {
+        Decimal(value.bigDecimalValue(), hdoi.precision(), hdoi.scale())
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/SQLQuerySuite.scala b/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/SQLQuerySuite.scala
index 5db705036e9f..8d248bb387df 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/SQLQuerySuite.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/execution/SQLQuerySuite.scala
@@ -2642,6 +2642,23 @@ abstract class SQLQuerySuiteBase extends QueryTest with SQLTestUtils with TestHi
       }
     }
   }
+
+  test("SPARK-37196: HiveDecimal Precision Scale match failed should return null") {
+    withTempDir { dir =>
+      withSQLConf(HiveUtils.CONVERT_METASTORE_PARQUET.key -> "false") {
+        withTable("test_precision") {
+          val df = sql(s"SELECT 'dummy' AS name, ${"1" * 20}.${"2" * 18} AS value")
+          df.write.mode("Overwrite").parquet(dir.getAbsolutePath)
+          sql(
+            s"""
+               |CREATE EXTERNAL TABLE test_precision(name STRING, value DECIMAL(18,6))
+               |STORED AS PARQUET LOCATION '${dir.getAbsolutePath}'
+               |""".stripMargin)
+          checkAnswer(sql("SELECT * FROM test_precision"), Row("dummy", null))
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 @SlowHiveTest