diff --git a/src/main/java/org/alfresco/repo/virtual/ref/ZeroReferenceParser.java b/src/main/java/org/alfresco/repo/virtual/ref/ZeroReferenceParser.java
index 732f787568..bec1cb9662 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/alfresco/repo/virtual/ref/ZeroReferenceParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/alfresco/repo/virtual/ref/ZeroReferenceParser.java
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ else if ((protocolResourceEncoding - NODE_PROTOCOL_CODE) < VIRTUAL_PROTOCOL_CODE
                                                 parameters);
             return reference;
         }
-        catch (ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException e)
+        catch (ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException | NumberFormatException e)
         {
             throw new ReferenceParseException("Invalid reference",
                                               e);
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/alfresco/repo/virtual/store/VirtualStoreImplTest.java b/src/test/java/org/alfresco/repo/virtual/store/VirtualStoreImplTest.java
index 7d0550f18d..fec857dfe3 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/alfresco/repo/virtual/store/VirtualStoreImplTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/alfresco/repo/virtual/store/VirtualStoreImplTest.java
@@ -265,6 +265,9 @@ public void testCanExistNodeIDwithV()
         // vp...
         createAndCheckNodeId("v"+Encodings.PLAIN.encoding.token+"file", "specialFile5.txt");
 
+        // MNT-21968
+        createAndCheckNodeId("v"+Encodings.ZERO.encoding.token+"0Draft.pdf", "specialFile6.txt");
+
         NodeRef virtualFolder = createVirtualizedFolder(testRootFolder.getNodeRef(), VIRTUAL_FOLDER_3_NAME, TEST_TEMPLATE_4_JSON_SYS_PATH);
 
         assertTrue(smartStore.canVirtualize(virtualFolder));