diff --git a/doc/lispref/numbers.texi b/doc/lispref/numbers.texi
index 3e45aa90fda..bcf89fc9ab1 100644
--- a/doc/lispref/numbers.texi
+++ b/doc/lispref/numbers.texi
@@ -270,10 +270,6 @@ two NaNs as equal when their
 signs and significands agree.  Significands of NaNs are
 machine-dependent, as are the digits in their string representation.
 
-  NaNs are not available on systems which do not use IEEE
-floating-point arithmetic; if the read syntax for a NaN is used on a
-VAX, for example, the reader signals an error.
-
   When NaNs and signed zeros are involved, non-numeric functions like
 @code{eql}, @code{equal}, @code{sxhash-eql}, @code{sxhash-equal} and
 @code{gethash} determine whether values are indistinguishable, not
@@ -283,6 +279,12 @@ whether they are numerically equal.  For example, when @var{x} and
 conversely, @code{(equal 0.0 -0.0)} returns @code{nil} whereas
 @code{(= 0.0 -0.0)} returns @code{t}.
 
+  Infinities and NaNs are not available on legacy systems that lack
+IEEE floating-point arithmetic.  On a circa 1980 VAX, for example, the
+Lisp reader approximates an infinity with the nearest finite value,
+and a NaN with some other non-numeric Lisp object that provokes an
+error if used numerically.
+
 Here are read syntaxes for these special floating-point values:
 
 @table @asis
diff --git a/etc/NEWS b/etc/NEWS
index 5d5ea990b92..997f7e82c2b 100644
--- a/etc/NEWS
+++ b/etc/NEWS
@@ -585,6 +585,14 @@ behavior back for any other reason, you can do that using the
 previous behavior of showing 'U' in the mode line for 'koi8-u':
 
      (coding-system-put 'koi8-u :mnemonic ?U)
+
++++
+** Infinities and NaNs no longer act as symbols on non-IEEE platforms.
+On old platforms like the VAX that do not support IEEE floating-point,
+tokens like 0.0e+NaN and 1.0e+INF are no longer read as symbols.
+Instead, the Lisp reader approximates an infinity with the nearest
+finite value, and a NaN with some other non-numeric object that
+provokes an error if used numerically.
 
 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 30.1
 
diff --git a/src/data.c b/src/data.c
index 6de8e0cf1a1..5a31462d8ca 100644
--- a/src/data.c
+++ b/src/data.c
@@ -3033,7 +3033,8 @@ If the base used is not 10, STRING is always parsed as an integer.  */)
     p++;
 
   Lisp_Object val = string_to_number (p, b, 0);
-  return NILP (val) ? make_fixnum (0) : val;
+  return ((IEEE_FLOATING_POINT ? NILP (val) : !NUMBERP (val))
+	  ? make_fixnum (0) : val);
 }
 
 enum arithop
diff --git a/src/lread.c b/src/lread.c
index 51d0d2a3c24..6792ef27206 100644
--- a/src/lread.c
+++ b/src/lread.c
@@ -75,6 +75,10 @@ along with GNU Emacs.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.  */
 # ifndef INFINITY
 #  define INFINITY ((union ieee754_double) {.ieee = {.exponent = -1}}.d)
 # endif
+#else
+# ifndef INFINITY
+#  define INFINITY HUGE_VAL
+# endif
 #endif
 
 /* The objects or placeholders read with the #n=object form.
@@ -4477,10 +4481,17 @@ substitute_in_interval (INTERVAL interval, void *arg)
 }
 
 
+#if !IEEE_FLOATING_POINT
+/* Strings that stand in for +NaN, -NaN, respectively.  */
+static Lisp_Object not_a_number[2];
+#endif
+
 /* Convert the initial prefix of STRING to a number, assuming base BASE.
    If the prefix has floating point syntax and BASE is 10, return a
    nearest float; otherwise, if the prefix has integer syntax, return
-   the integer; otherwise, return nil.  If PLEN, set *PLEN to the
+   the integer; otherwise, return nil.  (On antique platforms that lack
+   support for NaNs, if the prefix has NaN syntax return a Lisp object that
+   will provoke an error if used as a number.)  If PLEN, set *PLEN to the
    length of the numeric prefix if there is one, otherwise *PLEN is
    unspecified.  */
 
@@ -4545,7 +4556,6 @@ string_to_number (char const *string, int base, ptrdiff_t *plen)
 		cp++;
 	      while ('0' <= *cp && *cp <= '9');
 	    }
-#if IEEE_FLOATING_POINT
 	  else if (cp[-1] == '+'
 		   && cp[0] == 'I' && cp[1] == 'N' && cp[2] == 'F')
 	    {
@@ -4558,12 +4568,17 @@ string_to_number (char const *string, int base, ptrdiff_t *plen)
 	    {
 	      state |= E_EXP;
 	      cp += 3;
+#if IEEE_FLOATING_POINT
 	      union ieee754_double u
 		= { .ieee_nan = { .exponent = 0x7ff, .quiet_nan = 1,
 				  .mantissa0 = n >> 31 >> 1, .mantissa1 = n }};
 	      value = u.d;
-	    }
+#else
+	      if (plen)
+		*plen = cp - string;
+	      return not_a_number[negative];
 #endif
+	    }
 	  else
 	    cp = ecp;
 	}
@@ -5707,6 +5722,14 @@ that are loaded before your customizations are read!  */);
   DEFSYM (Qcomma, ",");
   DEFSYM (Qcomma_at, ",@");
 
+#if !IEEE_FLOATING_POINT
+  for (int negative = 0; negative < 2; negative++)
+    {
+      not_a_number[negative] = build_pure_c_string (&"-0.0e+NaN"[!negative]);
+      staticpro (&not_a_number[negative]);
+    }
+#endif
+
   DEFSYM (Qinhibit_file_name_operation, "inhibit-file-name-operation");
   DEFSYM (Qascii_character, "ascii-character");
   DEFSYM (Qfunction, "function");
diff --git a/src/process.c b/src/process.c
index 67d1d3e425f..2d6e08f16b5 100644
--- a/src/process.c
+++ b/src/process.c
@@ -7130,7 +7130,8 @@ See function `signal-process' for more details on usage.  */)
 	{
 	  ptrdiff_t len;
 	  tem = string_to_number (SSDATA (process), 10, &len);
-	  if (NILP (tem) || len != SBYTES (process))
+	  if ((IEEE_FLOATING_POINT ? NILP (tem) : !NUMBERP (tem))
+	      || len != SBYTES (process))
 	    return Qnil;
 	}
       process = tem;