diff --git a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/Gson.java b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/Gson.java
index a06f290747..78880bc060 100644
--- a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/Gson.java
+++ b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/Gson.java
@@ -979,7 +979,7 @@ public <T> T fromJson(Reader json, TypeToken<T> typeOfT)
       throws JsonIOException, JsonSyntaxException {
     JsonReader jsonReader = newJsonReader(json);
     T object = fromJson(jsonReader, typeOfT);
-    assertFullConsumption(object, jsonReader);
+    assertFullConsumption(jsonReader);
     return object;
   }
 
@@ -1193,11 +1193,14 @@ public <T> T fromJson(JsonElement json, TypeToken<T> typeOfT) throws JsonSyntaxE
     return fromJson(new JsonTreeReader(json), typeOfT);
   }
 
-  private static void assertFullConsumption(Object obj, JsonReader reader) {
+  private static void assertFullConsumption(JsonReader reader) {
     try {
-      if (obj != null && reader.peek() != JsonToken.END_DOCUMENT) {
+      if (reader.peek() != JsonToken.END_DOCUMENT) {
         throw new JsonSyntaxException("JSON document was not fully consumed.");
       }
+    } catch (EOFException e) {
+      // Stream is exhausted — no trailing data. This happens when the input was empty
+      // or contained only whitespace, which Gson accepts for backward compatibility.
     } catch (MalformedJsonException e) {
       throw new JsonSyntaxException(e);
     } catch (IOException e) {
diff --git a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonParser.java b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonParser.java
index d56da87a48..e683fcafd3 100644
--- a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonParser.java
+++ b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonParser.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 import com.google.gson.stream.JsonReader;
 import com.google.gson.stream.JsonToken;
 import com.google.gson.stream.MalformedJsonException;
+import java.io.EOFException;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.Reader;
 import java.io.StringReader;
@@ -108,8 +109,13 @@ public static JsonElement parseReader(Reader reader) throws JsonIOException, Jso
     try {
       JsonReader jsonReader = new JsonReader(reader);
       JsonElement element = parseReader(jsonReader);
-      if (!element.isJsonNull() && jsonReader.peek() != JsonToken.END_DOCUMENT) {
-        throw new JsonSyntaxException("Did not consume the entire document.");
+      try {
+        if (jsonReader.peek() != JsonToken.END_DOCUMENT) {
+          throw new JsonSyntaxException("Did not consume the entire document.");
+        }
+      } catch (EOFException e) {
+        // Stream is exhausted — no trailing data. This happens when the input was empty
+        // or contained only whitespace, which Gson accepts for backward compatibility.
       }
       return element;
     } catch (MalformedJsonException | NumberFormatException e) {
diff --git a/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/GsonTest.java b/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/GsonTest.java
index 2d00dd4d35..e7b2290788 100644
--- a/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/GsonTest.java
+++ b/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/GsonTest.java
@@ -637,4 +637,28 @@ public CustomClass3() {
       this(NO_ARG_CONSTRUCTOR_VALUE);
     }
   }
+
+  /**
+   * Gson.fromJson should reject trailing data after a top-level JSON null, just as it does for
+   * non-null values. Previously, assertFullConsumption skipped the reader.peek() check when the
+   * deserialized object was null, silently ignoring any trailing content.
+   */
+  @Test
+  public void testFromJsonRejectsTrailingDataAfterNull_String() {
+    Gson gson = new Gson();
+    // Non-null with trailing data already throws — verify that baseline
+    assertThrows(
+        JsonSyntaxException.class, () -> gson.fromJson("\"hello\" trailing", String.class));
+    // Null with trailing data should also throw, but previously didn't
+    assertThrows(JsonSyntaxException.class, () -> gson.fromJson("null trailing", String.class));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testFromJsonRejectsTrailingDataAfterNull_Reader() {
+    Gson gson = new Gson();
+    // Null with trailing data through the Reader overload
+    assertThrows(
+        JsonSyntaxException.class,
+        () -> gson.fromJson(new StringReader("null trailing"), String.class));
+  }
 }
diff --git a/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/JsonParserTest.java b/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/JsonParserTest.java
index 47192c797b..f193c836a3 100644
--- a/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/JsonParserTest.java
+++ b/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/JsonParserTest.java
@@ -195,4 +195,20 @@ public void testStrict() {
     // Original strictness was kept
     assertThat(reader.getStrictness()).isEqualTo(strictness);
   }
+
+  /**
+   * JsonParser.parseReader(Reader) should reject trailing data after a top-level JSON null, just as
+   * it does for non-null values. Previously, the trailing-data check was gated by
+   * !element.isJsonNull(), silently ignoring any content after "null".
+   */
+  @Test
+  public void testParseReaderRejectsTrailingDataAfterNull() {
+    // Non-null with trailing data already throws — verify that baseline
+    assertThrows(
+        JsonSyntaxException.class,
+        () -> JsonParser.parseReader(new StringReader("\"hello\" trailing")));
+    // Null with trailing data should also throw, but previously didn't
+    assertThrows(
+        JsonSyntaxException.class, () -> JsonParser.parseReader(new StringReader("null trailing")));
+  }
 }