diff --git a/datafusion/functions-nested/src/array_reduce.rs b/datafusion/functions-nested/src/array_reduce.rs
index 9a26d1a6c1c80..45a0ac3576ad6 100644
--- a/datafusion/functions-nested/src/array_reduce.rs
+++ b/datafusion/functions-nested/src/array_reduce.rs
@@ -271,9 +271,8 @@ impl HigherOrderUDFImpl for ArrayReduce {
             let mut scatter_indices = Vec::with_capacity(list.len());
 
             for row in 0..list.len() {
-                let active = accumulator.is_valid(row)
-                    && list.is_valid(row)
-                    && position < offsets[row + 1] - offsets[row];
+                let active =
+                    list.is_valid(row) && position < offsets[row + 1] - offsets[row];
                 if active {
                     source_indices.push(u64::try_from(offsets[row] + position).map_err(
                         |error| internal_datafusion_err!("invalid list index: {error}"),
diff --git a/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/array/array_reduce.slt b/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/array/array_reduce.slt
index 23f8072eeb190..dba41ca4c6797 100644
--- a/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/array/array_reduce.slt
+++ b/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/array/array_reduce.slt
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ SELECT array_reduce([1, NULL, 2], 0, (acc, value) -> acc + coalesce(value, 0));
 ----
 3
 
-# A null merge result is terminal and cannot be recovered by a later element.
+# A later element may recover a null accumulator.
 query I
 SELECT array_reduce(
   [1, 2],
@@ -70,7 +70,17 @@ SELECT array_reduce(
   (acc, value) -> CASE WHEN value = 1 THEN NULL ELSE coalesce(acc, 0) + value END
 );
 ----
-NULL
+2
+
+query I
+SELECT array_reduce([1, 2], NULL::BIGINT, (acc, value) -> coalesce(acc, 0) + value);
+----
+3
+
+query I
+SELECT array_reduce([1, NULL, 2], 0, (acc, value) -> coalesce(acc, 0) + value);
+----
+2
 
 query R
 SELECT array_reduce([1.2, 2.3], 0, (acc, value) -> acc + value);
@@ -94,5 +104,25 @@ FROM reduce_t;
 7
 NULL
 
+query I rowsort
+SELECT array_reduce(values, initial,
+                    (acc, value) -> CASE WHEN value = 1 THEN NULL ELSE coalesce(acc, 0) + value END)
+FROM reduce_t;
+----
+5
+7
+9
+NULL
+
+query I rowsort
+SELECT array_reduce(values, initial,
+                    (acc, value) -> CASE WHEN value = 1 THEN NULL ELSE coalesce(acc, 0) + value + extra END)
+FROM reduce_t;
+----
+25
+29
+7
+NULL
+
 statement ok
 set datafusion.sql_parser.dialect = generic;