From b5985fc80a1a499b930783614f6a3dd0a5596292 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Theodore Brown <theodorejb@outlook.com>
Date: Sat, 6 Jun 2026 23:16:23 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Fix strict mode .length lookup on string primitives

Resolves #2164
---
 lib/handlebars/runtime.js |  2 +-
 spec/strict.js            | 19 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/lib/handlebars/runtime.js b/lib/handlebars/runtime.js
index 6aef63bf..869c4f86 100644
--- a/lib/handlebars/runtime.js
+++ b/lib/handlebars/runtime.js
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ export function template(templateSpec, env) {
   // Just add water
   let container = {
     strict: function (obj, name, loc) {
-      if (!obj || !(name in obj)) {
+      if (obj == null || !(name in Object(obj))) {
         throw new Exception('"' + name + '" not defined in ' + obj, {
           loc: loc,
         });
diff --git a/spec/strict.js b/spec/strict.js
index bfcb0a9a..9bfb7f1d 100644
--- a/spec/strict.js
+++ b/spec/strict.js
@@ -27,6 +27,25 @@ describe('strict', function () {
         .toCompileTo('');
     });
 
+    it('should handle array length', function () {
+      expectTemplate('{{hello.length}}')
+        .withCompileOptions({ strict: true })
+        .withInput({ hello: [1, 2, 3] })
+        .toCompileTo('3');
+    });
+
+    it('should handle string length', function () {
+      expectTemplate('{{hello.length}}')
+        .withCompileOptions({ strict: true })
+        .withInput({ hello: 'world' })
+        .toCompileTo('5');
+
+      expectTemplate('{{hello.length}}')
+        .withCompileOptions({ strict: true })
+        .withInput({ hello: '' })
+        .toCompileTo('0');
+    });
+
     it('should error on missing property lookup in known helpers mode', function () {
       expectTemplate('{{hello}}')
         .withCompileOptions({