diff --git a/src/main/java/org/json/JSONPointer.java b/src/main/java/org/json/JSONPointer.java
index a38043d7b..13af84e78 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/json/JSONPointer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/json/JSONPointer.java
@@ -224,18 +224,46 @@ public Object queryFrom(Object document) throws JSONPointerException {
      * @throws JSONPointerException is thrown if the index is out of bounds
      */
     private static Object readByIndexToken(Object current, String indexToken) throws JSONPointerException {
+        int index = toArrayIndex(indexToken);
+        JSONArray currentArr = (JSONArray) current;
+        if (index >= currentArr.length()) {
+            throw new JSONPointerException(format("index %s is out of bounds - the array has %d elements", indexToken,
+                    Integer.valueOf(currentArr.length())));
+        }
         try {
-            int index = Integer.parseInt(indexToken);
-            JSONArray currentArr = (JSONArray) current;
-            if (index >= currentArr.length()) {
-                throw new JSONPointerException(format("index %s is out of bounds - the array has %d elements", indexToken,
-                        Integer.valueOf(currentArr.length())));
+			return currentArr.get(index);
+		} catch (JSONException e) {
+			throw new JSONPointerException("Error reading value at index position " + index, e);
+		}
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Converts an array index token to its ordinal position. RFC 6901 section 4 restricts an array
+     * index to {@code "0"} or to a digit string which does not start with a zero:
+     * {@code array-index = %x30 / ( %x31-39 *(%x30-39) )}. Number spellings which Java accepts but
+     * the grammar does not, such as {@code "01"}, {@code "+1"} or {@code "-0"}, are rejected so that
+     * they cannot be read as a different element than the one that was asked for.
+     *
+     * @param indexToken the array index in string form
+     * @return the ordinal position the token denotes
+     * @throws JSONPointerException if the token is not a valid array index
+     * @see <a href="https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6901#section-4">rfc6901 section 4</a>
+     */
+    private static int toArrayIndex(String indexToken) throws JSONPointerException {
+        char first = indexToken.charAt(0);
+        if (first != '0' && (first < '1' || first > '9')) {
+            throw new JSONPointerException(format("%s is not an array index", indexToken));
+        }
+        if (first == '0' && indexToken.length() > 1) {
+            throw new JSONPointerException(format("%s is not an array index", indexToken));
+        }
+        for (int i = 1; i < indexToken.length(); i++) {
+            if (indexToken.charAt(i) < '0' || indexToken.charAt(i) > '9') {
+                throw new JSONPointerException(format("%s is not an array index", indexToken));
             }
-            try {
-				return currentArr.get(index);
-			} catch (JSONException e) {
-				throw new JSONPointerException("Error reading value at index position " + index, e);
-			}
+        }
+        try {
+            return Integer.parseInt(indexToken);
         } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
             throw new JSONPointerException(format("%s is not an array index", indexToken), e);
         }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/json/junit/JSONPointerTest.java b/src/test/java/org/json/junit/JSONPointerTest.java
index 3d70e23c0..7db585069 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/json/junit/JSONPointerTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/json/junit/JSONPointerTest.java
@@ -306,6 +306,32 @@ public void tokenListIsCopiedInConstructor() {
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * RFC 6901 section 4 restricts an array index to "0", or to a digit string that does not
+     * start with a zero: {@code array-index = %x30 / ( %x31-39 *(%x30-39) )}. Tokens such as
+     * {@code "01"} and {@code "+1"} are therefore not array indexes, and navigating into an
+     * array with them must fail instead of silently resolving to a different element.
+     *
+     * @see <a href="https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6901#section-4">rfc6901 section 4</a>
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void arrayIndexTokenMustMatchRfc6901Grammar() {
+        JSONArray array = new JSONArray("[10,20,30,40,50,60]");
+        assertEquals(10, array.query("/0"));
+        assertEquals(20, array.query("/1"));
+        for (String token : new String[] { "01", "00", "+1", "-0", "1.0", "(1)", "0000000000000000001" }) {
+            try {
+                Object value = array.query("/" + token);
+                fail("Expected JSONPointerException for array index token '" + token + "', got " + value);
+            } catch (JSONPointerException e) {
+                assertTrue("Expected index message for token '" + token + "', got: " + e.getMessage(),
+                        e.getMessage().contains("is not an array index"));
+            }
+        }
+        // the same rule applies to JSONArray.optQuery, which reports a failed query as null
+        assertTrue("Expected null", array.optQuery("/01") == null);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Coverage for JSONObject query(String)
      */