diff --git a/src/backend/utils/adt/numeric.c b/src/backend/utils/adt/numeric.c
index 57386aabdfe..f6e20cf704c 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/adt/numeric.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/adt/numeric.c
@@ -558,6 +558,8 @@ static void sub_var(const NumericVar *var1, const NumericVar *var2,
 static void mul_var(const NumericVar *var1, const NumericVar *var2,
 					NumericVar *result,
 					int rscale);
+static void mul_var_short(const NumericVar *var1, const NumericVar *var2,
+						  NumericVar *result);
 static void div_var(const NumericVar *var1, const NumericVar *var2,
 					NumericVar *result,
 					int rscale, bool round);
@@ -8722,7 +8724,7 @@ mul_var(const NumericVar *var1, const NumericVar *var2, NumericVar *result,
 	var1digits = var1->digits;
 	var2digits = var2->digits;
 
-	if (var1ndigits == 0 || var2ndigits == 0)
+	if (var1ndigits == 0)
 	{
 		/* one or both inputs is zero; so is result */
 		zero_var(result);
@@ -8730,6 +8732,16 @@ mul_var(const NumericVar *var1, const NumericVar *var2, NumericVar *result,
 		return;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * If var1 has 1-4 digits and the exact result was requested, delegate to
+	 * mul_var_short() which uses a faster direct multiplication algorithm.
+	 */
+	if (var1ndigits <= 4 && rscale == var1->dscale + var2->dscale)
+	{
+		mul_var_short(var1, var2, result);
+		return;
+	}
+
 	/* Determine result sign and (maximum possible) weight */
 	if (var1->sign == var2->sign)
 		res_sign = NUMERIC_POS;
@@ -8880,6 +8892,212 @@ mul_var(const NumericVar *var1, const NumericVar *var2, NumericVar *result,
 }
 
 
+/*
+ * mul_var_short() -
+ *
+ *	Special-case multiplication function used when var1 has 1-4 digits, var2
+ *	has at least as many digits as var1, and the exact product var1 * var2 is
+ *	requested.
+ */
+static void
+mul_var_short(const NumericVar *var1, const NumericVar *var2,
+			  NumericVar *result)
+{
+	int			var1ndigits = var1->ndigits;
+	int			var2ndigits = var2->ndigits;
+	NumericDigit *var1digits = var1->digits;
+	NumericDigit *var2digits = var2->digits;
+	int			res_sign;
+	int			res_weight;
+	int			res_ndigits;
+	NumericDigit *res_buf;
+	NumericDigit *res_digits;
+	uint32		carry;
+	uint32		term;
+
+	/* Check preconditions */
+	Assert(var1ndigits >= 1);
+	Assert(var1ndigits <= 4);
+	Assert(var2ndigits >= var1ndigits);
+
+	/*
+	 * Determine the result sign, weight, and number of digits to calculate.
+	 * The weight figured here is correct if the product has no leading zero
+	 * digits; otherwise strip_var() will fix things up.  Note that, unlike
+	 * mul_var(), we do not need to allocate an extra output digit, because we
+	 * are not rounding here.
+	 */
+	if (var1->sign == var2->sign)
+		res_sign = NUMERIC_POS;
+	else
+		res_sign = NUMERIC_NEG;
+	res_weight = var1->weight + var2->weight + 1;
+	res_ndigits = var1ndigits + var2ndigits;
+
+	/* Allocate result digit array */
+	res_buf = digitbuf_alloc(res_ndigits + 1);
+	res_buf[0] = 0;				/* spare digit for later rounding */
+	res_digits = res_buf + 1;
+
+	/*
+	 * Compute the result digits in reverse, in one pass, propagating the
+	 * carry up as we go.  The i'th result digit consists of the sum of the
+	 * products var1digits[i1] * var2digits[i2] for which i = i1 + i2 + 1.
+	 */
+	switch (var1ndigits)
+	{
+		case 1:
+			/* ---------
+			 * 1-digit case:
+			 *		var1ndigits = 1
+			 *		var2ndigits >= 1
+			 *		res_ndigits = var2ndigits + 1
+			 * ----------
+			 */
+			carry = 0;
+			for (int i = res_ndigits - 2; i >= 0; i--)
+			{
+				term = (uint32) var1digits[0] * var2digits[i] + carry;
+				res_digits[i + 1] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+				carry = term / NBASE;
+			}
+			res_digits[0] = (NumericDigit) carry;
+			break;
+
+		case 2:
+			/* ---------
+			 * 2-digit case:
+			 *		var1ndigits = 2
+			 *		var2ndigits >= 2
+			 *		res_ndigits = var2ndigits + 2
+			 * ----------
+			 */
+			/* last result digit and carry */
+			term = (uint32) var1digits[1] * var2digits[res_ndigits - 3];
+			res_digits[res_ndigits - 1] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+			carry = term / NBASE;
+
+			/* remaining digits, except for the first two */
+			for (int i = res_ndigits - 3; i >= 1; i--)
+			{
+				term = (uint32) var1digits[0] * var2digits[i] +
+					(uint32) var1digits[1] * var2digits[i - 1] + carry;
+				res_digits[i + 1] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+				carry = term / NBASE;
+			}
+
+			/* first two digits */
+			term = (uint32) var1digits[0] * var2digits[0] + carry;
+			res_digits[1] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+			res_digits[0] = (NumericDigit) (term / NBASE);
+			break;
+
+		case 3:
+			/* ---------
+			 * 3-digit case:
+			 *		var1ndigits = 3
+			 *		var2ndigits >= 3
+			 *		res_ndigits = var2ndigits + 3
+			 * ----------
+			 */
+			/* last two result digits */
+			term = (uint32) var1digits[2] * var2digits[res_ndigits - 4];
+			res_digits[res_ndigits - 1] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+			carry = term / NBASE;
+
+			term = (uint32) var1digits[1] * var2digits[res_ndigits - 4] +
+				(uint32) var1digits[2] * var2digits[res_ndigits - 5] + carry;
+			res_digits[res_ndigits - 2] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+			carry = term / NBASE;
+
+			/* remaining digits, except for the first three */
+			for (int i = res_ndigits - 4; i >= 2; i--)
+			{
+				term = (uint32) var1digits[0] * var2digits[i] +
+					(uint32) var1digits[1] * var2digits[i - 1] +
+					(uint32) var1digits[2] * var2digits[i - 2] + carry;
+				res_digits[i + 1] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+				carry = term / NBASE;
+			}
+
+			/* first three digits */
+			term = (uint32) var1digits[0] * var2digits[1] +
+				(uint32) var1digits[1] * var2digits[0] + carry;
+			res_digits[2] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+			carry = term / NBASE;
+
+			term = (uint32) var1digits[0] * var2digits[0] + carry;
+			res_digits[1] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+			res_digits[0] = (NumericDigit) (term / NBASE);
+			break;
+
+		case 4:
+			/* ---------
+			 * 4-digit case:
+			 *		var1ndigits = 4
+			 *		var2ndigits >= 4
+			 *		res_ndigits = var2ndigits + 4
+			 * ----------
+			 */
+			/* last three result digits */
+			term = (uint32) var1digits[3] * var2digits[res_ndigits - 5];
+			res_digits[res_ndigits - 1] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+			carry = term / NBASE;
+
+			term = (uint32) var1digits[2] * var2digits[res_ndigits - 5] +
+				(uint32) var1digits[3] * var2digits[res_ndigits - 6] + carry;
+			res_digits[res_ndigits - 2] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+			carry = term / NBASE;
+
+			term = (uint32) var1digits[1] * var2digits[res_ndigits - 5] +
+				(uint32) var1digits[2] * var2digits[res_ndigits - 6] +
+				(uint32) var1digits[3] * var2digits[res_ndigits - 7] + carry;
+			res_digits[res_ndigits - 3] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+			carry = term / NBASE;
+
+			/* remaining digits, except for the first four */
+			for (int i = res_ndigits - 5; i >= 3; i--)
+			{
+				term = (uint32) var1digits[0] * var2digits[i] +
+					(uint32) var1digits[1] * var2digits[i - 1] +
+					(uint32) var1digits[2] * var2digits[i - 2] +
+					(uint32) var1digits[3] * var2digits[i - 3] + carry;
+				res_digits[i + 1] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+				carry = term / NBASE;
+			}
+
+			/* first four digits */
+			term = (uint32) var1digits[0] * var2digits[2] +
+				(uint32) var1digits[1] * var2digits[1] +
+				(uint32) var1digits[2] * var2digits[0] + carry;
+			res_digits[3] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+			carry = term / NBASE;
+
+			term = (uint32) var1digits[0] * var2digits[1] +
+				(uint32) var1digits[1] * var2digits[0] + carry;
+			res_digits[2] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+			carry = term / NBASE;
+
+			term = (uint32) var1digits[0] * var2digits[0] + carry;
+			res_digits[1] = (NumericDigit) (term % NBASE);
+			res_digits[0] = (NumericDigit) (term / NBASE);
+			break;
+	}
+
+	/* Store the product in result */
+	digitbuf_free(result->buf);
+	result->ndigits = res_ndigits;
+	result->buf = res_buf;
+	result->digits = res_digits;
+	result->weight = res_weight;
+	result->sign = res_sign;
+	result->dscale = var1->dscale + var2->dscale;
+
+	/* Strip leading and trailing zeroes */
+	strip_var(result);
+}
+
+
 /*
  * div_var() -
  *