diff --git a/datafusion/sql/src/expr/mod.rs b/datafusion/sql/src/expr/mod.rs
index c00dcb82ff3a9..c2e4822f76b99 100644
--- a/datafusion/sql/src/expr/mod.rs
+++ b/datafusion/sql/src/expr/mod.rs
@@ -1008,10 +1008,6 @@ impl<S: ContextProvider> SqlToRel<'_, S> {
         planner_context: &mut PlannerContext,
     ) -> Result<Expr> {
         let pattern = self.sql_expr_to_logical_expr(pattern, schema, planner_context)?;
-        let pattern_type = pattern.get_type(schema)?;
-        if pattern_type != DataType::Utf8 && pattern_type != DataType::Null {
-            return plan_err!("Invalid pattern in SIMILAR TO expression");
-        }
         let escape_char = match escape_char.map(|v| v.value) {
             Some(Value::SingleQuotedString(char)) if char.len() == 1 => {
                 Some(char.chars().next().unwrap())
diff --git a/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/type_coercion.slt b/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/type_coercion.slt
index 7ec0f5f1dba30..6a56fc2407a94 100644
--- a/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/type_coercion.slt
+++ b/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/type_coercion.slt
@@ -304,7 +304,9 @@ query error does not support zero arguments
 SELECT * FROM (SELECT 1) WHERE TRY_CAST(STARTS_WITH() AS INT) = 1;
 
 ###################################################################
-## SIMILAR TO type coercion (https://github.com/apache/datafusion/issues/22886)
+## SIMILAR TO type coercion
+## https://github.com/apache/datafusion/issues/22886
+## https://github.com/apache/datafusion/issues/23732
 ###################################################################
 
 # NULL pattern is coerced to a typed NULL and evaluates to NULL instead of panicking
@@ -349,6 +351,44 @@ SELECT arrow_cast(t.s, 'Dictionary(Int32, Utf8)') SIMILAR TO p.pat FROM t CROSS
 ----
 true
 
+# non-scalar string-like patterns are coerced by the analyzer
+query B
+SELECT t.s SIMILAR TO arrow_cast(p.pat, 'Utf8View') FROM t CROSS JOIN p;
+----
+true
+
+query B
+SELECT t.s SIMILAR TO arrow_cast(p.pat, 'LargeUtf8') FROM t CROSS JOIN p;
+----
+true
+
+query B
+SELECT t.s NOT SIMILAR TO arrow_cast(p.pat, 'Utf8View') FROM t CROSS JOIN p;
+----
+false
+
+query B
+SELECT t.s SIMILAR TO arrow_cast(p.pat, 'Dictionary(Int32, Utf8)') FROM t CROSS JOIN p;
+----
+true
+
+# NULL patterns (literal or Null-typed non-scalar) evaluate to NULL
+query B
+SELECT t.s SIMILAR TO NULL FROM t;
+----
+NULL
+
+statement ok
+CREATE TABLE pn AS SELECT NULL AS pat;
+
+query B
+SELECT t.s SIMILAR TO pn.pat FROM t CROSS JOIN pn;
+----
+NULL
+
+statement ok
+DROP TABLE pn;
+
 statement ok
 DROP TABLE t;
 
@@ -359,6 +399,6 @@ DROP TABLE p;
 query error There isn't a common type to coerce Int64 and Utf8 in SIMILAR TO expression
 SELECT 1 SIMILAR TO 'a';
 
-# a non-string pattern is rejected even earlier, during SQL planning
-query error Invalid pattern in SIMILAR TO expression
+# a non-string pattern is rejected by the analyzer
+query error There isn't a common type to coerce Utf8 and Int64 in SIMILAR TO expression
 SELECT 'a' SIMILAR TO 1;