diff --git a/pandas/tests/tools/test_to_numeric.py b/pandas/tests/tools/test_to_numeric.py
index 19385e797467c..e0dfeac4ab475 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/tools/test_to_numeric.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/tools/test_to_numeric.py
@@ -627,3 +627,13 @@ def test_non_coerce_uint64_conflict(errors, exp):
     else:
         result = to_numeric(ser, errors=errors)
         tm.assert_series_equal(result, ser)
+
+
+def test_failure_to_convert_uint64_string_to_NaN():
+    # GH 32394
+    result = to_numeric("uint64", errors="coerce")
+    assert np.isnan(result)
+
+    ser = Series([32, 64, np.nan])
+    result = to_numeric(pd.Series(["32", "64", "uint64"]), errors="coerce")
+    tm.assert_series_equal(result, ser)