neither namespace name nor URI may be null

SQLSTATE 22004 condition null_value_not_allowed class 22 — Data Exception severity ERROR
Reproduced & verified on PostgreSQL 14.23, 15.18, 16.14, 17.10 and 18.4 — identical message on every version.
Last reviewed 4 Jun 2026 · Reproduced live with the SQL on this page.

Symptoms

A statement failed with SQLSTATE 22004 (null_value_not_allowed), reported at severity ERROR. This is a Data Exception condition: PostgreSQL emits the message neither namespace name nor URI may be null.

What the server log shows

ERROR:  neither namespace name nor URI may be null

Why PostgreSQL raises this

Class 22 (Data Exception) is raised at run time when a value cannot be represented, converted, or processed by the requested type or function — bad input syntax, out-of-range values, or invalid arguments.

As described in PostgreSQL’s Chapter 8 Data Types and Appendix A (PostgreSQL Error Codes), SQLSTATE 22004 carries the condition name null_value_not_allowed in class Data Exception. (Paraphrased — see the linked reference for the exact wording.)

Common causes

How to fix it

  1. Validate and sanitize the input value before sending it.
  2. Cast explicitly to the intended type and confirm the format.
  3. Widen the column/type or clamp the value to the supported range.
  4. Reproduce with the exact literal to see which value is rejected.

Version applicability

This message is present in PostgreSQL 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19.

Related & next steps

Reference: PostgreSQL Chapter 8 Data Types.