diff --git a/opteryx/exceptions.py b/opteryx/exceptions.py
index 19d51834..570464bc 100644
--- a/opteryx/exceptions.py
+++ b/opteryx/exceptions.py
@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@ def __init__(
         right_column: Optional[str] = None,
         left_node: Optional[Any] = None,
         right_node: Optional[Any] = None,
+        message: Optional[str] = None,
     ):
         def _format_col(_type, _node, _name):
             if _node.node_type == 42:
@@ -317,7 +318,9 @@ def _format_col(_type, _node, _name):
         self.column = column
         self.left_column = left_column
         self.right_column = right_column
-        if self.column:
+        if message:
+            super().__init__(message)
+        elif self.column:
             super().__init__(
                 f"Incompatible types for column '{column}': {left_type} and {right_type}"
             )
diff --git a/opteryx/functions/__init__.py b/opteryx/functions/__init__.py
index de093890..eecd8b0d 100644
--- a/opteryx/functions/__init__.py
+++ b/opteryx/functions/__init__.py
@@ -529,8 +529,8 @@ def apply_function(function: str = None, *parameters):
         if null_positions.all():
             return numpy.array([None] * morsel_size)
 
-        if null_positions.any():
-            # if we have nulls and both columns are numpy arrays, we can speed things
+        if null_positions.any() and all(isinstance(arr, numpy.ndarray) for arr in parameters):
+            # if we have nulls and the value array is a numpy arrays, we can speed things
             # up by removing the nulls from the calculations, we add the rows back in
             # later
             valid_positions = ~null_positions
diff --git a/opteryx/functions/other_functions.py b/opteryx/functions/other_functions.py
index eda4da41..6822f659 100644
--- a/opteryx/functions/other_functions.py
+++ b/opteryx/functions/other_functions.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import simdjson
 from pyarrow import compute
 
+from opteryx.exceptions import IncompatibleTypesError
 from opteryx.exceptions import SqlError
 
 
@@ -150,13 +151,34 @@ def null_if(col1, col2):
             An array where elements from col1 are replaced with None if they match the corresponding elements in col2.
     """
     if isinstance(col1, pyarrow.Array):
-        values = values.to_numpy(False)
+        col1 = col1.to_numpy(False)
     if isinstance(col1, list):
-        values = numpy.array(values)
+        col1 = col1.array(col1)
     if isinstance(col2, pyarrow.Array):
-        values = values.to_numpy(False)
+        col2 = col2.to_numpy(False)
     if isinstance(col2, list):
-        values = numpy.array(values)
+        col2 = col2.array(col2)
+
+    from orso.types import PYTHON_TO_ORSO_MAP
+    from orso.types import OrsoTypes
+
+    def get_first_non_null_type(array):
+        for item in array:
+            if item is not None:
+                return PYTHON_TO_ORSO_MAP.get(type(item), OrsoTypes._MISSING_TYPE)
+        return OrsoTypes.NULL
+
+    col1_type = get_first_non_null_type(col1.tolist())
+    col2_type = get_first_non_null_type(col2.tolist())
+
+    if col1_type != col2_type:
+        print(col1_type, col2_type)
+
+        raise IncompatibleTypesError(
+            left_type=col1_type,
+            right_type=col2_type,
+            message=f"`NULLIF` called with input arrays of different types, {col1_type} and {col2_type}.",
+        )
 
     # Create a mask where elements in col1 are equal to col2
     mask = col1 == col2
diff --git a/tests/sql_battery/test_shapes_and_errors_battery.py b/tests/sql_battery/test_shapes_and_errors_battery.py
index 08f6ed5b..05811599 100644
--- a/tests/sql_battery/test_shapes_and_errors_battery.py
+++ b/tests/sql_battery/test_shapes_and_errors_battery.py
@@ -2185,6 +2185,10 @@
         ("SELECT DISTINCT l FROM (SELECT split('a b c d e f g h i j', ' ') as letters) as plet CROSS JOIN UNNEST (letters) as l", 10, 1, None),
         # 2112
         ("SELECT id FROM $planets WHERE surface_pressure / surface_pressure is null", 5, 1, None),
+        #2144
+        ("SELECT town, LENGTH(NULLIF(town, 'Inglewood')) FROM (SELECT birth_place->'town' AS town FROM $astronauts) AS T", 357, 2, None),
+        ("SELECT town, LENGTH(NULLIF(town, b'Inglewood')) FROM (SELECT birth_place->>'town' AS town FROM $astronauts) AS T", 357, 2, None),
+        ("SELECT town, LENGTH(NULLIF(town, 'Inglewood')) FROM (SELECT birth_place->>'town' AS town FROM $astronauts) AS T", None, None, IncompatibleTypesError),
 ]
 # fmt:on