diff --git a/genie/validate.py b/genie/validate.py
index 733749b5..049cde88 100644
--- a/genie/validate.py
+++ b/genie/validate.py
@@ -424,7 +424,7 @@ def get_invalid_allele_rows(
     allowed_comb_alleles: list,
     allowed_ind_alleles: list,
     ignore_case: bool = False,
-    allow_na: bool = False,
+    allow_na: bool = False
 ) -> pd.Index:
     """
     Find invalid indices in a DataFrame column based on allowed allele values.
@@ -439,7 +439,6 @@ def get_invalid_allele_rows(
         ignore_case (bool, optional): whether to perform case-insensitive matching
         allow_na (bool, optional): whether to allow NAs to be an allowed allele
             value or not.
-
     Returns:
         pd.Index: A pandas index object indicating the row indices that
         don't match the allowed alleles
@@ -456,10 +455,23 @@ def get_invalid_allele_rows(
     else:
         flags = 0  # no flags
 
-    matching_indices = input_data[input_col].str.match(
-        search_str, flags=flags, na=allow_na
-    )
-    invalid_indices = input_data[~matching_indices].index
+    # special handling for all NA column
+    is_all_na = pd.isna(input_data[input_col]).all()
+    if is_all_na and allow_na:
+        invalid_indices = pd.Index([])
+    elif is_all_na and not allow_na:
+        invalid_indices = input_data.index
+    else:
+        # convert numeric cols to string while preserving NAs in order to use str.match
+        transformed_data = input_data.copy()
+        transformed_data[input_col] = transform._convert_col_with_nas_to_str(
+            transformed_data, input_col
+        )
+
+        matching_indices = transformed_data[input_col].str.match(
+            search_str, flags=flags, na=allow_na
+        )
+        invalid_indices = transformed_data[~matching_indices].index
     return invalid_indices
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_validate.py b/tests/test_validate.py
index fa52bb4a..4e16cfee 100644
--- a/tests/test_validate.py
+++ b/tests/test_validate.py
@@ -866,6 +866,50 @@ def get_invalid_allele_rows_test_cases():
             "ignore_case": True,
             "allow_na": True,
         },
+        {
+            "name": "float_nas_not_allowed",
+            "input": pd.DataFrame(
+                {"REFERENCE_ALLELE": [1.5, 2.0, float("nan"), 3.5, 4.0]}
+            ),
+            "expected_index": pd.Index([0, 1, 2, 3, 4]),
+            "allowed_comb_alleles": ["A", "T", "C", "G", "-"],
+            "allowed_ind_alleles": [],
+            "ignore_case": True,
+            "allow_na": False,
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "float_nas_allowed",
+            "input": pd.DataFrame(
+                {"REFERENCE_ALLELE": [1.5, 2.0, float("nan"), 3.5, 4.0]}
+            ),
+            "expected_index": pd.Index([0, 1, 3, 4]),
+            "allowed_comb_alleles": ["A", "T", "C", "G", "-"],
+            "allowed_ind_alleles": [],
+            "ignore_case": True,
+            "allow_na": True,
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "all_missing_nas_allowed",
+            "input": pd.DataFrame(
+                {"REFERENCE_ALLELE": [float("nan"), float("nan"), float("nan")]}
+            ),
+            "expected_index": pd.Index([]),
+            "allowed_comb_alleles": ["A", "T", "C", "G", "-"],
+            "allowed_ind_alleles": [],
+            "ignore_case": True,
+            "allow_na": True,
+        },
+        {
+            "name": "all_missing_nas_not_allowed",
+            "input": pd.DataFrame(
+                {"REFERENCE_ALLELE": [float("nan"), float("nan"), float("nan")]}
+            ),
+            "expected_index": pd.Index([0, 1, 2]),
+            "allowed_comb_alleles": ["A", "T", "C", "G", "-"],
+            "allowed_ind_alleles": [],
+            "ignore_case": True,
+            "allow_na": False,
+        },
     ]