diff --git a/mysql-test/main/mdev_38792.result b/mysql-test/main/mdev_38792.result
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e956f80d208d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mysql-test/main/mdev_38792.result
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+SET sql_mode='ORACLE';
+SELECT TO_DATE('2002 - AD', 'YYYY AD');
+TO_DATE('2002 - AD', 'YYYY AD')
+2002-03-17 00:00:00
+SELECT TO_DATE('2024---01---01', 'YYYYMMDD');
+TO_DATE('2024---01---01', 'YYYYMMDD')
+NULL
+Warnings:
+Warning	1411	Incorrect datetime value: '2024---01---01' for function to_date
+SELECT TO_DATE('2024 . 05 . 10', 'YYYYMMDD');
+TO_DATE('2024 . 05 . 10', 'YYYYMMDD')
+2024-05-10 00:00:00
+SELECT TO_DATE('2002 - February - 10', 'YYYY MONTH DD');
+TO_DATE('2002 - February - 10', 'YYYY MONTH DD')
+2002-02-10 00:00:00
diff --git a/mysql-test/main/mdev_38792.test b/mysql-test/main/mdev_38792.test
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..6d683d6ffd552
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mysql-test/main/mdev_38792.test
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+SET sql_mode='ORACLE';
+
+SELECT TO_DATE('2002 - AD', 'YYYY AD');
+SELECT TO_DATE('2024---01---01', 'YYYYMMDD');
+SELECT TO_DATE('2024 . 05 . 10', 'YYYYMMDD');
+SELECT TO_DATE('2002 - February - 10', 'YYYY MONTH DD');
diff --git a/sql/item_timefunc.cc b/sql/item_timefunc.cc
index c008c2089ba29..872a523a39811 100644
--- a/sql/item_timefunc.cc
+++ b/sql/item_timefunc.cc
@@ -721,6 +721,35 @@ extract_oracle_date_time(THD *thd, uint16 *format_ptr,
       continue;
     }
 
+    /*
+      MDEV-38792: TO_DATE: Inconsistent treatment of different separators in the date and format strings.
+      Skip punctuation and spaces in the input string before matching the next
+      format token, but avoid skipping a '-' sign if it's followed by a digit
+      (as it might be part of a negative year in SYYYY).
+    */
+    // while (val < val_end && !my_isalnum(val_cs, *val))
+    // {
+    //   if (*val == '-' && (val + 1 < val_end) && my_isdigit(val_cs, *(val + 1)))
+    //   {
+    //     break;
+    //   }
+    //   val++;
+    // }
+    bool skipped_punct= false;
+    while (val < val_end && !my_isalnum(val_cs, *val))
+    {
+      /* Only preserve the minus sign if the current format token supports negative values */
+      if (*val == '-' && format == FMT_SYYYY && 
+          (val + 1 < val_end) && my_isdigit(val_cs, *(val + 1)))
+      {
+        break;
+      }
+      val++;
+      skipped_punct= true;
+    }
+
+    if (skipped_punct) part_of_digits = 0;
+
     error= 0;
     if (!(val_len= (uint) (val_end - val)))
       goto error;