diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/trees/TreeNode.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/trees/TreeNode.scala
index 8003012f30ca5..1ab7bbdcff697 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/trees/TreeNode.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/trees/TreeNode.scala
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ import org.apache.spark.sql.internal.SQLConf
 import org.apache.spark.sql.types._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.util.CaseInsensitiveStringMap
 import org.apache.spark.storage.StorageLevel
+import org.apache.spark.util.Utils
 
 /** Used by [[TreeNode.getNodeNumbered]] when traversing the tree for a given number */
 private class MutableInt(var i: Int)
@@ -521,11 +522,13 @@ abstract class TreeNode[BaseType <: TreeNode[BaseType]] extends Product {
     mapChildren(_.clone(), forceCopy = true)
   }
 
+  private def simpleClassName: String = Utils.getSimpleName(this.getClass)
+
   /**
    * Returns the name of this type of TreeNode.  Defaults to the class name.
    * Note that we remove the "Exec" suffix for physical operators here.
    */
-  def nodeName: String = getClass.getSimpleName.replaceAll("Exec$", "")
+  def nodeName: String = simpleClassName.replaceAll("Exec$", "")
 
   /**
    * The arguments that should be included in the arg string.  Defaults to the `productIterator`.
@@ -747,7 +750,7 @@ abstract class TreeNode[BaseType <: TreeNode[BaseType]] extends Product {
   protected def jsonFields: List[JField] = {
     val fieldNames = getConstructorParameterNames(getClass)
     val fieldValues = productIterator.toSeq ++ otherCopyArgs
-    assert(fieldNames.length == fieldValues.length, s"${getClass.getSimpleName} fields: " +
+    assert(fieldNames.length == fieldValues.length, s"$simpleClassName fields: " +
       fieldNames.mkString(", ") + s", values: " + fieldValues.mkString(", "))
 
     fieldNames.zip(fieldValues).map {
@@ -801,7 +804,7 @@ abstract class TreeNode[BaseType <: TreeNode[BaseType]] extends Product {
       try {
         val fieldNames = getConstructorParameterNames(p.getClass)
         val fieldValues = p.productIterator.toSeq
-        assert(fieldNames.length == fieldValues.length, s"${getClass.getSimpleName} fields: " +
+        assert(fieldNames.length == fieldValues.length, s"$simpleClassName fields: " +
           fieldNames.mkString(", ") + s", values: " + fieldValues.mkString(", "))
         ("product-class" -> JString(p.getClass.getName)) :: fieldNames.zip(fieldValues).map {
           case (name, value) => name -> parseToJson(value)
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/trees/TreeNodeSuite.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/trees/TreeNodeSuite.scala
index ff51bc0071c80..4ad8475a0113c 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/trees/TreeNodeSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/trees/TreeNodeSuite.scala
@@ -736,4 +736,30 @@ class TreeNodeSuite extends SparkFunSuite with SQLHelper {
     assertDifferentInstance(leaf, leafCloned)
     assert(leaf.child.eq(leafCloned.asInstanceOf[FakeLeafPlan].child))
   }
+
+  object MalformedClassObject extends Serializable {
+    case class MalformedNameExpression(child: Expression) extends TaggingExpression
+  }
+
+  test("SPARK-32999: TreeNode.nodeName should not throw malformed class name error") {
+    val testTriggersExpectedError = try {
+      classOf[MalformedClassObject.MalformedNameExpression].getSimpleName
+      false
+    } catch {
+      case ex: java.lang.InternalError if ex.getMessage.contains("Malformed class name") =>
+        true
+      case ex: Throwable => throw ex
+    }
+    // This test case only applies on older JDK versions (e.g. JDK8u), and doesn't trigger the
+    // issue on newer JDK versions (e.g. JDK11u).
+    assume(testTriggersExpectedError, "the test case didn't trigger malformed class name error")
+
+    val expr = MalformedClassObject.MalformedNameExpression(Literal(1))
+    try {
+      expr.nodeName
+    } catch {
+      case ex: java.lang.InternalError if ex.getMessage.contains("Malformed class name") =>
+        fail("TreeNode.nodeName should not throw malformed class name error")
+    }
+  }
 }