diff --git a/src/libraries/System.Private.Xml/src/System/Xml/Xsl/Runtime/XslNumber.cs b/src/libraries/System.Private.Xml/src/System/Xml/Xsl/Runtime/XslNumber.cs
index cc897eaa574937..9a269e1e756420 100644
--- a/src/libraries/System.Private.Xml/src/System/Xml/Xsl/Runtime/XslNumber.cs
+++ b/src/libraries/System.Private.Xml/src/System/Xml/Xsl/Runtime/XslNumber.cs
@@ -333,36 +333,30 @@ private static string ConvertToDecimal(double val, int minLen, char zero, string
             }
 
             // Add both grouping separators and zero padding to the string representation of a number
-            unsafe
+            char separator = groupSeparator.Length > 0 ? groupSeparator[0] : ' ';
+            return string.Create(newLen, (str, shift, zero, separator, groupSize), static (result, state) =>
             {
-                char* result = stackalloc char[newLen];
-                char separator = (groupSeparator.Length > 0) ? groupSeparator[0] : ' ';
+                var (str, shift, zero, separator, groupSize) = state;
+                int cnt = groupSize;
+                int oldPos = str.Length - 1;
 
-                fixed (char* pin = str)
+                for (int newPos = result.Length - 1; newPos >= 0; newPos--)
                 {
-                    char* pOldEnd = pin + oldLen - 1;
-                    char* pNewEnd = result + newLen - 1;
-                    int cnt = groupSize;
-
-                    while (true)
+                    if (groupSize != 0 && cnt == 0)
+                    {
+                        // Every groupSize digits insert the separator
+                        result[newPos] = separator;
+                        cnt = groupSize;
+                        Debug.Assert(newPos > 0, "Separator cannot be the first character");
+                    }
+                    else
                     {
                         // Move digit to its new location (zero if we've run out of digits)
-                        *pNewEnd-- = (pOldEnd >= pin) ? (char)(*pOldEnd-- + shift) : zero;
-                        if (pNewEnd < result)
-                        {
-                            break;
-                        }
-                        if (/*groupSize > 0 && */--cnt == 0)
-                        {
-                            // Every groupSize digits insert the separator
-                            *pNewEnd-- = separator;
-                            cnt = groupSize;
-                            Debug.Assert(pNewEnd >= result, "Separator cannot be the first character");
-                        }
+                        result[newPos] = oldPos >= 0 ? (char)(str[oldPos--] + shift) : zero;
+                        cnt--;
                     }
                 }
-                return new string(result, 0, newLen);
-            }
+            });
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/libraries/System.Private.Xml/tests/Xslt/XslCompiledTransformApi/XslCompilerTests.cs b/src/libraries/System.Private.Xml/tests/Xslt/XslCompiledTransformApi/XslCompilerTests.cs
index 0c6cfcd7a6e5c3..69101e290d2f42 100644
--- a/src/libraries/System.Private.Xml/tests/Xslt/XslCompiledTransformApi/XslCompilerTests.cs
+++ b/src/libraries/System.Private.Xml/tests/Xslt/XslCompiledTransformApi/XslCompilerTests.cs
@@ -111,6 +111,68 @@ public void FormatTimeWithEmptyFormatString()
             }
         }
 
+        public static TheoryData<string, string, string, string> XslNumberDecimalData => new TheoryData<string, string, string, string>
+        {
+            // (value, format, grouping-separator + grouping-size attributes, expectedOutput)
+            // Basic decimal (fast path: no changes needed)
+            { "1", "1", "", "1" },
+            { "1234", "1", "", "1234" },
+            // Padding only (fast path: PadLeft)
+            { "42", "001", "", "042" },
+            { "5", "0001", "", "0005" },
+            // Grouping separator (string.Create path)
+            { "1234567", "1", @"grouping-separator="","" grouping-size=""3""", "1,234,567" },
+            { "1000", "1", @"grouping-separator="","" grouping-size=""3""", "1,000" },
+            { "100", "1", @"grouping-separator="","" grouping-size=""3""", "100" },
+            { "1234", "1", @"grouping-separator="","" grouping-size=""3""", "1,234" },
+            // Padding with grouping separator (string.Create path)
+            { "42", "001", @"grouping-separator="","" grouping-size=""3""", "042" },
+            { "42", "00001", @"grouping-separator="","" grouping-size=""3""", "00,042" },
+            // Non-ASCII digit system - Arabic-Indic digits (string.Create path, shift != 0)
+            { "123", "\u0661", "", "\u0661\u0662\u0663" },
+            { "1234", "\u0661", "", "\u0661\u0662\u0663\u0664" },
+            // Non-ASCII digits with grouping separator (shift != 0 AND groupSize != 0)
+            { "1234", "\u0661", @"grouping-separator="","" grouping-size=""3""", "\u0661,\u0662\u0663\u0664" },
+            // Non-ASCII digits with zero padding (shift != 0, pad with non-ASCII zero)
+            { "5", "\u0660\u0661", "", "\u0660\u0665" },
+            // Non-standard grouping size (grouping-size="2")
+            { "12345", "1", @"grouping-separator="","" grouping-size=""2""", "1,23,45" },
+            // Padding that creates additional groups
+            { "42", "0000001", @"grouping-separator="","" grouping-size=""3""", "0,000,042" },
+            // Single digit with grouping enabled (no separator should appear)
+            { "5", "1", @"grouping-separator="","" grouping-size=""3""", "5" },
+            // Number already exceeds format token length (no padding needed)
+            { "100", "01", "", "100" },
+            // Thai digits (another non-ASCII decimal system, shift != 0)
+            { "42", "\u0E51", "", "\u0E54\u0E52" },
+            // Non-ASCII digits with grouping AND padding
+            { "42", "\u0660\u0660\u0660\u0660\u0661", @"grouping-separator="","" grouping-size=""3""", "\u0660\u0660,\u0660\u0664\u0662" },
+        };
+
+        [Theory]
+        [MemberData(nameof(XslNumberDecimalData))]
+        public void XslNumberDecimalFormatting(string value, string format, string groupingAttrs, string expected)
+        {
+            string xml = @"<?xml version=""1.0"" encoding=""UTF-8""?><root/>";
+            string xsl = $@"<xsl:stylesheet version=""1.0"" xmlns:xsl=""http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"">
+    <xsl:output method=""text"" />
+    <xsl:template match=""/"">
+        <xsl:number value=""{value}"" format=""{format}"" {groupingAttrs}/>
+    </xsl:template>
+</xsl:stylesheet>";
 
+            using var outWriter = new StringWriter();
+            using (var xslStringReader = new StringReader(xsl))
+            using (var xmlStringReader = new StringReader(xml))
+            using (var xslReader = XmlReader.Create(xslStringReader))
+            using (var xmlReader = XmlReader.Create(xmlStringReader))
+            {
+                var transform = new XslCompiledTransform();
+                transform.Load(xslReader);
+                transform.Transform(xmlReader, null, outWriter);
+            }
+
+            Assert.Equal(expected, outWriter.ToString());
+        }
     }
 }