diff --git a/freemarker-core/src/main/javacc/freemarker/core/FTL.jj b/freemarker-core/src/main/javacc/freemarker/core/FTL.jj
index 27d62b7b6..df267b2d2 100644
--- a/freemarker-core/src/main/javacc/freemarker/core/FTL.jj
+++ b/freemarker-core/src/main/javacc/freemarker/core/FTL.jj
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import freemarker.core.LocalLambdaExpression.LambdaParameterList;
 import freemarker.template.*;
 import freemarker.template.utility.*;
 import java.io.*;
+import java.math.BigInteger;
 import java.util.*;
 import static freemarker.template.Configuration.*;
 
@@ -1253,6 +1254,8 @@ TOKEN:
     |
     <DECIMAL : <INTEGER> "." <INTEGER>>
     |
+    <HEX_INTEGER : "0" ["x", "X"] (["0"-"9", "a"-"f", "A"-"F"])+>
+    |
     <DOT : ".">
     |
     <DOT_DOT : "..">
@@ -2078,10 +2081,31 @@ Expression NumberLiteral() :
         t = <INTEGER>
         |
         t = <DECIMAL>
+        |
+        t = <HEX_INTEGER>
     )
     {
         String s = t.image;
-        Expression result = new NumberLiteral(pCfg.getArithmeticEngine().toNumber(s));
+        Number n;
+        if (t.kind == HEX_INTEGER) {
+            // Parse the digits after the "0x"/"0X" prefix. The value is narrowed to the
+            // smallest of Integer/Long that can represent it; beyond the range of a
+            // signed long it stays a BigInteger, so the number of digits isn't limited.
+            // (The token never carries a sign, so the value is always non-negative, and
+            // hence bitLength() is the number of significant bits.)
+            BigInteger hexValue = new BigInteger(s.substring(2), 16);
+            int bitLength = hexValue.bitLength();
+            if (bitLength <= 31) {
+                n = Integer.valueOf(hexValue.intValue());
+            } else if (bitLength <= 63) {
+                n = Long.valueOf(hexValue.longValue());
+            } else {
+                n = hexValue;
+            }
+        } else {
+            n = pCfg.getArithmeticEngine().toNumber(s);
+        }
+        Expression result = new NumberLiteral(n);
         Token startToken = (op != null) ? op : t;
         result.setLocation(template, startToken, t);
         return result;
diff --git a/freemarker-core/src/test/java/freemarker/core/HexLiteralTest.java b/freemarker-core/src/test/java/freemarker/core/HexLiteralTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8dcae7bb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/freemarker-core/src/test/java/freemarker/core/HexLiteralTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package freemarker.core;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import freemarker.template.TemplateException;
+import freemarker.test.TemplateTest;
+
+public class HexLiteralTest extends TemplateTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testBasicHex() throws IOException, TemplateException {
+        assertOutput("${0xFF?c}", "255");
+        assertOutput("${0xff?c}", "255");
+        assertOutput("${0x0?c}", "0");
+        assertOutput("${0x1?c}", "1");
+        assertOutput("${0x10?c}", "16");
+        assertOutput("${0xA?c}", "10");
+        assertOutput("${0xDEAD?c}", "57005");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testHexInExpressions() throws IOException, TemplateException {
+        assertOutput("${(0xFF + 1)?c}", "256");
+        assertOutput("${(0x10 * 2)?c}", "32");
+        assertOutput("${(0xFF - 0x0F)?c}", "240");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testHexAssignment() throws IOException, TemplateException {
+        assertOutput("<#assign x = 0xFF>${x?c}", "255");
+        assertOutput("<#assign x = 0x00FF00>${x?c}", "65280");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testHexComparison() throws IOException, TemplateException {
+        assertOutput("<#if 0xFF == 255>yes</#if>", "yes");
+        assertOutput("<#if (0xFF > 0xFE)>yes</#if>", "yes");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testHexLargeValues() throws IOException, TemplateException {
+        // Values that fit in int
+        assertOutput("${0x7FFFFFFF?c}", "2147483647");
+        // Values that require long
+        assertOutput("${0x80000000?c}", "2147483648");
+        assertOutput("${0xFFFFFFFF?c}", "4294967295");
+        assertOutput("${0x100000000?c}", "4294967296");
+        // Highest value that still fits in a signed long
+        assertOutput("${0x7FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF?c}", "9223372036854775807");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testHexBeyondLongRange() throws IOException, TemplateException {
+        // Values too large for a signed long stay exact (BigInteger), rather than
+        // overflowing or failing to parse.
+        assertOutput("${0x8000000000000000?c}", "9223372036854775808");
+        assertOutput("${0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF?c}", "18446744073709551615");
+        // Arbitrarily many digits: 0x1 followed by 32 zeros is 16^32.
+        assertOutput("${0x100000000000000000000000000000000?c}",
+                "340282366920938463463374607431768211456");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testHexLeadingZerosDoNotChangeValue() throws IOException, TemplateException {
+        // Leading zeros must not push a small value into a wider type.
+        assertOutput("${0x00000000000000000000FF?c}", "255");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testHexUppercaseX() throws IOException, TemplateException {
+        assertOutput("${0XFF?c}", "255");
+        assertOutput("${0Xff?c}", "255");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/freemarker-manual/src/main/docgen/en_US/book.xml b/freemarker-manual/src/main/docgen/en_US/book.xml
index c4318bea8..20fe93380 100644
--- a/freemarker-manual/src/main/docgen/en_US/book.xml
+++ b/freemarker-manual/src/main/docgen/en_US/book.xml
@@ -2436,6 +2436,22 @@ C:\foo\bar</programlisting>
             the number eight. Thus, <literal>${08}</literal>,
             <literal>${+8}</literal>, <literal>${8.00}</literal> and
             <literal>${8}</literal> will all print exactly same.</para>
+
+            <para role="forProgrammers">Since FreeMarker 2.3.35, whole numbers
+            can also be written in hexadecimal notation, using the
+            <literal>0x</literal> (or <literal>0X</literal>) prefix followed by
+            hexadecimal digits (<literal>0</literal>-<literal>9</literal>,
+            <literal>a</literal>-<literal>f</literal>,
+            <literal>A</literal>-<literal>F</literal>). For example
+            <literal>0xFF</literal> is the number 255, and
+            <literal>0x100</literal> is 256. Hexadecimal literals can only
+            specify whole numbers (no fractional part, no sign, no scientific
+            notation). The sign can still be applied as a separate operator, as
+            in <literal>-0x10</literal>. There's no limit on the number of
+            digits: the value is created as an <literal>Integer</literal> if it
+            fits into a 32-bit signed integer, as a <literal>Long</literal> if it
+            fits into a 64-bit signed integer, and as a
+            <literal>BigInteger</literal> otherwise.</para>
           </section>
 
           <section xml:id="dgui_template_exp_direct_boolean">