diff --git a/crates/polars-time/src/chunkedarray/utf8/mod.rs b/crates/polars-time/src/chunkedarray/utf8/mod.rs
index 7bf2d17f0f32..30c9d5a553af 100644
--- a/crates/polars-time/src/chunkedarray/utf8/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-time/src/chunkedarray/utf8/mod.rs
@@ -29,39 +29,16 @@ fn datetime_pattern<F, K>(val: &str, convert: F) -> Option<&'static str>
 where
     F: Fn(&str, &str) -> chrono::ParseResult<K>,
 {
-    [
-        // 21/12/31 12:54:98
-        "%y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S",
-        // 2021-12-31 24:58:01
-        "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S",
-        // 21/12/31 24:58:01
-        "%y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S",
-        //210319 23:58:50
-        "%y%m%d %H:%M:%S",
-        // 2021/12/31 12:54:98
-        "%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S",
-        // 2021-12-31 24:58:01
-        "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S",
-        // 2021/12/31 24:58:01
-        "%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S",
-        // 20210319 23:58:50
-        "%Y%m%d %H:%M:%S",
-        // note: '%F' cannot be parsed by polars native parser
-        // 2019-04-18T02:45:55
-        "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S",
-        // 2019-04-18T02:45:55[...]
-        // milliseconds
-        "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%3f",
-        "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%3f",
-        // microseconds
-        "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%6f",
-        "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%6f",
-        // nanoseconds
-        "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%9f",
-        "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%9f",
-    ]
-    .into_iter()
-    .find(|&fmt| convert(val, fmt).is_ok())
+    let result = patterns::DATETIME_Y_M_D
+        .iter()
+        .find(|fmt| convert(val, fmt).is_ok())
+        .copied();
+    result.or_else(|| {
+        patterns::DATETIME_D_M_Y
+            .iter()
+            .find(|fmt| convert(val, fmt).is_ok())
+            .copied()
+    })
 }
 
 fn date_pattern<F, K>(val: &str, convert: F) -> Option<&'static str>
@@ -69,14 +46,16 @@ fn date_pattern<F, K>(val: &str, convert: F) -> Option<&'static str>
 where
     F: Fn(&str, &str) -> chrono::ParseResult<K>,
 {
-    [
-        // 2021-12-31
-        "%Y-%m-%d", // 31-12-2021
-        "%d-%m-%Y", // 2021319 (2021-03-19)
-        "%Y%m%d",
-    ]
-    .into_iter()
-    .find(|&fmt| convert(val, fmt).is_ok())
+    let result = patterns::DATE_Y_M_D
+        .iter()
+        .find(|fmt| convert(val, fmt).is_ok())
+        .copied();
+    result.or_else(|| {
+        patterns::DATE_D_M_Y
+            .iter()
+            .find(|fmt| convert(val, fmt).is_ok())
+            .copied()
+    })
 }
 
 struct ParseErrorByteCopy(ParseErrorKind);
@@ -113,10 +92,13 @@ fn get_first_val(ca: &Utf8Chunked) -> PolarsResult<&str> {
 #[cfg(feature = "dtype-datetime")]
 fn sniff_fmt_datetime(ca_utf8: &Utf8Chunked) -> PolarsResult<&'static str> {
     let val = get_first_val(ca_utf8)?;
-    if let Some(pattern) = datetime_pattern(val, NaiveDateTime::parse_from_str) {
-        return Ok(pattern);
+    match datetime_pattern(val, NaiveDateTime::parse_from_str) {
+        Some(pattern) => Ok(pattern),
+        None => match datetime_pattern(val, NaiveDate::parse_from_str) {
+            Some(pattern) => Ok(pattern),
+            None => polars_bail!(parse_fmt_idk = "datetime"),
+        },
     }
-    polars_bail!(parse_fmt_idk = "date");
 }
 
 #[cfg(feature = "dtype-date")]
@@ -216,7 +198,7 @@ pub trait Utf8Methods: AsUtf8 {
                 Some(mut s) => {
                     let fmt_len = fmt.len();
 
-                    for i in 1..(s.len() - fmt_len) {
+                    for i in 1..(s.len().saturating_sub(fmt_len)) {
                         if s.is_empty() {
                             return None;
                         }
@@ -273,7 +255,7 @@ pub trait Utf8Methods: AsUtf8 {
                 Some(mut s) => {
                     let fmt_len = fmt.len();
 
-                    for i in 1..(s.len() - fmt_len) {
+                    for i in 1..(s.len().saturating_sub(fmt_len)) {
                         if s.is_empty() {
                             return None;
                         }
diff --git a/py-polars/tests/unit/namespaces/test_strptime.py b/py-polars/tests/unit/namespaces/test_strptime.py
index beafc8e06394..54544dbc38eb 100644
--- a/py-polars/tests/unit/namespaces/test_strptime.py
+++ b/py-polars/tests/unit/namespaces/test_strptime.py
@@ -135,6 +135,20 @@ def test_to_date_non_exact_strptime() -> None:
         s.str.to_date(format, strict=True, exact=True)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("value", "attr"),
+    [
+        ("a", "to_date"),
+        ("ab", "to_date"),
+        ("a", "to_datetime"),
+        ("ab", "to_datetime"),
+    ],
+)
+def test_non_exact_short_elements_10223(value: str, attr: str) -> None:
+    with pytest.raises(pl.ComputeError, match="strict conversion to .* failed"):
+        getattr(pl.Series(["2019-01-01", value]).str, attr)(exact=False)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     ("offset", "time_zone", "tzinfo", "format"),
     [