diff --git a/kotlinx-coroutines-core/common/src/flow/terminal/Reduce.kt b/kotlinx-coroutines-core/common/src/flow/terminal/Reduce.kt
index 1a5b3de100..ef46ff04cf 100644
--- a/kotlinx-coroutines-core/common/src/flow/terminal/Reduce.kt
+++ b/kotlinx-coroutines-core/common/src/flow/terminal/Reduce.kt
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 package kotlinx.coroutines.flow
 
 import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.internal.*
+import kotlinx.coroutines.internal.Symbol
 import kotlin.jvm.*
 
 /**
@@ -47,33 +48,43 @@ public suspend inline fun <T, R> Flow<T>.fold(
 }
 
 /**
- * The terminal operator, that awaits for one and only one value to be published.
+ * The terminal operator that awaits for one and only one value to be emitted.
  * Throws [NoSuchElementException] for empty flow and [IllegalStateException] for flow
  * that contains more than one element.
  */
 public suspend fun <T> Flow<T>.single(): T {
     var result: Any? = NULL
     collect { value ->
-        if (result !== NULL) error("Expected only one element")
+        require(result == NULL) { "Flow has more than one element" }
         result = value
     }
 
-    if (result === NULL) throw NoSuchElementException("Expected at least one element")
-    @Suppress("UNCHECKED_CAST")
+    if (result === NULL) throw NoSuchElementException("Flow is empty")
     return result as T
 }
 
 /**
- * The terminal operator, that awaits for one and only one value to be published.
- * Throws [IllegalStateException] for flow that contains more than one element.
+ * The terminal operator that awaits for one and only one value to be emitted.
+ * Returns the single value or `null`, if the flow was empty or emitted more than one value.
  */
 public suspend fun <T> Flow<T>.singleOrNull(): T? {
-    var result: T? = null
+    var result: Any? = NULL
     collect { value ->
-        if (result != null) error("Expected only one element")
-        result = value
+        /*
+         * result === NULL -> first value
+         * result === user value -> we already had first value and second one arrived
+         * result === DONE -> we've seen more than one value, time to return it
+         * as well.
+         */
+        result = if (result === NULL) {
+            value
+        } else {
+            // Indicator that more than one value was observed
+            DONE
+        }
     }
-    return result
+    // Symbols are never leaked, so it's one comparison versus two
+    return if (result is Symbol) null else result as T
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/kotlinx-coroutines-core/common/test/flow/operators/OnCompletionTest.kt b/kotlinx-coroutines-core/common/test/flow/operators/OnCompletionTest.kt
index 7f0c548ca6..f55e8beeb2 100644
--- a/kotlinx-coroutines-core/common/test/flow/operators/OnCompletionTest.kt
+++ b/kotlinx-coroutines-core/common/test/flow/operators/OnCompletionTest.kt
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ class OnCompletionTest : TestBase() {
 
     @Test
     fun testSingle() = runTest {
-        assertFailsWith<IllegalStateException> {
+        assertFailsWith<IllegalArgumentException> {
             flowOf(239).onCompletion {
                 assertNull(it)
                 expect(1)
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ class OnCompletionTest : TestBase() {
                     expectUnreached()
                 } catch (e: Throwable) {
                     // Second emit -- failure
-                    assertTrue { e is IllegalStateException }
+                    assertTrue { e is IllegalArgumentException }
                     throw e
                 }
             }.single()
diff --git a/kotlinx-coroutines-core/common/test/flow/terminal/SingleTest.kt b/kotlinx-coroutines-core/common/test/flow/terminal/SingleTest.kt
index dd9857c7aa..5865029893 100644
--- a/kotlinx-coroutines-core/common/test/flow/terminal/SingleTest.kt
+++ b/kotlinx-coroutines-core/common/test/flow/terminal/SingleTest.kt
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ class SingleTest : TestBase() {
             emit(239L)
             emit(240L)
         }
-        assertFailsWith<RuntimeException> { flow.single() }
-        assertFailsWith<RuntimeException> { flow.singleOrNull() }
+        assertFailsWith<IllegalArgumentException> { flow.single() }
+        assertNull(flow.singleOrNull())
     }
 
     @Test