diff --git a/crates/polars-ops/src/chunked_array/strings/namespace.rs b/crates/polars-ops/src/chunked_array/strings/namespace.rs
index f5b0e9bd6757..8c59e1fdbeea 100644
--- a/crates/polars-ops/src/chunked_array/strings/namespace.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-ops/src/chunked_array/strings/namespace.rs
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ pub trait StringNameSpaceImpl: AsString {
     /// Strings with length equal to or greater than the given length are
     /// returned as-is.
     #[cfg(feature = "string_pad")]
-    fn zfill(&self, length: usize) -> StringChunked {
+    fn zfill(&self, length: &UInt64Chunked) -> StringChunked {
         let ca = self.as_string();
         pad::zfill(ca, length)
     }
diff --git a/crates/polars-ops/src/chunked_array/strings/pad.rs b/crates/polars-ops/src/chunked_array/strings/pad.rs
index d776c435c137..8e1bbe4a1dba 100644
--- a/crates/polars-ops/src/chunked_array/strings/pad.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-ops/src/chunked_array/strings/pad.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use std::fmt::Write;
 
-use polars_core::prelude::StringChunked;
+use polars_core::prelude::arity::broadcast_binary_elementwise;
+use polars_core::prelude::{StringChunked, UInt64Chunked};
 
 pub(super) fn pad_end<'a>(ca: &'a StringChunked, length: usize, fill_char: char) -> StringChunked {
     // amortize allocation
@@ -50,38 +51,51 @@ pub(super) fn pad_start<'a>(
     ca.apply_mut(f)
 }
 
-pub(super) fn zfill<'a>(ca: &'a StringChunked, length: usize) -> StringChunked {
+fn zfill_fn<'a>(s: Option<&'a str>, len: Option<u64>, buf: &mut String) -> Option<&'a str> {
+    match (s, len) {
+        (Some(s), Some(length)) => {
+            let length = length.saturating_sub(s.len() as u64);
+            if length == 0 {
+                return Some(s);
+            }
+            buf.clear();
+            if let Some(stripped) = s.strip_prefix('-') {
+                write!(
+                    buf,
+                    "-{:0length$}{value}",
+                    0,
+                    length = length as usize,
+                    value = stripped
+                )
+                .unwrap();
+            } else {
+                write!(
+                    buf,
+                    "{:0length$}{value}",
+                    0,
+                    length = length as usize,
+                    value = s
+                )
+                .unwrap();
+            };
+            // extend lifetime
+            // lifetime is bound to 'a
+            let slice = buf.as_str();
+            Some(unsafe { std::mem::transmute::<&str, &'a str>(slice) })
+        },
+        _ => None,
+    }
+}
+
+pub(super) fn zfill<'a>(ca: &'a StringChunked, length: &'a UInt64Chunked) -> StringChunked {
     // amortize allocation
     let mut buf = String::new();
-    let f = |s: &'a str| {
-        let length = length.saturating_sub(s.len());
-        if length == 0 {
-            return s;
-        }
-        buf.clear();
-        if let Some(stripped) = s.strip_prefix('-') {
-            write!(
-                &mut buf,
-                "-{:0length$}{value}",
-                0,
-                length = length,
-                value = stripped
-            )
-            .unwrap();
-        } else {
-            write!(
-                &mut buf,
-                "{:0length$}{value}",
-                0,
-                length = length,
-                value = s
-            )
-            .unwrap();
-        };
-        // extend lifetime
-        // lifetime is bound to 'a
-        let slice = buf.as_str();
-        unsafe { std::mem::transmute::<&str, &'a str>(slice) }
-    };
-    ca.apply_mut(f)
+    fn infer<F: for<'a> FnMut(Option<&'a str>, Option<u64>) -> Option<&'a str>>(f: F) -> F where {
+        f
+    }
+    broadcast_binary_elementwise(
+        ca,
+        length,
+        infer(|opt_s, opt_len| zfill_fn(opt_s, opt_len, &mut buf)),
+    )
 }
diff --git a/crates/polars-plan/src/dsl/function_expr/strings.rs b/crates/polars-plan/src/dsl/function_expr/strings.rs
index 2b150398e425..37f5c13dd27d 100644
--- a/crates/polars-plan/src/dsl/function_expr/strings.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-plan/src/dsl/function_expr/strings.rs
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ pub enum StringFunction {
     Titlecase,
     Uppercase,
     #[cfg(feature = "string_pad")]
-    ZFill(usize),
+    ZFill,
     #[cfg(feature = "find_many")]
     ContainsMany {
         ascii_case_insensitive: bool,
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ impl StringFunction {
             Uppercase | Lowercase | StripChars | StripCharsStart | StripCharsEnd | StripPrefix
             | StripSuffix | Slice => mapper.with_same_dtype(),
             #[cfg(feature = "string_pad")]
-            PadStart { .. } | PadEnd { .. } | ZFill { .. } => mapper.with_same_dtype(),
+            PadStart { .. } | PadEnd { .. } | ZFill => mapper.with_same_dtype(),
             #[cfg(feature = "dtype-struct")]
             SplitExact { n, .. } => mapper.with_dtype(DataType::Struct(
                 (0..n + 1)
@@ -257,7 +257,7 @@ impl Display for StringFunction {
             ToDecimal(_) => "to_decimal",
             Uppercase => "uppercase",
             #[cfg(feature = "string_pad")]
-            ZFill(_) => "zfill",
+            ZFill => "zfill",
             #[cfg(feature = "find_many")]
             ContainsMany { .. } => "contains_many",
             #[cfg(feature = "find_many")]
@@ -298,8 +298,8 @@ impl From<StringFunction> for SpecialEq<Arc<dyn SeriesUdf>> {
                 map!(strings::pad_start, length, fill_char)
             },
             #[cfg(feature = "string_pad")]
-            ZFill(alignment) => {
-                map!(strings::zfill, alignment)
+            ZFill => {
+                map_as_slice!(strings::zfill)
             },
             #[cfg(feature = "temporal")]
             Strptime(dtype, options) => {
@@ -472,8 +472,10 @@ pub(super) fn pad_end(s: &Series, length: usize, fill_char: char) -> PolarsResul
 }
 
 #[cfg(feature = "string_pad")]
-pub(super) fn zfill(s: &Series, length: usize) -> PolarsResult<Series> {
-    let ca = s.str()?;
+pub(super) fn zfill(s: &[Series]) -> PolarsResult<Series> {
+    let ca = s[0].str()?;
+    let length_s = s[1].strict_cast(&DataType::UInt64)?;
+    let length = length_s.u64()?;
     Ok(ca.zfill(length).into_series())
 }
 
diff --git a/crates/polars-plan/src/dsl/string.rs b/crates/polars-plan/src/dsl/string.rs
index 5b4ae8a1f05e..42a7cb2471fd 100644
--- a/crates/polars-plan/src/dsl/string.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-plan/src/dsl/string.rs
@@ -191,8 +191,9 @@ impl StringNameSpace {
     /// Strings with length equal to or greater than the given length are
     /// returned as-is.
     #[cfg(feature = "string_pad")]
-    pub fn zfill(self, length: usize) -> Expr {
-        self.0.map_private(StringFunction::ZFill(length).into())
+    pub fn zfill(self, length: Expr) -> Expr {
+        self.0
+            .map_many_private(StringFunction::ZFill.into(), &[length], false, false)
     }
 
     /// Find the index of a literal substring within another string value.
diff --git a/py-polars/polars/expr/string.py b/py-polars/polars/expr/string.py
index 2fb77a061758..2b2f7b16baed 100644
--- a/py-polars/polars/expr/string.py
+++ b/py-polars/polars/expr/string.py
@@ -919,7 +919,7 @@ def pad_end(self, length: int, fill_char: str = " ") -> Expr:
         return wrap_expr(self._pyexpr.str_pad_end(length, fill_char))
 
     @deprecate_renamed_parameter("alignment", "length", version="0.19.12")
-    def zfill(self, length: int) -> Expr:
+    def zfill(self, length: int | IntoExprColumn) -> Expr:
         """
         Pad the start of the string with zeros until it reaches the given length.
 
@@ -957,6 +957,7 @@ def zfill(self, length: int) -> Expr:
         │ null   ┆ null   │
         └────────┴────────┘
         """
+        length = parse_as_expression(length)
         return wrap_expr(self._pyexpr.str_zfill(length))
 
     def contains(
diff --git a/py-polars/polars/series/string.py b/py-polars/polars/series/string.py
index 3f801c35ec33..af4907c9a7d8 100644
--- a/py-polars/polars/series/string.py
+++ b/py-polars/polars/series/string.py
@@ -1416,7 +1416,7 @@ def pad_end(self, length: int, fill_char: str = " ") -> Series:
         """
 
     @deprecate_renamed_parameter("alignment", "length", version="0.19.12")
-    def zfill(self, length: int) -> Series:
+    def zfill(self, length: int | IntoExprColumn) -> Series:
         """
         Pad the start of the string with zeros until it reaches the given length.
 
diff --git a/py-polars/src/expr/string.rs b/py-polars/src/expr/string.rs
index aba3cc748244..e4e8b7bcceb7 100644
--- a/py-polars/src/expr/string.rs
+++ b/py-polars/src/expr/string.rs
@@ -157,8 +157,8 @@ impl PyExpr {
         self.inner.clone().str().pad_end(length, fill_char).into()
     }
 
-    fn str_zfill(&self, length: usize) -> Self {
-        self.inner.clone().str().zfill(length).into()
+    fn str_zfill(&self, length: Self) -> Self {
+        self.inner.clone().str().zfill(length.inner).into()
     }
 
     #[pyo3(signature = (pat, literal, strict))]
diff --git a/py-polars/tests/unit/namespaces/string/test_pad.py b/py-polars/tests/unit/namespaces/string/test_pad.py
index 2b8e5c032817..7364cf5fb9ba 100644
--- a/py-polars/tests/unit/namespaces/string/test_pad.py
+++ b/py-polars/tests/unit/namespaces/string/test_pad.py
@@ -68,6 +68,28 @@ def test_str_zfill() -> None:
     assert df["num"].cast(str).str.zfill(5).to_list() == out
 
 
+def test_str_zfill_expr() -> None:
+    df = pl.DataFrame(
+        {
+            "num": ["-10", "-1", "0", "1", "10", None, "1"],
+            "len": [3, 4, 3, 2, 5, 3, None],
+        }
+    )
+    out = df.select(
+        all_expr=pl.col("num").str.zfill(pl.col("len")),
+        str_lit=pl.lit("10").str.zfill(pl.col("len")),
+        len_lit=pl.col("num").str.zfill(5),
+    )
+    expected = pl.DataFrame(
+        {
+            "all_expr": ["-10", "-001", "000", "01", "00010", None, None],
+            "str_lit": ["010", "0010", "010", "10", "00010", "010", None],
+            "len_lit": ["-0010", "-0001", "00000", "00001", "00010", None, "00001"],
+        }
+    )
+    assert_frame_equal(out, expected)
+
+
 def test_str_ljust_deprecated() -> None:
     s = pl.Series(["a", "bc", "def"])