diff --git a/kernel/kernel-api/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/expressions/Predicate.java b/kernel/kernel-api/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/expressions/Predicate.java
index 0966ccc3a7..0da9479c55 100644
--- a/kernel/kernel-api/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/expressions/Predicate.java
+++ b/kernel/kernel-api/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/expressions/Predicate.java
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@
  *   <li>Name: <code>STARTS WITH</code>
  *       <ul>
  *         <li>SQL semantic: <code>expr STARTS WITH expr</code>
- *         <li>Since version: 3.3.0
+ *         <li>Since version: 3.4.0
  *       </ul>
  * </ol>
  *
diff --git a/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/DefaultExpressionEvaluator.java b/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/DefaultExpressionEvaluator.java
index d8ec0e63a0..38fb59e714 100644
--- a/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/DefaultExpressionEvaluator.java
+++ b/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/DefaultExpressionEvaluator.java
@@ -307,12 +307,12 @@ ExpressionTransformResult visitStartsWith(final Predicate startsWith) {
             "Invalid number of inputs to STARTS_WITH expression. "
                 + "Example usage: STARTS_WITH(column, 'test')");
       }
-      ExpressionTransformResult leftResult = visit(startsWith.getChildren().get(0));
-      ExpressionTransformResult rightResult = visit(startsWith.getChildren().get(1));
+      ExpressionTransformResult leftResult = visit(childAt(startsWith, 0));
+      ExpressionTransformResult rightResult = visit(childAt(startsWith, 1));
       if (!(StringType.STRING.equivalent(leftResult.outputType)
           && StringType.STRING.equivalent(rightResult.outputType))) {
         throw unsupportedExpressionException(
-            startsWith, "'starts with' is only supported for string type expressions");
+            startsWith, "'STARTS_WITH' is expects STRING type inputs");
       }
       // TODO: support non literal as the second input of starts with.
       if (!(rightResult.expression instanceof Literal)) {
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ ExpressionTransformResult visitStartsWith(final Predicate startsWith) {
                   right.getValue() == null
                       ? right
                       : Literal.ofString(
-                          DefaultExpressionUtils.escape(
+                          LikeExpressionEvaluator.escape(
                                   String.valueOf(right.getValue()), /*escapeChar=*/ '%')
                               .concat("%")))),
           BooleanType.BOOLEAN);
diff --git a/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/DefaultExpressionUtils.java b/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/DefaultExpressionUtils.java
index 4cbeacd7f6..b59db8689a 100644
--- a/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/DefaultExpressionUtils.java
+++ b/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/DefaultExpressionUtils.java
@@ -383,17 +383,4 @@ private ColumnVector getVector(int rowId) {
       }
     };
   }
-  /** Escapes characters escapeChar in the input String */
-  static String escape(String input, char escapeChar) {
-    final int len = input.length();
-    final StringBuilder escapedString = new StringBuilder(len + len);
-    for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
-      char c = input.charAt(i);
-      if (c == escapeChar) {
-        escapedString.append('\\');
-      }
-      escapedString.append(c);
-    }
-    return escapedString.toString();
-  }
 }
diff --git a/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/LikeExpressionEvaluator.java b/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/LikeExpressionEvaluator.java
index 1dc80d2b88..6584caf3df 100644
--- a/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/LikeExpressionEvaluator.java
+++ b/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/main/java/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/LikeExpressionEvaluator.java
@@ -183,4 +183,18 @@ private static String escapeLikeRegex(String pattern, char escape) {
     }
     return "(?s)" + javaPattern;
   }
+
+  /** Escapes characters escapeChar in the input String */
+  static String escape(String input, char escapeChar) {
+    final int len = input.length();
+    final StringBuilder escapedString = new StringBuilder(len + len);
+    for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+      char c = input.charAt(i);
+      if (c == escapeChar) {
+        escapedString.append('\\');
+      }
+      escapedString.append(c);
+    }
+    return escapedString.toString();
+  }
 }
diff --git a/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/test/scala/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/DefaultExpressionEvaluatorSuite.scala b/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/test/scala/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/DefaultExpressionEvaluatorSuite.scala
index ed87f20480..bb164bc89c 100644
--- a/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/test/scala/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/DefaultExpressionEvaluatorSuite.scala
+++ b/kernel/kernel-defaults/src/test/scala/io/delta/kernel/defaults/internal/expressions/DefaultExpressionEvaluatorSuite.scala
@@ -615,6 +615,16 @@ class DefaultExpressionEvaluatorSuite extends AnyFunSuite with ExpressionSuiteBa
     checkBooleanVectors(new DefaultExpressionEvaluator(
       schema, startsWithExpressionAlwaysFalse, BooleanType.BOOLEAN).eval(input), allFalseVector)
 
+    val colUnicode = stringVector(Seq[String]("中文", "中", "文"))
+    val schemaUnicode = new StructType().add("col", StringType.STRING)
+    val inputUnicode = new DefaultColumnarBatch(colUnicode.getSize,
+      schemaUnicode, Array(colUnicode))
+    val startsWithExpressionUnicode = startsWith(new Column("col"), Literal.ofString("中"))
+    val expOutputVectorLiteralUnicode = booleanVector(Seq[BooleanJ](true, true, false))
+    checkBooleanVectors(new DefaultExpressionEvaluator(schemaUnicode,
+      startsWithExpressionUnicode,
+      BooleanType.BOOLEAN).eval(inputUnicode), expOutputVectorLiteralUnicode)
+
     val startsWithExpressionExpression = startsWith(new Column("col1"), new Column("col2"))
     val e = intercept[UnsupportedOperationException] {
       new DefaultExpressionEvaluator(
@@ -634,7 +644,7 @@ class DefaultExpressionEvaluatorSuite extends AnyFunSuite with ExpressionSuiteBa
         new DefaultExpressionEvaluator(
           schema, expr, BooleanType.BOOLEAN).eval(input)
       }
-      assert(e.getMessage.contains("'starts with' is only supported for string type expressions"))
+      assert(e.getMessage.contains("'STARTS_WITH' is expects STRING type inputs"))
     }
 
     checkUnsupportedTypes(BooleanType.BOOLEAN, BooleanType.BOOLEAN)