--- a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/model/RecordOrderer.java	
+++ a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/model/RecordOrderer.java	
@@ -159,6 +159,10 @@ final class RecordOrderer {
 			if (rb instanceof MergedCellsTable) {
 				return i + 1;
 			}
+			if (rb instanceof DataValidityTable) {
+				continue;
+			}
+			
 			Record rec = (Record) rb;
 			switch (rec.getSid()) {
 				case WindowTwoRecord.sid:
@@ -169,7 +173,10 @@ final class RecordOrderer {
 				// MergedCellsTable usually here 
 				case UnknownRecord.LABELRANGES_015F:
 				case UnknownRecord.PHONETICPR_00EF:
+					// ConditionalFormattingTable goes here
 					return i + 1;
+				// HyperlinkTable (not aggregated by POI yet)
+				// DataValidityTable
 			}
 		}
 		throw new RuntimeException("Did not find Window2 record");
--- a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/model/Sheet.java	
+++ a/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/model/Sheet.java	
@@ -435,7 +435,9 @@ public final class Sheet implements Model {
      */
     public void updateFormulasAfterCellShift(FormulaShifter shifter, int externSheetIndex) {
         getRowsAggregate().updateFormulasAfterRowShift(shifter, externSheetIndex);
-        getConditionalFormattingTable().updateFormulasAfterCellShift(shifter, externSheetIndex);
+        if (condFormatting != null) {
+            getConditionalFormattingTable().updateFormulasAfterCellShift(shifter, externSheetIndex);
+        }
         // TODO - adjust data validations
     }
 
--- a/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/model/TestSheet.java	
+++ a/src/testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/model/TestSheet.java	
@@ -35,15 +35,18 @@ import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.GutsRecord;
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.IndexRecord;
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.MergeCellsRecord;
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.Record;
+import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.RecordBase;
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.RowRecord;
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.StringRecord;
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.UncalcedRecord;
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.WindowTwoRecord;
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.aggregates.ColumnInfoRecordsAggregate;
+import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.aggregates.ConditionalFormattingTable;
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.aggregates.MergedCellsTable;
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.aggregates.PageSettingsBlock;
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.aggregates.RowRecordsAggregate;
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.aggregates.RecordAggregate.RecordVisitor;
+import org.apache.poi.hssf.record.formula.FormulaShifter;
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFCell;
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFRow;
 import org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFSheet;
@@ -582,4 +585,47 @@ public final class TestSheet extends TestCase {
             throw e;
         }
     }
+    
+    /**
+     * Prior to the fix for bug 46547, shifting formulas would have the side-effect 
+     * of creating a {@link ConditionalFormattingTable}.  There was no impairment to
+     * functionality since empty record aggregates are equivalent to missing record 
+     * aggregates. However, since this unnecessary creation helped expose bug 46547b,
+     * and since there is a slight performance hit the fix was made to avoid it.
+     */
+    public void testShiftFormulasAddCondFormat_bug46547() {
+        // Create a sheet with data validity (similar to bugzilla attachment id=23131).
+        Sheet sheet = Sheet.createSheet();
+
+        List sheetRecs = sheet.getRecords();
+        assertEquals(22, sheetRecs.size());
+        
+        FormulaShifter shifter = FormulaShifter.createForRowShift(0, 0, 0, 1);
+        sheet.updateFormulasAfterCellShift(shifter, 0);
+        if (sheetRecs.size() == 23 && sheetRecs.get(21) instanceof ConditionalFormattingTable) {
+            throw new AssertionFailedError("Identified bug 46547a");
+        }
+        assertEquals(22, sheetRecs.size());
+        
+    }
+    /**
+     * Bug 46547 happened when attempting to add conditional formatting to a sheet
+     * which already had data validity constraints.
+     */
+    public void testAddCondFormatAfterDataValidation_bug46547() {
+        // Create a sheet with data validity (similar to bugzilla attachment id=23131).
+        Sheet sheet = Sheet.createSheet();
+        sheet.getOrCreateDataValidityTable();
+
+        ConditionalFormattingTable cft;
+        // attempt to add conditional formatting
+        try {
+
+            cft = sheet.getConditionalFormattingTable(); // lazy getter
+        } catch (ClassCastException e) {
+            throw new AssertionFailedError("Identified bug 46547b");
+        }
+        assertNotNull(cft);
+    }
+ 
 }