diff --git a/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp/handler.go b/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp/handler.go
index 8ef06eddc2c..f3871a8e071 100644
--- a/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp/handler.go
+++ b/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp/handler.go
@@ -137,8 +137,16 @@ func (h *Handler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 			span.AddEvent("read", trace.WithAttributes(ReadBytesKey.Int64(n)))
 		}
 	}
-	bw := bodyWrapper{ReadCloser: r.Body, record: readRecordFunc}
-	r.Body = &bw
+
+	var bw bodyWrapper
+	// if request body is nil we don't want to mutate the body as it will affect
+	// the identity of it in a unforeseeable way because we assert ReadCloser
+	// fullfills a certain interface and it is indeed nil.
+	if r.Body != nil {
+		bw.ReadCloser = r.Body
+		bw.record = readRecordFunc
+		r.Body = &bw
+	}
 
 	writeRecordFunc := func(int64) {}
 	if h.writeEvent {
@@ -172,10 +180,8 @@ func (h *Handler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 
 	setAfterServeAttributes(span, bw.read, rww.written, rww.statusCode, bw.err, rww.err)
 
-	// Add request metrics
-
+	// Add metrics
 	labels := append(labeler.Get(), semconv.HTTPServerMetricAttributesFromHTTPRequest(h.operation, r)...)
-
 	h.counters[RequestContentLength].Add(ctx, bw.read, labels...)
 	h.counters[ResponseContentLength].Add(ctx, rww.written, labels...)
 
diff --git a/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp/handler_test.go b/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp/handler_test.go
index e35dfb7dcde..f1c3bae80d4 100644
--- a/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp/handler_test.go
+++ b/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp/handler_test.go
@@ -176,3 +176,29 @@ func TestResponseWriterOptionalInterfaces(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal("http.Flusher interface not exposed")
 	}
 }
+
+// This use case is important as we make sure the body isn't mutated
+// when it is nil. This is a common use case for tests where the request
+// is directly passed to the handler.
+func TestHandlerReadingNilBodySuccess(t *testing.T) {
+	rr := httptest.NewRecorder()
+
+	provider := oteltest.NewTracerProvider()
+
+	h := NewHandler(
+		http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+			if r.Body != nil {
+				_, err := ioutil.ReadAll(r.Body)
+				assert.NotNil(t, err)
+			}
+		}), "test_handler",
+		WithTracerProvider(provider),
+	)
+
+	r, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "http://localhost/", nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	h.ServeHTTP(rr, r)
+	assert.Equal(t, 200, rr.Result().StatusCode)
+}