diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/method/annotation/HttpEntityMethodProcessor.java b/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/method/annotation/HttpEntityMethodProcessor.java
index a2d858f31f7..8b84b59bdcd 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/method/annotation/HttpEntityMethodProcessor.java
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/method/annotation/HttpEntityMethodProcessor.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2017 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2018 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -21,8 +21,10 @@ import java.lang.reflect.ParameterizedType;
 import java.lang.reflect.Type;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.EnumSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
 
 import org.springframework.core.MethodParameter;
 import org.springframework.core.ResolvableType;
@@ -59,6 +61,8 @@ import org.springframework.web.method.support.ModelAndViewContainer;
  */
 public class HttpEntityMethodProcessor extends AbstractMessageConverterMethodProcessor {
 
+	private static final Set<HttpMethod> SAFE_METHODS = EnumSet.of(HttpMethod.GET, HttpMethod.HEAD);
+
 	/**
 	 * Basic constructor with converters only. Suitable for resolving
 	 * {@code HttpEntity}. For handling {@code ResponseEntity} consider also
@@ -190,7 +194,8 @@ public class HttpEntityMethodProcessor extends AbstractMessageConverterMethodPro
 			int returnStatus = ((ResponseEntity<?>) responseEntity).getStatusCodeValue();
 			outputMessage.getServletResponse().setStatus(returnStatus);
 			if (returnStatus == 200) {
-				if (isResourceNotModified(inputMessage, outputMessage)) {
+				if (SAFE_METHODS.contains(inputMessage.getMethod())
+						&& isResourceNotModified(inputMessage, outputMessage)) {
 					// Ensure headers are flushed, no body should be written.
 					outputMessage.flush();
 					// Skip call to converters, as they may update the body.
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/method/annotation/HttpEntityMethodProcessorMockTests.java b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/method/annotation/HttpEntityMethodProcessorMockTests.java
index a83770776c9..dc7f30863d4 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/method/annotation/HttpEntityMethodProcessorMockTests.java
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/mvc/method/annotation/HttpEntityMethodProcessorMockTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2017 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2018 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -511,6 +511,21 @@ public class HttpEntityMethodProcessorMockTests {
 		assertConditionalResponse(HttpStatus.OK, "body", etagValue, -1);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void shouldNotFailPreconditionForPutRequests() throws Exception {
+		servletRequest.setMethod("PUT");
+		long dateTime = new Date().getTime();
+		servletRequest.addHeader(HttpHeaders.IF_UNMODIFIED_SINCE, dateFormat.format(dateTime));
+
+		long justModified = dateTime + 1;
+		ResponseEntity<String> returnValue = ResponseEntity.ok()
+				.lastModified(justModified).body("body");
+		initStringMessageConversion(MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN);
+		processor.handleReturnValue(returnValue, returnTypeResponseEntity, mavContainer, webRequest);
+
+		assertConditionalResponse(HttpStatus.OK, null, null, justModified);
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void varyHeader() throws Exception {
 		String[] entityValues = {"Accept-Language", "User-Agent"};