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 1e0bc98a56..2e8b210130 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 +21,11 @@ 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 javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
 
@@ -66,6 +69,8 @@ import org.springframework.web.servlet.support.RequestContextUtils;
  */
 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
@@ -199,7 +204,8 @@ 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 50c030042c..05f04c3669 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.
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import java.net.URI;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.time.ZoneId;
 import java.time.ZonedDateTime;
+import java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.Date;
@@ -558,6 +559,21 @@ public class HttpEntityMethodProcessorMockTests {
 		assertConditionalResponse(HttpStatus.OK, "body", etagValue, -1);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void shouldNotFailPreconditionForPutRequests() throws Exception {
+		servletRequest.setMethod("PUT");
+		ZonedDateTime dateTime = ofEpochMilli(new Date().getTime()).atZone(GMT);
+		servletRequest.addHeader(HttpHeaders.IF_UNMODIFIED_SINCE, RFC_1123_DATE_TIME.format(dateTime));
+
+		long justModified = dateTime.plus(1, ChronoUnit.SECONDS).toEpochSecond() * 1000;
+		ResponseEntity<String> returnValue = ResponseEntity.ok()
+				.lastModified(justModified).body("body");
+		initStringMessageConversion(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"};