diff --git a/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/function/server/ServerRequest.java b/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/function/server/ServerRequest.java
index 4bca08b4544..56f98e19b39 100644
--- a/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/function/server/ServerRequest.java
+++ b/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/function/server/ServerRequest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2019 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2020 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.
@@ -371,6 +371,18 @@ public interface ServerRequest {
 		 */
 		List<String> header(String headerName);
 
+		/**
+		 * Get the first header value, if any, for the header for the given name.
+		 * <p>Returns {@code null} if no header values are found.
+		 * @param headerName the header name
+		 * @since 5.2.5
+		 */
+		@Nullable
+		default String firstHeader(String headerName) {
+			List<String> list = header(headerName);
+			return list.isEmpty() ? null : list.get(0);
+		}
+
 		/**
 		 * Get the headers as an instance of {@link HttpHeaders}.
 		 */
diff --git a/spring-webflux/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/function/server/DefaultServerRequestTests.java b/spring-webflux/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/function/server/DefaultServerRequestTests.java
index b4e17cca692..2ebd457f0c4 100644
--- a/spring-webflux/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/function/server/DefaultServerRequestTests.java
+++ b/spring-webflux/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/function/server/DefaultServerRequestTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2019 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2020 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.
@@ -208,6 +208,8 @@ public class DefaultServerRequestTests {
 		assertThat(headers.acceptCharset()).isEqualTo(acceptCharset);
 		assertThat(headers.contentLength()).isEqualTo(OptionalLong.of(contentLength));
 		assertThat(headers.contentType()).isEqualTo(Optional.of(contentType));
+		assertThat(headers.header(HttpHeaders.CONTENT_TYPE)).containsExactly(MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN_VALUE);
+		assertThat(headers.firstHeader(HttpHeaders.CONTENT_TYPE)).isEqualTo(MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN_VALUE);
 		assertThat(headers.asHttpHeaders()).isEqualTo(httpHeaders);
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/ServerRequest.java b/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/ServerRequest.java
index 2f7fb62724e..b292c6c2722 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/ServerRequest.java
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/ServerRequest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2019 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2020 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.
@@ -307,6 +307,18 @@ public interface ServerRequest {
 		 */
 		List<String> header(String headerName);
 
+		/**
+		 * Get the first header value, if any, for the header for the given name.
+		 * <p>Returns {@code null} if no header values are found.
+		 * @param headerName the header name
+		 * @since 5.2.5
+		 */
+		@Nullable
+		default String firstHeader(String headerName) {
+			List<String> list = header(headerName);
+			return list.isEmpty() ? null : list.get(0);
+		}
+
 		/**
 		 * Get the headers as an instance of {@link HttpHeaders}.
 		 */
diff --git a/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/DefaultServerRequestTests.java b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/DefaultServerRequestTests.java
index 58d8289b17e..7ba69dd0a82 100644
--- a/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/DefaultServerRequestTests.java
+++ b/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/function/DefaultServerRequestTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2019 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2020 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.
@@ -209,6 +209,8 @@ public class DefaultServerRequestTests {
 		assertThat(headers.acceptCharset()).isEqualTo(acceptCharset);
 		assertThat(headers.contentLength()).isEqualTo(OptionalLong.of(contentLength));
 		assertThat(headers.contentType()).isEqualTo(Optional.of(contentType));
+		assertThat(headers.header(HttpHeaders.CONTENT_TYPE)).containsExactly(MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN_VALUE);
+		assertThat(headers.firstHeader(HttpHeaders.CONTENT_TYPE)).isEqualTo(MediaType.TEXT_PLAIN_VALUE);
 		assertThat(headers.asHttpHeaders()).isEqualTo(httpHeaders);
 	}