diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 57f1f6ed16c..1558595f404 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+## Apollo Client 3.4.6 (not yet released)
+
+## Improvements
+
+- Reevaluate `window.fetch` each time `HttpLink` uses it, if not configured using `options.fetch`. This change enables a variety of strategies for instrumenting `window.fetch`, without requiring those strategies to run before `@apollo/client/link/http` is first imported. <br/>
+  [@benjamn](https://github.com/benjamn) in [#8603](https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-client/pull/8603)
+
 ## Apollo Client 3.4.5
 
 ### Bug Fixes
diff --git a/src/__tests__/__snapshots__/exports.ts.snap b/src/__tests__/__snapshots__/exports.ts.snap
index 9dd91569351..3835a31be88 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/__snapshots__/exports.ts.snap
+++ b/src/__tests__/__snapshots__/exports.ts.snap
@@ -362,6 +362,7 @@ Array [
   "iterateObserversSafely",
   "makeReference",
   "makeUniqueId",
+  "maybe",
   "maybeDeepFreeze",
   "mergeDeep",
   "mergeDeepArray",
diff --git a/src/link/http/__tests__/HttpLink.ts b/src/link/http/__tests__/HttpLink.ts
index 3d17685832b..d848021a36a 100644
--- a/src/link/http/__tests__/HttpLink.ts
+++ b/src/link/http/__tests__/HttpLink.ts
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ describe('HttpLink', () => {
     const data2 = { data: { hello: 'everyone' } };
     const mockError = { throws: new TypeError('mock me') };
     let subscriber: ZenObservable.Observer<any>;
+    const subscriptions = new Set<ZenObservable.Subscription>();
 
     beforeEach(() => {
       fetchMock.restore();
@@ -74,10 +75,17 @@ describe('HttpLink', () => {
         error,
         complete,
       };
+
+      subscriptions.clear();
     });
 
     afterEach(() => {
       fetchMock.restore();
+      if (subscriptions.size) {
+        // Tests within this describe block can add subscriptions to this Set
+        // that they want to be canceled/unsubscribed after the test finishes.
+        subscriptions.forEach(sub => sub.unsubscribe());
+      }
     });
 
     it('does not need any constructor arguments', () => {
@@ -830,6 +838,53 @@ describe('HttpLink', () => {
       );
     });
 
+    it('uses the latest window.fetch function if options.fetch not configured', done => {
+      const httpLink = createHttpLink({ uri: 'data' });
+
+      const fetch = window.fetch;
+      expect(typeof fetch).toBe('function');
+
+      const fetchSpy = jest.spyOn(window, 'fetch');
+      fetchSpy.mockImplementation(() => Promise.resolve<Response>({
+        text() {
+          return Promise.resolve(JSON.stringify({
+            data: { hello: "from spy" },
+          }));
+        },
+      } as Response));
+
+      const spyFn = window.fetch;
+      expect(spyFn).not.toBe(fetch);
+
+      subscriptions.add(execute(httpLink, {
+        query: sampleQuery,
+      }).subscribe({
+        error: done.fail,
+
+        next(result) {
+          expect(fetchSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+          expect(result).toEqual({
+            data: { hello: "from spy" },
+          });
+
+          fetchSpy.mockRestore();
+          expect(window.fetch).toBe(fetch);
+
+          subscriptions.add(execute(httpLink, {
+            query: sampleQuery,
+          }).subscribe({
+            error: done.fail,
+            next(result) {
+              expect(result).toEqual({
+                data: { hello: "world" },
+              });
+              done();
+            },
+          }));
+        },
+      }));
+    });
+
     it('prioritizes context over setup', done => {
       const variables = { params: 'stub' };
       const middleware = new ApolloLink((operation, forward) => {
diff --git a/src/link/http/createHttpLink.ts b/src/link/http/createHttpLink.ts
index 80f22484a39..6282377a948 100644
--- a/src/link/http/createHttpLink.ts
+++ b/src/link/http/createHttpLink.ts
@@ -14,26 +14,25 @@ import {
 import { createSignalIfSupported } from './createSignalIfSupported';
 import { rewriteURIForGET } from './rewriteURIForGET';
 import { fromError } from '../utils';
+import { maybe } from '../../utilities';
+
+const backupFetch = maybe(() => fetch);
 
 export const createHttpLink = (linkOptions: HttpOptions = {}) => {
   let {
     uri = '/graphql',
     // use default global fetch if nothing passed in
-    fetch: fetcher,
+    fetch: preferredFetch,
     includeExtensions,
     useGETForQueries,
     includeUnusedVariables = false,
     ...requestOptions
   } = linkOptions;
 
-  // dev warnings to ensure fetch is present
-  checkFetcher(fetcher);
-
-  //fetcher is set here rather than the destructuring to ensure fetch is
-  //declared before referencing it. Reference in the destructuring would cause
-  //a ReferenceError
-  if (!fetcher) {
-    fetcher = fetch;
+  if (__DEV__) {
+    // Make sure at least one of preferredFetch, window.fetch, or backupFetch is
+    // defined, so requests won't fail at runtime.
+    checkFetcher(preferredFetch || backupFetch);
   }
 
   const linkConfig = {
@@ -142,7 +141,14 @@ export const createHttpLink = (linkOptions: HttpOptions = {}) => {
     }
 
     return new Observable(observer => {
-      fetcher!(chosenURI, options)
+      // Prefer linkOptions.fetch (preferredFetch) if provided, and otherwise
+      // fall back to the *current* global window.fetch function (see issue
+      // #7832), or (if all else fails) the backupFetch function we saved when
+      // this module was first evaluated. This last option protects against the
+      // removal of window.fetch, which is unlikely but not impossible.
+      const currentFetch = preferredFetch || maybe(() => fetch) || backupFetch;
+
+      currentFetch!(chosenURI, options)
         .then(response => {
           operation.setContext({ response });
           return response;
diff --git a/src/utilities/index.ts b/src/utilities/index.ts
index ff4e765c8f1..9f151b88386 100644
--- a/src/utilities/index.ts
+++ b/src/utilities/index.ts
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ export {
 export * from './common/mergeDeep';
 export * from './common/cloneDeep';
 export * from './common/maybeDeepFreeze';
+export * from './common/maybe';
 export * from './observables/iteration';
 export * from './observables/asyncMap';
 export * from './observables/Concast';