diff --git a/webclient/http1/src/main/java/io/helidon/webclient/http1/Http1ClientResponseImpl.java b/webclient/http1/src/main/java/io/helidon/webclient/http1/Http1ClientResponseImpl.java
index 580d28c4aec..3094a7e3d22 100644
--- a/webclient/http1/src/main/java/io/helidon/webclient/http1/Http1ClientResponseImpl.java
+++ b/webclient/http1/src/main/java/io/helidon/webclient/http1/Http1ClientResponseImpl.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2022, 2023 Oracle and/or its affiliates.
+ * Copyright (c) 2022, 2024 Oracle and/or its affiliates.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 package io.helidon.webclient.http1;
 
 import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.lang.System.Logger.Level;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.OptionalLong;
 import java.util.ServiceLoader;
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@
 import io.helidon.common.HelidonServiceLoader;
 import io.helidon.common.LazyValue;
 import io.helidon.common.buffers.BufferData;
+import io.helidon.common.buffers.DataReader;
 import io.helidon.common.media.type.ParserMode;
 import io.helidon.http.ClientRequestHeaders;
 import io.helidon.http.ClientResponseHeaders;
@@ -153,7 +155,7 @@ public void close() {
                 if (headers().contains(HeaderValues.CONNECTION_CLOSE)) {
                     connection.closeResource();
                 } else {
-                    if (entityFullyRead || entityLength == 0) {
+                    if (entityFullyRead || entityLength == 0 || consumeUnreadEntity()) {
                         connection.releaseResource();
                     } else {
                         connection.closeResource();
@@ -186,6 +188,32 @@ ClientConnection connection() {
         return connection;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Attempts to consume an unread entity for the purpose of re-using a cached connection.
+     * Only works for length-prefixed responses.
+     *
+     * @return {@code true} if consumed, {@code false} otherwise
+     */
+    private boolean consumeUnreadEntity() {
+        if (entityLength == ENTITY_LENGTH_CHUNKED) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        DataReader reader = connection.reader();
+        if (reader.available() != entityLength) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        try {
+            for (long i = 0; i < entityLength; i++) {
+                reader.read();
+            }
+            entityFullyRead = true;
+            return true;
+        } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+            LOGGER.log(Level.DEBUG, "Exception while consuming entity", e);
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
     private ReadableEntity entity(ClientRequestHeaders requestHeaders,
                                   ClientResponseHeaders responseHeaders) {
         if (inputStream == null) {
diff --git a/webclient/tests/http1/src/test/java/io/helidon/webclient/http1/Http1ClientTest.java b/webclient/tests/http1/src/test/java/io/helidon/webclient/http1/Http1ClientTest.java
index d23bb2d2bc5..4a82c5bb338 100644
--- a/webclient/tests/http1/src/test/java/io/helidon/webclient/http1/Http1ClientTest.java
+++ b/webclient/tests/http1/src/test/java/io/helidon/webclient/http1/Http1ClientTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2023 Oracle and/or its affiliates.
+ * Copyright (c) 2023, 2024 Oracle and/or its affiliates.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -255,6 +255,37 @@ void testConnectionQueueDequeue() {
         }
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void testConnectionCachingUnreadEntity() {
+        ClientConnection connectionNow;
+        ClientConnection connectionPrior = null;
+        for (int i = 0; i < 5; ++i) {
+            HttpClientRequest request = injectedHttp1client.put("/test");
+            // connection will be dequeued if queue is not empty
+            WebClient webClient = WebClient.create();
+            Http1ClientConfig clientConfig = Http1ClientConfig.create();
+            Http1ClientImpl http1Client = new Http1ClientImpl(webClient, clientConfig);
+            connectionNow = http1Client
+                    .connectionCache()
+                    .connection(http1Client,
+                                Duration.ZERO,
+                                injectedHttp1client.prototype().tls(),
+                                Proxy.noProxy(),
+                                request.resolvedUri(),
+                                request.headers(),
+                                true);
+            request.connection(connectionNow);
+            // submitted entity is echoed back but not consumed here
+            HttpClientResponse response = request.submit("this is an entity");
+            // connection will be queued up
+            response.close();
+            if (connectionPrior != null) {
+                assertThat(connectionNow, is(connectionPrior));
+            }
+            connectionPrior = connectionNow;
+        }
+    }
+
     @Test
     void testConnectionQueueSizeLimit() {
         int connectionQueueSize = injectedHttp1client.prototype().connectionCacheSize();