diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/core/support/QueryExecutionResultHandler.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/core/support/QueryExecutionResultHandler.java
index 023cdc5aa..03dfbb24d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/core/support/QueryExecutionResultHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/repository/core/support/QueryExecutionResultHandler.java
@@ -66,12 +66,20 @@ class QueryExecutionResultHandler {
 
 		Class<?> expectedReturnType = returnTypeDescriptor.getType();
 
+		// Early return if the raw value matches
+
 		if (result != null && expectedReturnType.isInstance(result)) {
 			return result;
 		}
 
 		result = unwrapOptional(result);
 
+		// Early return if the unrwapped value matches
+
+		if (result != null && expectedReturnType.isInstance(result)) {
+			return result;
+		}
+
 		if (QueryExecutionConverters.supports(expectedReturnType)) {
 
 			TypeDescriptor targetType = TypeDescriptor.valueOf(expectedReturnType);