diff --git a/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/DomainObjectReader.java b/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/DomainObjectReader.java
index 901f9ce55..593e1a50c 100644
--- a/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/DomainObjectReader.java
+++ b/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/DomainObjectReader.java
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ import org.springframework.data.mapping.model.ConvertingPropertyAccessor;
 import org.springframework.data.rest.webmvc.mapping.Associations;
 import org.springframework.data.rest.webmvc.util.InputStreamHttpInputMessage;
 import org.springframework.data.util.ClassTypeInformation;
-import org.springframework.data.util.Optionals;
 import org.springframework.data.util.TypeInformation;
 import org.springframework.http.converter.HttpMessageNotReadableException;
 import org.springframework.lang.Nullable;
@@ -677,7 +676,10 @@ public class DomainObjectReader {
 			} else if (property.isCollectionLike()) {
 				result = mergeCollections(property, sourceValue, targetValue, mapper);
 			} else if (property.isEntity()) {
-				result = Optionals.mapIfAllPresent(sourceValue, targetValue, (l, r) -> mergeForPut(l, r, mapper));
+
+				result = targetValue.isEmpty()
+						? sourceValue
+						: targetValue.flatMap(t -> sourceValue.map(s -> mergeForPut(s, t, mapper)));
 			} else {
 				result = sourceValue;
 			}
diff --git a/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/DomainObjectReaderUnitTests.java b/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/DomainObjectReaderUnitTests.java
index 25c94f5d1..92ecc2bba 100755
--- a/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/DomainObjectReaderUnitTests.java
+++ b/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/json/DomainObjectReaderUnitTests.java
@@ -664,6 +664,26 @@ class DomainObjectReaderUnitTests {
 		assertThat(result.longs).isEqualTo(List.of(1L, 2L));
 	}
 
+	@Test // GH-2264
+	void nestedEntitiesAreCreatedWhenMissingForPut() throws Exception {
+
+		var outer = new Outer();
+		outer.name = "outer name";
+		outer.prop = "something";
+
+		var node = new ObjectMapper().readTree(
+				"{ \"inner\" : { \"name\" : \"new inner name\", \"readOnly\" : \"readonly value\", \"hidden\" : \"hidden value\" } }");
+
+		var result = reader.readPut((ObjectNode) node, outer, new ObjectMapper());
+
+		assertThat(result).isSameAs(outer);
+		assertThat(result.inner).isNotNull();
+		assertThat(result.inner.prop).isNull();
+		assertThat(result.inner.name).isEqualTo("new inner name");
+		assertThat(result.inner.readOnly).isNull();
+		assertThat(result.inner.hidden).isNull();
+	}
+
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
 	private static <T> T as(Object source, Class<T> type) {