diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/cors/reactive/PreFlightRequestHandler.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/cors/reactive/PreFlightRequestHandler.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bf94e99d68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/cors/reactive/PreFlightRequestHandler.java
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2021 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.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.web.cors.reactive;
+
+import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
+
+import org.springframework.web.server.ServerWebExchange;
+
+/**
+ * Handler for CORS pre-flight requests.
+ *
+ * @author Rossen Stoyanchev
+ * @since 5.3.4
+ */
+public interface PreFlightRequestHandler {
+
+	/**
+	 * Handle a pre-flight request by finding and applying the CORS configuration
+	 * that matches the expected actual request. As a result of handling, the
+	 * response should be updated with CORS headers or rejected with
+	 * {@link org.springframework.http.HttpStatus#FORBIDDEN}.
+	 * @param exchange the exchange for the request
+	 * @return a completion handle
+	 */
+	Mono<Void> handlePreFlight(ServerWebExchange exchange);
+
+}
diff --git a/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/DispatcherHandler.java b/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/DispatcherHandler.java
index 604b9e18a0..29d291b72f 100644
--- a/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/DispatcherHandler.java
+++ b/spring-webflux/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/reactive/DispatcherHandler.java
@@ -29,10 +29,10 @@ import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
 import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContextAware;
 import org.springframework.core.annotation.AnnotationAwareOrderComparator;
 import org.springframework.http.HttpStatus;
-import org.springframework.http.server.reactive.ServerHttpRequest;
 import org.springframework.lang.Nullable;
 import org.springframework.util.ObjectUtils;
 import org.springframework.web.cors.reactive.CorsUtils;
+import org.springframework.web.cors.reactive.PreFlightRequestHandler;
 import org.springframework.web.server.ResponseStatusException;
 import org.springframework.web.server.ServerWebExchange;
 import org.springframework.web.server.WebHandler;
@@ -53,9 +53,10 @@ import org.springframework.web.server.adapter.WebHttpHandlerBuilder;
  *
  * <p>{@code DispatcherHandler} is also designed to be a Spring bean itself and
  * implements {@link ApplicationContextAware} for access to the context it runs
- * in. If {@code DispatcherHandler} is declared with the bean name "webHandler"
- * it is discovered by {@link WebHttpHandlerBuilder#applicationContext} which
- * creates a processing chain together with {@code WebFilter},
+ * in. If {@code DispatcherHandler} is declared as a bean with the name
+ * "webHandler", it is discovered by
+ * {@link WebHttpHandlerBuilder#applicationContext(ApplicationContext)} which
+ * puts together a processing chain together with {@code WebFilter},
  * {@code WebExceptionHandler} and others.
  *
  * <p>A {@code DispatcherHandler} bean declaration is included in
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ import org.springframework.web.server.adapter.WebHttpHandlerBuilder;
  * @since 5.0
  * @see WebHttpHandlerBuilder#applicationContext(ApplicationContext)
  */
-public class DispatcherHandler implements WebHandler, ApplicationContextAware {
+public class DispatcherHandler implements WebHandler, PreFlightRequestHandler, ApplicationContextAware {
 
 	@Nullable
 	private List<HandlerMapping> handlerMappings;
@@ -142,6 +143,9 @@ public class DispatcherHandler implements WebHandler, ApplicationContextAware {
 		if (this.handlerMappings == null) {
 			return createNotFoundError();
 		}
+		if (CorsUtils.isPreFlightRequest(exchange.getRequest())) {
+			return handlePreFlight(exchange);
+		}
 		return Flux.fromIterable(this.handlerMappings)
 				.concatMap(mapping -> mapping.getHandler(exchange))
 				.next()
@@ -158,11 +162,8 @@ public class DispatcherHandler implements WebHandler, ApplicationContextAware {
 	}
 
 	private Mono<HandlerResult> invokeHandler(ServerWebExchange exchange, Object handler) {
-		// No handling for CORS rejected requests and pre-flight requests
-		ServerHttpRequest request = exchange.getRequest();
-		HttpStatus status = exchange.getResponse().getStatusCode();
-		if (ObjectUtils.nullSafeEquals(status, HttpStatus.FORBIDDEN) || CorsUtils.isPreFlightRequest(request)) {
-			return Mono.empty();
+		if (ObjectUtils.nullSafeEquals(exchange.getResponse().getStatusCode(), HttpStatus.FORBIDDEN)) {
+			return Mono.empty();  // CORS rejection
 		}
 		if (this.handlerAdapters != null) {
 			for (HandlerAdapter handlerAdapter : this.handlerAdapters) {
@@ -196,4 +197,13 @@ public class DispatcherHandler implements WebHandler, ApplicationContextAware {
 		throw new IllegalStateException("No HandlerResultHandler for " + handlerResult.getReturnValue());
 	}
 
+	@Override
+	public Mono<Void> handlePreFlight(ServerWebExchange exchange) {
+		return Flux.fromIterable(this.handlerMappings != null ? this.handlerMappings : Collections.emptyList())
+				.concatMap(mapping -> mapping.getHandler(exchange))
+				.switchIfEmpty(Mono.fromRunnable(() -> exchange.getResponse().setStatusCode(HttpStatus.FORBIDDEN)))
+				.next()
+				.then();
+	}
+
 }