diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeaders.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeaders.java
index e39b884581..16ee323dce 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeaders.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeaders.java
@@ -969,8 +969,13 @@ public class HttpHeaders implements MultiValueMap<String, String>, Serializable
 	/**
 	 * Set the length of the body in bytes, as specified by the
 	 * {@code Content-Length} header.
+	 * @param contentLength content length (greater than or equal to zero)
+	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the content length is negative
 	 */
 	public void setContentLength(long contentLength) {
+		if (contentLength < 0) {
+			throw new IllegalArgumentException("Content-Length must be a non-negative number");
+		}
 		set(CONTENT_LENGTH, Long.toString(contentLength));
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeadersTests.java b/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeadersTests.java
index de8ab6ac0c..d08892bbb4 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeadersTests.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/HttpHeadersTests.java
@@ -154,6 +154,17 @@ class HttpHeadersTests {
 		assertThat(headers.getFirst("Content-Length")).as("Invalid Content-Length header").isEqualTo("42");
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	void setContentLengthWithNegativeValue() {
+		assertThatIllegalArgumentException().isThrownBy(() ->
+				headers.setContentLength(-1));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void getContentLengthReturnsMinusOneForAbsentHeader() {
+		assertThat(headers.getContentLength()).isEqualTo(-1);
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	void contentType() {
 		MediaType contentType = new MediaType("text", "html", StandardCharsets.UTF_8);