diff --git a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
index 93d0e790da1..f24f0bc95aa 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG.next.asciidoc
@@ -200,6 +200,7 @@ https://github.com/elastic/beats/compare/v8.8.1\...main[Check the HEAD diff]
 - Add setup option `--force-enable-module-filesets`, that will act as if all filesets have been enabled in a module during setup. {issue}30915[30915] {pull}99999[99999]
 - Add setup option `--force-enable-module-filesets`, that will act as if all filesets have been enabled in a module during setup. {issue}30915[30915] {pull}36286[36286]
 - [Azure] Add input metrics to the azure-eventhub input. {pull}35739[35739]
+- Reduce HTTPJSON metrics allocations. {pull}36282[36282]
 
 *Auditbeat*
 
diff --git a/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/metrics_test.go b/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/metrics_test.go
index 59043a8fcf8..1b57bc5edce 100644
--- a/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/metrics_test.go
+++ b/x-pack/filebeat/input/httpjson/metrics_test.go
@@ -41,7 +41,10 @@ func TestMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			baseConfig: map[string]interface{}{
 				"interval":       time.Millisecond,
-				"request.method": http.MethodGet,
+				"request.method": http.MethodPost,
+				"request.body": map[string]interface{}{
+					"field": "value",
+				},
 				"response.split": map[string]interface{}{
 					"target": "body.items",
 					"transforms": []interface{}{
@@ -70,21 +73,20 @@ func TestMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			assertMetrics: func(reg *monitoring.Registry) error {
 				checkHasValue := func(v interface{}) bool {
-					var c int64
 					switch t := v.(type) {
 					case int64:
-						c = t
+						return t > 0
 					case map[string]interface{}:
 						h := t["histogram"].(map[string]interface{})
-						c = h["count"].(int64)
+						return h["count"].(int64) > 0 && h["max"].(int64) > 0
 					}
-					return c > 0
+					return false
 				}
 
 				snapshot := monitoring.CollectStructSnapshot(reg, monitoring.Full, true)
 
 				for _, m := range []string{
-					"http_request_body_bytes", "http_request_get_total",
+					"http_request_body_bytes", "http_request_post_total",
 					"http_request_total", "http_response_2xx_total",
 					"http_response_body_bytes", "http_response_total",
 					"http_round_trip_time", "httpjson_interval_execution_time",
diff --git a/x-pack/filebeat/input/internal/httplog/roundtripper.go b/x-pack/filebeat/input/internal/httplog/roundtripper.go
index 2280dc73d60..d50981e8117 100644
--- a/x-pack/filebeat/input/internal/httplog/roundtripper.go
+++ b/x-pack/filebeat/input/internal/httplog/roundtripper.go
@@ -327,17 +327,9 @@ func (rt *MetricsRoundTripper) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, err
 
 	rt.monitorByMethod(req.Method)
 
-	var (
-		body []byte
-		err  error
-	)
-
-	req.Body, body, err = copyBody(req.Body)
-	if err != nil {
-		rt.metrics.reqErrs.Add(1)
-	} else {
-		rt.metrics.reqsAccSize.Add(uint64(len(body)))
-		rt.metrics.reqsSize.Update(int64(len(body)))
+	if req.ContentLength >= 0 {
+		rt.metrics.reqsAccSize.Add(uint64(req.ContentLength))
+		rt.metrics.reqsSize.Update(req.ContentLength)
 	}
 
 	reqStart := time.Now()
@@ -355,12 +347,9 @@ func (rt *MetricsRoundTripper) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, err
 
 	rt.monitorByStatusCode(resp.StatusCode)
 
-	resp.Body, body, err = copyBody(resp.Body)
-	if err != nil {
-		rt.metrics.respErrs.Add(1)
-	} else {
-		rt.metrics.respsAccSize.Add(uint64(len(body)))
-		rt.metrics.respsSize.Update(int64(len(body)))
+	if resp.ContentLength >= 0 {
+		rt.metrics.respsAccSize.Add(uint64(resp.ContentLength))
+		rt.metrics.respsSize.Update(resp.ContentLength)
 	}
 
 	return resp, err