diff --git a/.chloggen/elasticsearchexporter_log-metrics-validation-error.yaml b/.chloggen/elasticsearchexporter_log-metrics-validation-error.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b9c837287830
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.chloggen/elasticsearchexporter_log-metrics-validation-error.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+# Use this changelog template to create an entry for release notes.
+
+# One of 'breaking', 'deprecation', 'new_component', 'enhancement', 'bug_fix'
+change_type: bug_fix
+
+# The name of the component, or a single word describing the area of concern, (e.g. filelogreceiver)
+component: elasticsearchexporter
+
+# A brief description of the change.  Surround your text with quotes ("") if it needs to start with a backtick (`).
+note: Log and drop invalid metrics instead of returning error to avoid upstream retries
+
+# Mandatory: One or more tracking issues related to the change. You can use the PR number here if no issue exists.
+issues: [35740]
+
+# (Optional) One or more lines of additional information to render under the primary note.
+# These lines will be padded with 2 spaces and then inserted directly into the document.
+# Use pipe (|) for multiline entries.
+subtext:
+
+# If your change doesn't affect end users or the exported elements of any package,
+# you should instead start your pull request title with [chore] or use the "Skip Changelog" label.
+# Optional: The change log or logs in which this entry should be included.
+# e.g. '[user]' or '[user, api]'
+# Include 'user' if the change is relevant to end users.
+# Include 'api' if there is a change to a library API.
+# Default: '[user]'
+change_logs: [user]
diff --git a/exporter/elasticsearchexporter/exporter.go b/exporter/elasticsearchexporter/exporter.go
index 17d2dc8578f0..b7e00b713cd8 100644
--- a/exporter/elasticsearchexporter/exporter.go
+++ b/exporter/elasticsearchexporter/exporter.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/plog"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/pmetric"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/ptrace"
+	"go.uber.org/zap"
 
 	"github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/exporter/elasticsearchexporter/internal/objmodel"
 )
@@ -187,7 +188,10 @@ func (e *elasticsearchExporter) pushMetricsData(
 	}
 	defer session.End()
 
-	var errs []error
+	var (
+		validationErrs []error // log instead of returning these so that upstream does not retry
+		errs           []error
+	)
 	resourceMetrics := metrics.ResourceMetrics()
 	for i := 0; i < resourceMetrics.Len(); i++ {
 		resourceMetric := resourceMetrics.At(i)
@@ -224,7 +228,7 @@ func (e *elasticsearchExporter) pushMetricsData(
 					for l := 0; l < dps.Len(); l++ {
 						dp := dps.At(l)
 						if err := upsertDataPoint(newNumberDataPoint(dp)); err != nil {
-							errs = append(errs, err)
+							validationErrs = append(validationErrs, err)
 							continue
 						}
 					}
@@ -233,33 +237,33 @@ func (e *elasticsearchExporter) pushMetricsData(
 					for l := 0; l < dps.Len(); l++ {
 						dp := dps.At(l)
 						if err := upsertDataPoint(newNumberDataPoint(dp)); err != nil {
-							errs = append(errs, err)
+							validationErrs = append(validationErrs, err)
 							continue
 						}
 					}
 				case pmetric.MetricTypeExponentialHistogram:
 					if metric.ExponentialHistogram().AggregationTemporality() == pmetric.AggregationTemporalityCumulative {
-						errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("dropping cumulative temporality exponential histogram %q", metric.Name()))
+						validationErrs = append(validationErrs, fmt.Errorf("dropping cumulative temporality exponential histogram %q", metric.Name()))
 						continue
 					}
 					dps := metric.ExponentialHistogram().DataPoints()
 					for l := 0; l < dps.Len(); l++ {
 						dp := dps.At(l)
 						if err := upsertDataPoint(newExponentialHistogramDataPoint(dp)); err != nil {
-							errs = append(errs, err)
+							validationErrs = append(validationErrs, err)
 							continue
 						}
 					}
 				case pmetric.MetricTypeHistogram:
 					if metric.Histogram().AggregationTemporality() == pmetric.AggregationTemporalityCumulative {
-						errs = append(errs, fmt.Errorf("dropping cumulative temporality histogram %q", metric.Name()))
+						validationErrs = append(validationErrs, fmt.Errorf("dropping cumulative temporality histogram %q", metric.Name()))
 						continue
 					}
 					dps := metric.Histogram().DataPoints()
 					for l := 0; l < dps.Len(); l++ {
 						dp := dps.At(l)
 						if err := upsertDataPoint(newHistogramDataPoint(dp)); err != nil {
-							errs = append(errs, err)
+							validationErrs = append(validationErrs, err)
 							continue
 						}
 					}
@@ -268,7 +272,7 @@ func (e *elasticsearchExporter) pushMetricsData(
 					for l := 0; l < dps.Len(); l++ {
 						dp := dps.At(l)
 						if err := upsertDataPoint(newSummaryDataPoint(dp)); err != nil {
-							errs = append(errs, err)
+							validationErrs = append(validationErrs, err)
 							continue
 						}
 					}
@@ -276,6 +280,10 @@ func (e *elasticsearchExporter) pushMetricsData(
 			}
 		}
 
+		if len(validationErrs) > 0 {
+			e.Logger.Warn("validation errors", zap.Error(errors.Join(validationErrs...)))
+		}
+
 		for fIndex, docs := range resourceDocs {
 			for _, doc := range docs {
 				var (
diff --git a/exporter/elasticsearchexporter/exporter_test.go b/exporter/elasticsearchexporter/exporter_test.go
index a84ef00193a4..06d02e0272c7 100644
--- a/exporter/elasticsearchexporter/exporter_test.go
+++ b/exporter/elasticsearchexporter/exporter_test.go
@@ -890,7 +890,7 @@ func TestExporterMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 		fooDp.BucketCounts().FromRaw([]uint64{1, 2, 3, 4})
 
 		err := exporter.ConsumeMetrics(context.Background(), metrics)
-		assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "dropping cumulative temporality histogram \"metric.foo\"")
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("publish exponential histogram cumulative temporality", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -921,7 +921,7 @@ func TestExporterMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 		fooDp.Negative().BucketCounts().FromRaw([]uint64{1, 0, 0, 1})
 
 		err := exporter.ConsumeMetrics(context.Background(), metrics)
-		assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "dropping cumulative temporality exponential histogram \"metric.foo\"")
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
 	})
 
 	t.Run("publish only valid data points", func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -960,8 +960,7 @@ func TestExporterMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 		barOtherDp.SetDoubleValue(1.0)
 
 		err := exporter.ConsumeMetrics(context.Background(), metrics)
-		require.ErrorContains(t, err, "invalid histogram data point")
-		require.ErrorContains(t, err, "invalid number data point")
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
 
 		rec.WaitItems(2)