diff --git a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/ResponseEntity.java b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/ResponseEntity.java
index 964f751e42..65c94c3b9b 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/ResponseEntity.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/main/java/org/springframework/http/ResponseEntity.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package org.springframework.http;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
+import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.Set;
 
 import org.springframework.lang.Nullable;
@@ -213,6 +214,18 @@ public class ResponseEntity<T> extends HttpEntity<T> {
 		return new DefaultBuilder(status);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * A shortcut for creating a {@code ResponseEntity} with the given body
+	 * and the {@linkplain HttpStatus#OK OK} status, or an empty body and a
+	 * {@linkplain HttpStatus#NOT_FOUND NOT FOUND} status in case of a
+	 * {@linkplain Optional#empty()} parameter.
+	 * @return the created {@code ResponseEntity}
+	 * @since 5.1
+	 */
+	public static <T> ResponseEntity<T> of(Optional<T> body) {
+		return body.map(ResponseEntity::ok).orElse(notFound().build());
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Create a builder with the status set to {@linkplain HttpStatus#OK OK}.
 	 * @return the created builder
diff --git a/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/ResponseEntityTests.java b/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/ResponseEntityTests.java
index 07ef76f89b..ec3414638f 100644
--- a/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/ResponseEntityTests.java
+++ b/spring-web/src/test/java/org/springframework/http/ResponseEntityTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2016 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2018 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.
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package org.springframework.http;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
 import org.hamcrest.Matchers;
@@ -72,6 +73,25 @@ public class ResponseEntityTests {
 		assertEquals(entity, responseEntity.getBody());
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void ofOptional() {
+		Integer entity = 42;
+		ResponseEntity<Integer> responseEntity = ResponseEntity.of(Optional.of(entity));
+
+		assertNotNull(responseEntity);
+		assertEquals(HttpStatus.OK, responseEntity.getStatusCode());
+		assertEquals(entity, responseEntity.getBody());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void ofEmptyOptional() {
+		ResponseEntity<Integer> responseEntity = ResponseEntity.of(Optional.empty());
+
+		assertNotNull(responseEntity);
+		assertEquals(HttpStatus.NOT_FOUND, responseEntity.getStatusCode());
+		assertNull(responseEntity.getBody());
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void createdLocation() throws URISyntaxException {
 		URI location = new URI("location");