diff --git a/src/main/java/graphql/execution/instrumentation/ChainedInstrumentation.java b/src/main/java/graphql/execution/instrumentation/ChainedInstrumentation.java
index ebf2758e3..f736bde96 100644
--- a/src/main/java/graphql/execution/instrumentation/ChainedInstrumentation.java
+++ b/src/main/java/graphql/execution/instrumentation/ChainedInstrumentation.java
@@ -198,13 +198,39 @@ public CompletableFuture<InstrumentationState> createStateAsync(InstrumentationC
         if (instrumentations.isEmpty()) {
             return FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext.NOOP;
         }
-        BiFunction<Instrumentation, InstrumentationState, FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext> mapper = (instrumentation, specificState) -> instrumentation.beginFieldFetching(parameters, specificState);
         ChainedInstrumentationState chainedInstrumentationState = (ChainedInstrumentationState) state;
         if (instrumentations.size() == 1) {
-            return mapper.apply(instrumentations.get(0), chainedInstrumentationState.getState(0));
+            return instrumentations.get(0).beginFieldFetching(parameters, chainedInstrumentationState.getState(0));
+        }
+        return chainedFieldFetchingCtx(parameters, chainedInstrumentationState);
+    }
+
+    private FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext chainedFieldFetchingCtx(InstrumentationFieldFetchParameters parameters, ChainedInstrumentationState chainedInstrumentationState) {
+        @Nullable FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext firstContext = null;
+        ImmutableList.Builder<FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext> builder = null;
+        for (int i = 0; i < instrumentations.size(); i++) {
+            Instrumentation instrumentation = instrumentations.get(i);
+            FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext context = instrumentation.beginFieldFetching(parameters, chainedInstrumentationState.getState(i));
+            if (context == null || context == FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext.NOOP) {
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (firstContext == null) {
+                firstContext = context;
+                continue;
+            }
+            if (builder == null) {
+                builder = ImmutableList.builder();
+                builder.add(firstContext);
+            }
+            builder.add(context);
         }
-        ImmutableList<FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext> objects = chainedMapAndDropNulls(chainedInstrumentationState, mapper);
-        return new ChainedFieldFetchingInstrumentationContext(objects);
+        if (builder != null) {
+            return new ChainedFieldFetchingInstrumentationContext(builder.build());
+        }
+        if (firstContext != null) {
+            return firstContext;
+        }
+        return FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext.NOOP;
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -414,4 +440,3 @@ private interface ChainedInstrumentationFunction<I, S, V, R> {
 
 
 }
-
diff --git a/src/main/java/graphql/execution/instrumentation/Instrumentation.java b/src/main/java/graphql/execution/instrumentation/Instrumentation.java
index 2bfb6eadc..441bf049b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/graphql/execution/instrumentation/Instrumentation.java
+++ b/src/main/java/graphql/execution/instrumentation/Instrumentation.java
@@ -241,6 +241,9 @@ default InstrumentationContext<Object> beginFieldFetch(InstrumentationFieldFetch
     @Nullable
     default FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext beginFieldFetching(InstrumentationFieldFetchParameters parameters, InstrumentationState state) {
         InstrumentationContext<Object> ctx = beginFieldFetch(parameters, state);
+        if (ctx == noOp()) {
+            return FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext.NOOP;
+        }
         return FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext.adapter(ctx);
     }
 
diff --git a/src/test/groovy/graphql/execution/instrumentation/InstrumentationDefaultMethodsTest.groovy b/src/test/groovy/graphql/execution/instrumentation/InstrumentationDefaultMethodsTest.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..716094570
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/groovy/graphql/execution/instrumentation/InstrumentationDefaultMethodsTest.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,169 @@
+package graphql.execution.instrumentation
+
+import graphql.execution.instrumentation.parameters.InstrumentationFieldFetchParameters
+import spock.lang.Specification
+
+class InstrumentationDefaultMethodsTest extends Specification {
+
+    def "default begin field fetching does not allocate an adapter for inherited no-op"() {
+        given:
+        def instrumentation = new Instrumentation() {}
+
+        when:
+        def context = instrumentation.beginFieldFetching(null, null)
+
+        then:
+        context.is(FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext.NOOP)
+    }
+
+    def "simple performant instrumentation begin field fetching does not allocate an adapter for inherited no-op"() {
+        when:
+        def context = SimplePerformantInstrumentation.INSTANCE.beginFieldFetching(null, null)
+
+        then:
+        context.is(FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext.NOOP)
+    }
+
+    def "default begin field fetching does not allocate an adapter when deprecated override returns no-op"() {
+        given:
+        def instrumentation = new Instrumentation() {
+            @Override
+            InstrumentationContext<Object> beginFieldFetch(InstrumentationFieldFetchParameters parameters, InstrumentationState state) {
+                return SimpleInstrumentationContext.noOp()
+            }
+        }
+
+        when:
+        def context = instrumentation.beginFieldFetching(null, null)
+
+        then:
+        context.is(FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext.NOOP)
+    }
+
+    def "default begin field fetching still adapts deprecated begin field fetch overrides"() {
+        given:
+        def events = []
+        def instrumentation = new Instrumentation() {
+            @Override
+            InstrumentationContext<Object> beginFieldFetch(InstrumentationFieldFetchParameters parameters, InstrumentationState state) {
+                return new InstrumentationContext<Object>() {
+                    @Override
+                    void onDispatched() {
+                        events.add("dispatched")
+                    }
+
+                    @Override
+                    void onCompleted(Object result, Throwable t) {
+                        events.add(result)
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        when:
+        def context = instrumentation.beginFieldFetching(null, null)
+        context.onDispatched()
+        context.onFetchedValue("ignored")
+        context.onCompleted("completed", null)
+
+        then:
+        events == ["dispatched", "completed"]
+    }
+
+    def "chained field fetching does not allocate a chained context when all entries are no-op"() {
+        given:
+        def instrumentation = new ChainedInstrumentation(new Instrumentation() {}, SimplePerformantInstrumentation.INSTANCE)
+        def state = instrumentation.createStateAsync(null).join()
+
+        when:
+        def context = instrumentation.beginFieldFetching(null, state)
+
+        then:
+        context.is(FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext.NOOP)
+    }
+
+    def "chained field fetching returns the only real context directly"() {
+        given:
+        def realContext = Mock(FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext)
+        def instrumentation = new ChainedInstrumentation(
+                new Instrumentation() {},
+                instrumentationReturning(realContext),
+                SimplePerformantInstrumentation.INSTANCE
+        )
+        def state = instrumentation.createStateAsync(null).join()
+
+        when:
+        def context = instrumentation.beginFieldFetching(null, state)
+
+        then:
+        context.is(realContext)
+    }
+
+    def "chained field fetching treats null contexts as no-op entries"() {
+        given:
+        def instrumentation = new ChainedInstrumentation(new Instrumentation() {}, instrumentationReturning(null))
+        def state = instrumentation.createStateAsync(null).join()
+
+        when:
+        def context = instrumentation.beginFieldFetching(null, state)
+
+        then:
+        context.is(FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext.NOOP)
+    }
+
+    def "chained field fetching keeps multiple real contexts and skips canonical no-ops"() {
+        given:
+        def events = []
+        def instrumentation = new ChainedInstrumentation(
+                new Instrumentation() {},
+                instrumentationReturning(recordingContext("first", events)),
+                SimplePerformantInstrumentation.INSTANCE,
+                instrumentationReturning(recordingContext("second", events))
+        )
+        def state = instrumentation.createStateAsync(null).join()
+
+        when:
+        def context = instrumentation.beginFieldFetching(null, state)
+        context.onDispatched()
+        context.onFetchedValue("value")
+        context.onCompleted("complete", null)
+
+        then:
+        events == [
+                "first-dispatched",
+                "second-dispatched",
+                "first-fetched-value",
+                "second-fetched-value",
+                "first-completed-complete",
+                "second-completed-complete",
+        ]
+    }
+
+    private static Instrumentation instrumentationReturning(FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext context) {
+        return new Instrumentation() {
+            @Override
+            FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext beginFieldFetching(InstrumentationFieldFetchParameters parameters, InstrumentationState state) {
+                return context
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext recordingContext(String name, List<String> events) {
+        return new FieldFetchingInstrumentationContext() {
+            @Override
+            void onDispatched() {
+                events.add(name + "-dispatched")
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            void onFetchedValue(Object fetchedValue) {
+                events.add(name + "-fetched-" + fetchedValue)
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            void onCompleted(Object result, Throwable t) {
+                events.add(name + "-completed-" + result)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}