diff --git a/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Types/InputParser.cs b/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Types/InputParser.cs
index 8facaebdbd3..cc12911432b 100644
--- a/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Types/InputParser.cs
+++ b/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Types/InputParser.cs
@@ -619,14 +619,6 @@ private static object DeserializeLeaf(
             }
 
             object? value = null;
-
-            // if the type is nullable but the runtime type is a non-nullable value
-            // we will create a default instance and assign that instead.
-            if (field.RuntimeType.IsValueType)
-            {
-                value = Activator.CreateInstance(field.RuntimeType);
-            }
-
             return field.IsOptional
                 ? new Optional(value, false)
                 : value;
diff --git a/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Utilities/Serialization/InputObjectCompiler.cs b/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Utilities/Serialization/InputObjectCompiler.cs
index 0173dca652d..eaff0d0a5cf 100644
--- a/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Utilities/Serialization/InputObjectCompiler.cs
+++ b/src/HotChocolate/Core/src/Types/Utilities/Serialization/InputObjectCompiler.cs
@@ -204,6 +204,11 @@ private static Expression[] CompileAssignParameters<T>(
                 {
                     value = CreateOptional(value, field.RuntimeType);
                 }
+                else if (parameter.ParameterType.IsValueType
+                    && System.Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(parameter.ParameterType) == null)
+                {
+                    value = Expression.Coalesce(value, Expression.Default(parameter.ParameterType));
+                }
 
                 expressions[i] = Expression.Convert(value, parameter.ParameterType);
             }
@@ -243,6 +248,11 @@ private static void CompileSetProperties<T>(
             {
                 value = CreateOptional(value, field.RuntimeType);
             }
+            else if (field.Property.PropertyType.IsValueType
+                && System.Nullable.GetUnderlyingType(field.Property.PropertyType) == null)
+            {
+                value = Expression.Coalesce(value, Expression.Default(field.Property.PropertyType));
+            }
 
             value = Expression.Convert(value, field.Property.PropertyType);
             Expression setPropertyValue = Expression.Call(instance, setter, value);
diff --git a/src/HotChocolate/Core/test/Types.Tests/Types/InputParserTests.cs b/src/HotChocolate/Core/test/Types.Tests/Types/InputParserTests.cs
index c59121917a5..02cd1b9266f 100644
--- a/src/HotChocolate/Core/test/Types.Tests/Types/InputParserTests.cs
+++ b/src/HotChocolate/Core/test/Types.Tests/Types/InputParserTests.cs
@@ -534,6 +534,114 @@ public void Force_NonNull_Struct_To_Be_Optional()
         Assert.IsType<Test4Input>(runtimeValue).MatchSnapshot();
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public void Force_NonNull_Struct_Constructor_Parameter_To_Be_Optional()
+    {
+        // arrange
+        var schema = SchemaBuilder.New()
+            .AddInputObjectType<Test5Input>(d =>
+            {
+                d.Field(t => t.Field2).Type<IntType>();
+                d.Field(t => t.Field3).Type<BooleanType>();
+            })
+            .ModifyOptions(o => o.StrictValidation = false)
+            .Create();
+
+        var type = schema.Types.GetType<InputObjectType>("Test5Input");
+
+        var context = new Mock<IFeatureProvider>();
+        context.Setup(t => t.Features).Returns(FeatureCollection.Empty);
+
+        var parser = new InputParser(new DefaultTypeConverter());
+
+        using var missingFieldsData = JsonDocument.Parse(
+            """
+            {
+                "field1": "abc"
+            }
+            """);
+
+        using var explicitNullData = JsonDocument.Parse(
+            """
+            {
+                "field1": "abc",
+                "field2": null,
+                "field3": null
+            }
+            """);
+
+        // act
+        var missingFields = Assert.IsType<Test5Input>(
+            parser.ParseInputValue(
+                missingFieldsData.RootElement,
+                type,
+                context.Object,
+                Path.Root));
+        var explicitNull = Assert.IsType<Test5Input>(
+            parser.ParseInputValue(
+                explicitNullData.RootElement,
+                type,
+                context.Object,
+                Path.Root));
+
+        // assert
+        Assert.Equal("abc", missingFields.Field1);
+        Assert.Equal(0, missingFields.Field2);
+        Assert.False(missingFields.Field3);
+        Assert.Equal("abc", explicitNull.Field1);
+        Assert.Equal(0, explicitNull.Field2);
+        Assert.False(explicitNull.Field3);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task Integration_CodeFirst_InputObjectNoDefaultValue_NoRuntimeTypeDefaultValueIsInitialized()
+    {
+        // arrange
+        var resolverArgumentsAccessor = new ResolverArgumentsAccessor();
+        var executor = await new ServiceCollection()
+            .AddSingleton(resolverArgumentsAccessor)
+            .AddGraphQL()
+            .AddQueryType(x => x.Field("foo")
+                .Argument("args", a => a.Type<NonNullType<MyInputType>>())
+                .Type<StringType>()
+                .ResolveWith<ResolverArgumentsAccessor>(r => r.ResolveWith(default!)))
+            .BuildRequestExecutorAsync();
+
+        // act
+        var query =
+            OperationRequest.FromSourceText(
+                """
+                {
+                    a: foo(args: { string: "allSet" int: 1 bool: true })
+                    b: foo(args: { string: "noneSet" })
+                    c: foo(args: { string: "intExplicitlyNull" int: null })
+                    d: foo(args: { string: "boolExplicitlyNull" bool: null })
+                    e: foo(args: { string: "intSetBoolNull" int: 1 bool: null })
+                    f: foo(args: { string: "boolSetIntNull" int: null bool: true })
+                }
+                """);
+        await executor.ExecuteAsync(query, CancellationToken.None);
+
+        // assert
+        resolverArgumentsAccessor.Arguments.MatchSnapshot();
+    }
+
+    private class ResolverArgumentsAccessor
+    {
+        private readonly object _lock = new();
+        internal SortedDictionary<string, IDictionary<string, object?>?> Arguments { get; } = new();
+
+        internal string? ResolveWith(IDictionary<string, object?> args)
+        {
+            lock (_lock)
+            {
+                Arguments[args["string"]!.ToString()!] = args;
+            }
+
+            return "OK";
+        }
+    }
+
     public class TestInput
     {
         public string? Field1 { get; set; }
@@ -605,4 +713,31 @@ public class Test4Input
 
         public int Field2 { get; set; }
     }
+
+    public class Test5Input
+    {
+        public Test5Input(string field1, int field2, bool field3)
+        {
+            Field1 = field1;
+            Field2 = field2;
+            Field3 = field3;
+        }
+
+        public string Field1 { get; }
+
+        public int Field2 { get; }
+
+        public bool Field3 { get; }
+    }
+
+    public class MyInputType : InputObjectType
+    {
+        protected override void Configure(IInputObjectTypeDescriptor descriptor)
+        {
+            descriptor.Name("MyInput");
+            descriptor.Field("string").Type<StringType>();
+            descriptor.Field("int").Type<IntType>();
+            descriptor.Field("bool").Type<BooleanType>();
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/HotChocolate/Core/test/Types.Tests/Types/__snapshots__/InputParserTests.Integration_CodeFirst_InputObjectNoDefaultValue_NoRuntimeTypeDefaultValueIsInitialized.snap b/src/HotChocolate/Core/test/Types.Tests/Types/__snapshots__/InputParserTests.Integration_CodeFirst_InputObjectNoDefaultValue_NoRuntimeTypeDefaultValueIsInitialized.snap
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8d706adf995
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/HotChocolate/Core/test/Types.Tests/Types/__snapshots__/InputParserTests.Integration_CodeFirst_InputObjectNoDefaultValue_NoRuntimeTypeDefaultValueIsInitialized.snap
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+{
+  "allSet": {
+    "string": "allSet",
+    "int": 1,
+    "bool": true
+  },
+  "boolExplicitlyNull": {
+    "string": "boolExplicitlyNull",
+    "int": null,
+    "bool": null
+  },
+  "boolSetIntNull": {
+    "string": "boolSetIntNull",
+    "int": null,
+    "bool": true
+  },
+  "intExplicitlyNull": {
+    "string": "intExplicitlyNull",
+    "int": null,
+    "bool": null
+  },
+  "intSetBoolNull": {
+    "string": "intSetBoolNull",
+    "int": 1,
+    "bool": null
+  },
+  "noneSet": {
+    "string": "noneSet",
+    "int": null,
+    "bool": null
+  }
+}