diff --git a/instrumentation/httpclient-5.0/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/async/HttpAsyncClient_Instrumentation.java b/instrumentation/httpclient-5.0/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/async/HttpAsyncClient_Instrumentation.java
index e08d481132..df73b9fceb 100644
--- a/instrumentation/httpclient-5.0/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/async/HttpAsyncClient_Instrumentation.java
+++ b/instrumentation/httpclient-5.0/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/async/HttpAsyncClient_Instrumentation.java
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ public <T> Future<T> execute(
         Segment segment = InstrumentationUtils.startAsyncSegment();
 
         HttpRequest request = ((BasicRequestProducer_Instrumentation)requestProducer).nrRequest;
+        // null out the NewField to prevent memory issues
+        ((BasicRequestProducer_Instrumentation)requestProducer).nrRequest = null;
         InstrumentationUtils.doOutboundCAT(request, segment);
         Token token = NewRelic.getAgent().getTransaction().getToken();
 
diff --git a/instrumentation/httpclient-5.0/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/core5/http/nio/support/BasicRequestProducer_Instrumentation.java b/instrumentation/httpclient-5.0/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/core5/http/nio/support/BasicRequestProducer_Instrumentation.java
index ee9cfddc59..a18cfa0e0a 100644
--- a/instrumentation/httpclient-5.0/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/core5/http/nio/support/BasicRequestProducer_Instrumentation.java
+++ b/instrumentation/httpclient-5.0/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/core5/http/nio/support/BasicRequestProducer_Instrumentation.java
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 public class BasicRequestProducer_Instrumentation {
 
     @NewField
-    public final HttpRequest nrRequest;
+    public HttpRequest nrRequest;
 
     public BasicRequestProducer_Instrumentation(final HttpRequest request, final AsyncEntityProducer dataProducer) {
         nrRequest = request;