diff --git a/data-prepper-core/src/main/java/org/opensearch/dataprepper/core/parser/PipelineTransformer.java b/data-prepper-core/src/main/java/org/opensearch/dataprepper/core/parser/PipelineTransformer.java
index aae8873646..8746f14ed9 100644
--- a/data-prepper-core/src/main/java/org/opensearch/dataprepper/core/parser/PipelineTransformer.java
+++ b/data-prepper-core/src/main/java/org/opensearch/dataprepper/core/parser/PipelineTransformer.java
@@ -449,6 +449,9 @@ private Buffer applyCircuitBreakerToBuffer(final Source source, final Buffer buf
         if (source instanceof PipelineConnector)
             return buffer;
 
+        if (source instanceof HeadlessPipelineSource)
+            return buffer;
+
         if (buffer.isWrittenOffHeapOnly())
             return buffer;
 
diff --git a/data-prepper-core/src/test/java/org/opensearch/dataprepper/core/parser/PipelineTransformerTests.java b/data-prepper-core/src/test/java/org/opensearch/dataprepper/core/parser/PipelineTransformerTests.java
index 1a5aeef838..fd27df0ca2 100644
--- a/data-prepper-core/src/test/java/org/opensearch/dataprepper/core/parser/PipelineTransformerTests.java
+++ b/data-prepper-core/src/test/java/org/opensearch/dataprepper/core/parser/PipelineTransformerTests.java
@@ -400,6 +400,25 @@ void testMultipleSinksWithFailurePipeline() {
         assertThat(((HeadlessPipelineSource)failurePipeline.getSource()).getAcknowledgementsEnabled(), equalTo(false));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void parseConfiguration_does_not_apply_circuit_breaker_to_failure_pipeline_buffer() {
+        final CircuitBreaker circuitBreaker = mock(CircuitBreaker.class);
+        when(circuitBreakerManager.getGlobalCircuitBreaker())
+                .thenReturn(Optional.of(circuitBreaker));
+        when(dataPrepperConfiguration.getFailurePipelineName()).thenReturn(DataPrepperConfiguration.DEFAULT_FAILURE_PIPELINE_NAME);
+        when(expressionEvaluator.isValidExpressionStatement("/value == raw")).thenReturn(true);
+        when(expressionEvaluator.isValidExpressionStatement("/value == service")).thenReturn(true);
+        mockDataPrepperConfigurationAccesses();
+        final PipelineTransformer pipelineTransformer =
+                createObjectUnderTest(TestDataProvider.VALID_MULTIPLE_SINKS_WITH_FAILURE_PIPELINE_CONFIG_FILE);
+        final Map<String, Pipeline> pipelineMap = pipelineTransformer.transformConfiguration(this.pipelinesDataFlowModel);
+
+        final Pipeline failurePipeline = pipelineMap.get(DataPrepperConfiguration.DEFAULT_FAILURE_PIPELINE_NAME);
+        assertThat(failurePipeline, notNullValue());
+        assertThat(failurePipeline.getSource(), instanceOf(HeadlessPipelineSource.class));
+        assertThat(failurePipeline.getBuffer(), CoreMatchers.not(instanceOf(CircuitBreakingBuffer.class)));
+    }
+
     @Test
     void testMultipleProcessors() {
         mockDataPrepperConfigurationAccesses();