diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6e74c017c4..ccbb325e44 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
   ([#1980](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python-contrib/pull/1980))
 - `opentelemetry-resource-detector-azure` Using new Cloud Resource ID attribute.
   ([#1976](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python-contrib/pull/1976))
+- Do not collect `system.network.connections` by default on macOS which was causing exceptions in metrics collection.
+  ([#2008](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python-contrib/pull/2008))
 
 ## Version 1.20.0/0.41b0 (2023-09-01)
 
diff --git a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-system-metrics/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/system_metrics/__init__.py b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-system-metrics/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/system_metrics/__init__.py
index 56d07f4e63..d84cc94d01 100644
--- a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-system-metrics/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/system_metrics/__init__.py
+++ b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-system-metrics/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/system_metrics/__init__.py
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@
 
 import gc
 import os
+import sys
 import logging
 import threading
 from platform import python_implementation
@@ -119,6 +120,10 @@
     "process.runtime.context_switches": ["involuntary", "voluntary"],
 }
 
+if sys.platform == "darwin":
+    # see https://github.com/giampaolo/psutil/issues/1219
+    _DEFAULT_CONFIG.pop("system.network.connections")
+
 
 class SystemMetricsInstrumentor(BaseInstrumentor):
     def __init__(