diff --git a/swh/deposit/api/common.py b/swh/deposit/api/common.py
--- a/swh/deposit/api/common.py
+++ b/swh/deposit/api/common.py
@@ -807,8 +807,18 @@
             - 415 (unsupported media type) if a wrong media type is provided
 
         """
+        metadata_stream = request.data
+        empty_atom_entry_summary = "Empty body request is not supported."
+        empty_atom_entry_desc = (
+            "Atom entry request is about non-empty metadata deposit."
+        )
+        if not metadata_stream:
+            raise DepositError(
+                BAD_REQUEST, empty_atom_entry_summary, empty_atom_entry_desc
+            )
+
         try:
-            raw_metadata, metadata = self._read_metadata(request.data)
+            raw_metadata, metadata = self._read_metadata(metadata_stream)
         except ParserError:
             raise DepositError(
                 BAD_REQUEST,
@@ -819,10 +829,7 @@
 
         if metadata is None:
             raise DepositError(
-                BAD_REQUEST,
-                "Empty body request is not supported",
-                "Atom entry deposit is supposed to send for metadata. "
-                "If the body is empty, there is no metadata.",
+                BAD_REQUEST, empty_atom_entry_summary, empty_atom_entry_desc
             )
 
         self._set_deposit_origin_from_metadata(deposit, metadata, headers)
diff --git a/swh/deposit/tests/api/test_collection_post_atom.py b/swh/deposit/tests/api/test_collection_post_atom.py
--- a/swh/deposit/tests/api/test_collection_post_atom.py
+++ b/swh/deposit/tests/api/test_collection_post_atom.py
@@ -149,6 +149,23 @@
     assert b"Empty body request is not supported" in response.content
 
 
+def test_post_deposit_atom_400_with_empty_request(
+    authenticated_client, deposit_collection
+):
+    """Posting empty request should return a 400 response
+
+    """
+    response = post_atom(
+        authenticated_client,
+        reverse(COL_IRI, args=[deposit_collection.name]),
+        data={},
+        HTTP_SLUG="external-id",
+        CONTENT_LENGTH=0,
+    )
+    assert response.status_code == status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST
+    assert b"Empty body request is not supported" in response.content
+
+
 def test_post_deposit_atom_400_badly_formatted_atom(
     authenticated_client, deposit_collection, atom_dataset
 ):