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 1c7c90a3d4..72f20ba3d1 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
@@ -420,7 +420,9 @@ def _get_system_swap_utilization(
             if hasattr(system_swap, metric):
                 self._system_swap_utilization_labels["state"] = metric
                 yield Observation(
-                    getattr(system_swap, metric) / system_swap.total,
+                    getattr(system_swap, metric) / system_swap.total
+                    if system_swap.total
+                    else 0,
                     self._system_swap_utilization_labels.copy(),
                 )