diff --git a/micrometer-core/src/main/java/io/micrometer/core/instrument/composite/AbstractCompositeMeter.java b/micrometer-core/src/main/java/io/micrometer/core/instrument/composite/AbstractCompositeMeter.java
index 92ebc857cd..e9d5c58cbb 100644
--- a/micrometer-core/src/main/java/io/micrometer/core/instrument/composite/AbstractCompositeMeter.java
+++ b/micrometer-core/src/main/java/io/micrometer/core/instrument/composite/AbstractCompositeMeter.java
@@ -15,14 +15,14 @@
  */
 package io.micrometer.core.instrument.composite;
 
-import io.micrometer.common.lang.Nullable;
 import io.micrometer.core.instrument.AbstractMeter;
 import io.micrometer.core.instrument.Meter;
 import io.micrometer.core.instrument.MeterRegistry;
+import io.micrometer.core.instrument.noop.NoopMeter;
+import io.micrometer.core.lang.Nullable;
 
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.IdentityHashMap;
-import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 
@@ -49,9 +49,11 @@ final Iterable<T> getChildren() {
     }
 
     T firstChild() {
-        final Iterator<T> i = children.values().iterator();
-        if (i.hasNext())
-            return i.next();
+        for (T next : children.values()) {
+            if (!(next instanceof NoopMeter)) {
+                return next;
+            }
+        }
 
         // There are no child meters. Return a lazily instantiated no-op meter.
         final T noopMeter = this.noopMeter;
diff --git a/micrometer-core/src/test/java/io/micrometer/core/instrument/composite/CompositeMeterRegistryTest.java b/micrometer-core/src/test/java/io/micrometer/core/instrument/composite/CompositeMeterRegistryTest.java
index 4d95274858..4a07b63dc8 100644
--- a/micrometer-core/src/test/java/io/micrometer/core/instrument/composite/CompositeMeterRegistryTest.java
+++ b/micrometer-core/src/test/java/io/micrometer/core/instrument/composite/CompositeMeterRegistryTest.java
@@ -28,18 +28,23 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.DisplayName;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.RepeatedTest;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.MethodSource;
 import reactor.core.publisher.Flux;
 import reactor.core.scheduler.Schedulers;
 
 import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
+import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
+import static java.util.Arrays.asList;
 import static java.util.Collections.emptyList;
 import static java.util.Collections.singletonList;
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
@@ -493,4 +498,31 @@ void meterRemovalPropagatesToChildRegistryWithModifyingFilter() {
         assertThat(this.simple.getMeters()).isEmpty();
     }
 
+    @Issue("#1441")
+    @ParameterizedTest
+    @MethodSource("registriesProvider")
+    void whenMetersArePolledNoopChildrenShouldBeIgnored(List<MeterRegistry> registries) {
+        // this means that firstChild() practically should be firstNonNoopChild()
+        CompositeMeterRegistry composite = new CompositeMeterRegistry(Clock.SYSTEM, registries);
+        Counter counter = composite.counter("my.counter");
+        counter.increment();
+        assertThat(counter.count()).isEqualTo(1);
+    }
+
+    static Stream<List<MeterRegistry>> registriesProvider() {
+        // Since the order is non-deterministic, the best effort is testing both orders
+        SimpleMeterRegistry denyAllRegistry1 = new SimpleMeterRegistry();
+        denyAllRegistry1.config().meterFilter(MeterFilter.deny());
+
+        SimpleMeterRegistry denyAllRegistry2 = new SimpleMeterRegistry();
+        denyAllRegistry2.config().meterFilter(MeterFilter.deny());
+
+        // @formatter:off
+        return Stream.of(
+                asList(denyAllRegistry1, new SimpleMeterRegistry()), // denyAll,  allowAll
+                asList(new SimpleMeterRegistry(), denyAllRegistry2)  // allowAll, denyAll
+        );
+        // @formatter:on
+    }
+
 }