diff --git a/.changelog/5326.changed b/.changelog/5326.changed
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8ce1bead26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/5326.changed
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+opentelemetry-sdk: merge doesn't need a copy, dict already does this
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/resources/__init__.py b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/resources/__init__.py
index 09120f7149..d10f84345b 100644
--- a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/resources/__init__.py
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/resources/__init__.py
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ def merge(self, other: "Resource") -> "Resource":
         Returns:
             The newly-created Resource.
         """
-        merged_attributes = dict(self.attributes).copy()
+        merged_attributes = dict(self.attributes)
         merged_attributes.update(other.attributes)
 
         if self.schema_url == "":