diff --git a/rest_framework/fields.py b/rest_framework/fields.py
index f5009a7303..26e0e639ad 100644
--- a/rest_framework/fields.py
+++ b/rest_framework/fields.py
@@ -1749,7 +1749,7 @@ def get_value(self, dictionary):
         # We override the default field access in order to support
         # dictionaries in HTML forms.
         if html.is_html_input(dictionary):
-            return html.parse_html_dict(dictionary, prefix=self.field_name)
+            return html.parse_html_dict(dictionary, prefix=self.field_name, default=empty)
         return dictionary.get(self.field_name, empty)
 
     def to_internal_value(self, data):
@@ -1757,7 +1757,9 @@ def to_internal_value(self, data):
         Dicts of native values <- Dicts of primitive datatypes.
         """
         if html.is_html_input(data):
-            data = html.parse_html_dict(data)
+            data = html.parse_html_dict(data, default={}) or {
+                k: v for k, v in data.items()
+            }
         if not isinstance(data, dict):
             self.fail('not_a_dict', input_type=type(data).__name__)
         if not self.allow_empty and len(data) == 0:
diff --git a/rest_framework/serializers.py b/rest_framework/serializers.py
index 5f34b00194..ff8d6b1849 100644
--- a/rest_framework/serializers.py
+++ b/rest_framework/serializers.py
@@ -440,7 +440,7 @@ def get_value(self, dictionary):
         # We override the default field access in order to support
         # nested HTML forms.
         if html.is_html_input(dictionary):
-            return html.parse_html_dict(dictionary, prefix=self.field_name) or empty
+            return html.parse_html_dict(dictionary, prefix=self.field_name, default=empty)
         return dictionary.get(self.field_name, empty)
 
     def run_validation(self, data=empty):
diff --git a/rest_framework/utils/html.py b/rest_framework/utils/html.py
index c7ede78035..22aa2f2a78 100644
--- a/rest_framework/utils/html.py
+++ b/rest_framework/utils/html.py
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ def parse_html_list(dictionary, prefix='', default=None):
     return [ret[item] for item in sorted(ret)] if ret else default
 
 
-def parse_html_dict(dictionary, prefix=''):
+def parse_html_dict(dictionary, prefix='', default=None):
     """
     Used to support dictionary values in HTML forms.
 
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ def parse_html_dict(dictionary, prefix=''):
             'email': 'example@example.com'
         }
     }
+
+    :returns a MultiValueDict of the parsed data, or the value specified in
+        ``default`` if the dict field was not present in the input
     """
     ret = MultiValueDict()
     regex = re.compile(r'^%s\.(.+)$' % re.escape(prefix))
@@ -92,4 +95,4 @@ def parse_html_dict(dictionary, prefix=''):
         value = dictionary.getlist(field)
         ret.setlist(key, value)
 
-    return ret
+    return ret if ret else default
diff --git a/tests/test_fields.py b/tests/test_fields.py
index e360793184..a0c41933fb 100644
--- a/tests/test_fields.py
+++ b/tests/test_fields.py
@@ -2496,6 +2496,56 @@ def test_allow_empty_disallowed(self):
 
         assert exc_info.value.detail == ['This dictionary may not be empty.']
 
+    def test_querydict_dict_input(self):
+        """
+        DictField should correctly parse HTML form (QueryDict) input
+        with dot-separated keys.
+        """
+        class TestSerializer(serializers.Serializer):
+            data = serializers.DictField(child=serializers.CharField())
+
+        serializer = TestSerializer(data=QueryDict('data.a=1&data.b=2'))
+        assert serializer.is_valid(), serializer.errors
+        assert serializer.validated_data == {'data': {'a': '1', 'b': '2'}}
+
+    def test_querydict_dict_input_no_values_uses_default(self):
+        """
+        When no matching keys are present in the QueryDict and a default
+        is set, the field should return the default value.
+        """
+        class TestSerializer(serializers.Serializer):
+            a = serializers.IntegerField(required=True)
+            data = serializers.DictField(default=lambda: {'x': 'y'})
+
+        serializer = TestSerializer(data=QueryDict('a=1'))
+        assert serializer.is_valid(), serializer.errors
+        assert serializer.validated_data == {'a': 1, 'data': {'x': 'y'}}
+
+    def test_querydict_dict_input_no_values_no_default_and_not_required(self):
+        """
+        When no matching keys are present in the QueryDict, there is no
+        default, and the field is not required, the field should be
+        skipped entirely from validated_data.
+        """
+        class TestSerializer(serializers.Serializer):
+            data = serializers.DictField(required=False)
+
+        serializer = TestSerializer(data=QueryDict(''))
+        assert serializer.is_valid(), serializer.errors
+        assert serializer.validated_data == {}
+
+    def test_querydict_dict_input_no_values_required(self):
+        """
+        When no matching keys are present in the QueryDict and the field
+        is required, validation should fail.
+        """
+        class TestSerializer(serializers.Serializer):
+            data = serializers.DictField(required=True)
+
+        serializer = TestSerializer(data=QueryDict(''))
+        assert not serializer.is_valid()
+        assert 'data' in serializer.errors
+
 
 class TestNestedDictField(FieldValues):
     """
diff --git a/tests/test_serializer.py b/tests/test_serializer.py
index ed8a749118..fac49dcb94 100644
--- a/tests/test_serializer.py
+++ b/tests/test_serializer.py
@@ -552,6 +552,26 @@ class Serializer(serializers.Serializer):
         assert Serializer({'nested': {'a': '3', 'b': {}}}).data == {'nested': {'a': '3', 'c': '2'}}
         assert Serializer({'nested': {'a': '3', 'b': {'c': '4'}}}).data == {'nested': {'a': '3', 'c': '4'}}
 
+    def test_nested_serializer_not_required_with_querydict(self):
+        """
+        When a nested serializer is not required and the QueryDict does
+        not contain any matching prefixed keys, the nested serializer
+        should be omitted from validated_data. Regression test for #6234.
+        """
+        from django.http import QueryDict
+
+        class NestedSerializer(serializers.Serializer):
+            x = serializers.CharField()
+
+        class ParentSerializer(serializers.Serializer):
+            name = serializers.CharField()
+            nested = NestedSerializer(required=False)
+
+        serializer = ParentSerializer(data=QueryDict("name=test"))
+        assert serializer.is_valid(), serializer.errors
+        assert serializer.validated_data == {"name": "test"}
+        assert "nested" not in serializer.validated_data
+
     def test_default_for_allow_null(self):
         """
         Without an explicit default, allow_null implies default=None when serializing. #5518 #5708