diff --git a/receiver/pprofreceiver/go.mod b/receiver/pprofreceiver/go.mod
index c00460637301e..49420c83a7371 100644
--- a/receiver/pprofreceiver/go.mod
+++ b/receiver/pprofreceiver/go.mod
@@ -3,12 +3,15 @@ module github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/pprofr
 go 1.23.0
 
 require (
+	github.com/google/pprof v0.0.0-20250607225305-033d6d78b36a
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component v1.34.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component/componenttest v0.128.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/confighttp v0.128.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/confmap v1.34.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/consumer/xconsumer v0.128.0
+	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata v1.34.0
+	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/pprofile v0.128.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/receiver v1.34.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/receiver/receivertest v0.128.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/receiver/xreceiver v0.128.0
@@ -54,8 +57,6 @@ require (
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/extension/extensionmiddleware v0.128.0 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/featuregate v1.34.0 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/internal/telemetry v0.128.0 // indirect
-	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata v1.34.0 // indirect
-	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/pprofile v0.128.0 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pipeline v0.128.0 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/bridges/otelzap v0.11.0 // indirect
 	go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp v0.61.0 // indirect
diff --git a/receiver/pprofreceiver/go.sum b/receiver/pprofreceiver/go.sum
index 8670a63904313..59163796c0736 100644
--- a/receiver/pprofreceiver/go.sum
+++ b/receiver/pprofreceiver/go.sum
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ github.com/google/go-tpm v0.9.5/go.mod h1:h9jEsEECg7gtLis0upRBQU+GhYVH6jMjrFxI8u
 github.com/google/go-tpm-tools v0.4.4 h1:oiQfAIkc6xTy9Fl5NKTeTJkBTlXdHsxAofmQyxBKY98=
 github.com/google/go-tpm-tools v0.4.4/go.mod h1:T8jXkp2s+eltnCDIsXR84/MTcVU9Ja7bh3Mit0pa4AY=
 github.com/google/gofuzz v1.0.0/go.mod h1:dBl0BpW6vV/+mYPU4Po3pmUjxk6FQPldtuIdl/M65Eg=
+github.com/google/pprof v0.0.0-20250607225305-033d6d78b36a h1://KbezygeMJZCSHH+HgUZiTeSoiuFspbMg1ge+eFj18=
+github.com/google/pprof v0.0.0-20250607225305-033d6d78b36a/go.mod h1:5hDyRhoBCxViHszMt12TnOpEI4VVi+U8Gm9iphldiMA=
 github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0 h1:NIvaJDMOsjHA8n1jAhLSgzrAzy1Hgr+hNrb57e+94F0=
 github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0/go.mod h1:TIyPZe4MgqvfeYDBFedMoGGpEw/LqOeaOT+nhxU+yHo=
 github.com/hashicorp/go-version v1.7.0 h1:5tqGy27NaOTB8yJKUZELlFAS/LTKJkrmONwQKeRZfjY=
diff --git a/receiver/pprofreceiver/internal/pprof_to_pdata.go b/receiver/pprofreceiver/internal/pprof_to_pdata.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..a960386219718
--- /dev/null
+++ b/receiver/pprofreceiver/internal/pprof_to_pdata.go
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+// Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package internal // import "github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/receiver/pprofreceiver/internal"
+
+import (
+	"crypto/md5" //nolint:gosec
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/google/pprof/profile"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/pcommon"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/pprofile"
+)
+
+func pprofToPprofile(parsed *profile.Profile, originalPayload []byte) pprofile.Profiles {
+	result := pprofile.NewProfiles()
+	// create a new profile record
+	resultProfile := result.ResourceProfiles().AppendEmpty().ScopeProfiles().AppendEmpty().Profiles().AppendEmpty()
+
+	var hash [16]byte
+	// set the original payload on the record
+	// per https://github.com/open-telemetry/semantic-conventions/blob/main/model/profile/registry.yaml
+	resultProfile.SetOriginalPayloadFormat("go")
+	resultProfile.OriginalPayload().FromRaw(originalPayload)
+	hash = md5.Sum(originalPayload) //nolint:gosec
+
+	// set period
+	resultProfile.SetPeriod(parsed.Period)
+	// TODO set period type?
+	// TODO set doc url?
+
+	// set timestamps - both start and duration
+	resultProfile.SetStartTime(pcommon.NewTimestampFromTime(time.Unix(0, parsed.TimeNanos)))
+	resultProfile.SetDuration(pcommon.NewTimestampFromTime(time.Unix(0, parsed.DurationNanos)))
+
+	// set the default simple type. Given this is a string, it gets cached in the string table and referred to via its index.
+	result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Append(parsed.DefaultSampleType)
+	resultProfile.SetDefaultSampleTypeIndex(int32(result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Len() - 1))
+
+	// set the profile ID.
+	resultProfile.SetProfileID(hash)
+
+	// add all mappings to the global dictionary
+	for _, m := range parsed.Mapping {
+		// create a mapping in the mapping table
+		resultM := result.ProfilesDictionary().MappingTable().AppendEmpty()
+		resultM.SetFileOffset(m.Offset)
+		resultM.SetMemoryStart(m.Start)
+		resultM.SetMemoryLimit(m.Limit)
+		resultM.SetHasFilenames(m.HasFilenames)
+		resultM.SetHasFunctions(m.HasFunctions)
+		resultM.SetHasInlineFrames(m.HasInlineFrames)
+		resultM.SetHasLineNumbers(m.HasLineNumbers)
+		result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Append(m.File)
+		resultM.SetFilenameStrindex(int32(result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Len() - 1))
+	}
+
+	// now iterate over each sample of the pprof data
+	for _, s := range parsed.Sample {
+		// for each sample create a corresponding sample record in our pprofile record
+		resultS := resultProfile.Sample().AppendEmpty()
+		// set the value of the sample.
+		resultS.Value().FromRaw(s.Value)
+		// now iterate over each location.
+
+		// set the start index at which we will start to read locations.
+		resultS.SetLocationsStartIndex(int32(result.ProfilesDictionary().LocationTable().Len()))
+
+		// read each location and map it over to pprofile
+		for _, l := range parsed.Location {
+			// add to the location table
+			resultL := result.ProfilesDictionary().LocationTable().AppendEmpty()
+			resultL.SetAddress(l.Address)
+			resultL.SetIsFolded(l.IsFolded)
+			for i, m := range result.ProfilesDictionary().MappingTable().All() {
+				if m.FileOffset() == l.Mapping.Offset && result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().At(int(m.FilenameStrindex())) == l.Mapping.File {
+					resultL.SetMappingIndex(int32(i))
+					break
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		resultS.SetLocationsLength(int32(len(parsed.Location)))
+	}
+
+	for _, f := range parsed.Function {
+		resultF := result.ProfilesDictionary().FunctionTable().AppendEmpty()
+		result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Append(f.Filename)
+		resultF.SetFilenameStrindex(int32(result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Len() - 1))
+		result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Append(f.Name)
+		resultF.SetNameStrindex(int32(result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Len() - 1))
+		resultF.SetStartLine(f.StartLine)
+		result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Append(f.SystemName)
+		resultF.SetSystemNameStrindex(int32(result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Len() - 1))
+	}
+
+	for _, s := range parsed.SampleType {
+		resultSampleType := resultProfile.SampleType().AppendEmpty()
+		result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Append(s.Unit)
+		resultSampleType.SetUnitStrindex(int32(result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Len() - 1))
+		result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Append(s.Type)
+		resultSampleType.SetTypeStrindex(int32(result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Len() - 1))
+		// TODO set aggregation temporality
+	}
+
+	commentsIndices := make([]int32, len(parsed.Comments))
+	start := result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Len() - 1
+	result.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().Append(parsed.Comments...)
+	for i := range parsed.Comments {
+		commentsIndices[i] = int32(start + i)
+	}
+	resultProfile.CommentStrindices().FromRaw(commentsIndices)
+
+	return result
+}
diff --git a/receiver/pprofreceiver/internal/pprof_to_pdata_test.go b/receiver/pprofreceiver/internal/pprof_to_pdata_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..60d6e78863d8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/receiver/pprofreceiver/internal/pprof_to_pdata_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+// Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package internal
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"runtime/pprof"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/google/pprof/profile"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata/pprofile"
+)
+
+func TestMapPprofToPdata(t *testing.T) {
+	p := pprof.Lookup("goroutine")
+	pprofData := new(bytes.Buffer)
+	err := p.WriteTo(pprofData, 0)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	parsed, err := profile.Parse(pprofData)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	converted := pprofToPprofile(parsed, pprofData.Bytes())
+	require.NotNil(t, converted)
+	pprofBack := pprofileToPprof(converted)
+	require.Equal(t, parsed, pprofBack[0])
+}
+
+func pprofileToPprof(pdataProfiles pprofile.Profiles) []*profile.Profile {
+	result := []*profile.Profile{}
+	functions := make([]*profile.Function, pdataProfiles.ProfilesDictionary().FunctionTable().Len())
+	for i, f := range pdataProfiles.ProfilesDictionary().FunctionTable().All() {
+		functions[i] = &profile.Function{
+			ID:         uint64(i + 1), // this is not preserved, so we just make it up.
+			Name:       pdataProfiles.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().At(int(f.NameStrindex())),
+			SystemName: pdataProfiles.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().At(int(f.SystemNameStrindex())),
+			Filename:   pdataProfiles.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().At(int(f.FilenameStrindex())),
+			StartLine:  f.StartLine(),
+		}
+	}
+
+	mappings := make([]*profile.Mapping, pdataProfiles.ProfilesDictionary().MappingTable().Len())
+	for i, m := range pdataProfiles.ProfilesDictionary().MappingTable().All() {
+		mappings[i] = &profile.Mapping{
+			ID:                     uint64(i + 1), // this is not preserved, so we just make it up.
+			Start:                  m.MemoryStart(),
+			Limit:                  m.MemoryLimit(),
+			Offset:                 m.FileOffset(),
+			File:                   pdataProfiles.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().At(int(m.FilenameStrindex())),
+			BuildID:                "", // TODO no mapping
+			HasFunctions:           m.HasFunctions(),
+			HasFilenames:           m.HasFilenames(),
+			HasLineNumbers:         m.HasLineNumbers(),
+			HasInlineFrames:        m.HasInlineFrames(),
+			KernelRelocationSymbol: "", // TODO no mapping
+		}
+	}
+	for _, rp := range pdataProfiles.ResourceProfiles().All() {
+		for _, sp := range rp.ScopeProfiles().All() {
+			for _, p := range sp.Profiles().All() {
+				var comments []string
+				if p.CommentStrindices().Len() > 0 {
+					comments = make([]string, p.CommentStrindices().Len())
+					for i, index := range p.CommentStrindices().All() {
+						comments[i] = pdataProfiles.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().At(int(index))
+					}
+				}
+				sampleTypes := make([]*profile.ValueType, p.SampleType().Len())
+				for i, st := range p.SampleType().All() {
+					sampleTypes[i] = &profile.ValueType{
+						Type: pdataProfiles.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().At(int(st.TypeStrindex())),
+						Unit: pdataProfiles.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().At(int(st.UnitStrindex())),
+					}
+				}
+
+				locations := make([]*profile.Location, p.LocationIndices().Len())
+				for i, l := range p.LocationIndices().All() {
+					pdataLocation := pdataProfiles.ProfilesDictionary().LocationTable().At(int(l))
+					lines := make([]profile.Line, pdataLocation.Line().Len())
+					for j, k := range pdataLocation.Line().All() {
+						lines[j] = profile.Line{
+							Function: functions[k.FunctionIndex()],
+							Line:     k.Line(),
+							Column:   k.Column(),
+						}
+					}
+					locations[i] = &profile.Location{
+						ID:       uint64(l + 1), // TODO we don't map this over.
+						Mapping:  mappings[pdataLocation.MappingIndex()],
+						Address:  pdataLocation.Address(),
+						Line:     lines,
+						IsFolded: pdataLocation.IsFolded(),
+					}
+				}
+
+				samples := make([]*profile.Sample, p.Sample().Len())
+				for i, s := range p.Sample().All() {
+					sampleLocations := make([]*profile.Location, s.LocationsLength())
+					for li := 0; li < int(s.LocationsLength()); li++ {
+						pdataLocation := pdataProfiles.ProfilesDictionary().LocationTable().At(i + int(s.LocationsStartIndex()))
+						lines := make([]profile.Line, pdataLocation.Line().Len())
+						for j, k := range pdataLocation.Line().All() {
+							lines[j] = profile.Line{
+								Function: functions[k.FunctionIndex()],
+								Line:     k.Line(),
+								Column:   k.Column(),
+							}
+						}
+						sampleLocations[li] = &profile.Location{
+							ID:       uint64(li + 1), // TODO we don't map this over.
+							Mapping:  mappings[pdataLocation.MappingIndex()],
+							Address:  pdataLocation.Address(),
+							Line:     lines,
+							IsFolded: pdataLocation.IsFolded(),
+						}
+					}
+					samples[i] = &profile.Sample{
+						Location: sampleLocations,
+						Value:    s.Value().AsRaw(),
+						Label:    nil, // TODO no mapping
+						NumLabel: nil, // TODO no mapping
+						NumUnit:  nil, // TODO no mapping
+					}
+				}
+
+				result = append(result, &profile.Profile{
+					SampleType:        sampleTypes,
+					DefaultSampleType: pdataProfiles.ProfilesDictionary().StringTable().At(int(p.DefaultSampleTypeIndex())),
+					Sample:            samples,
+					Mapping:           mappings,
+					Location:          locations,
+					Function:          functions,
+					Comments:          comments,
+					DocURL:            "", // TODO no mapping
+					DropFrames:        "", // TODO no mapping
+					KeepFrames:        "", // TODO no mapping
+					TimeNanos:         p.Time().AsTime().UnixNano(),
+					DurationNanos:     p.Duration().AsTime().UnixNano(),
+					PeriodType:        nil,
+					Period:            p.Period(),
+				})
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return result
+}