diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7c60a2b1d7..5d5f0c4452 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+- `opentelemetry-sdk`: Add shared `_parse_headers` helper for declarative config OTLP exporters
+  ([#5021](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/pull/5021))
 - `opentelemetry-api`: Replace a broad exception in attribute cleaning tests to satisfy pylint in the `lint-opentelemetry-api` CI job
 - `opentelemetry-sdk`: Add `create_resource` and `create_propagator`/`configure_propagator` to declarative file configuration, enabling Resource and propagator instantiation from config files without reading env vars
   ([#4979](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python/pull/4979))
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/_configuration/_common.py b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/_configuration/_common.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..152be1ea01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/_configuration/_common.py
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import logging
+from typing import Optional
+
+_logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def _parse_headers(
+    headers: Optional[list],
+    headers_list: Optional[str],
+) -> Optional[dict[str, str]]:
+    """Merge headers struct and headers_list into a dict.
+
+    Returns None if neither is set, letting the exporter read env vars.
+    headers struct takes priority over headers_list for the same key.
+    """
+    if headers is None and headers_list is None:
+        return None
+    result: dict[str, str] = {}
+    if headers_list:
+        for item in headers_list.split(","):
+            item = item.strip()
+            if "=" in item:
+                key, value = item.split("=", 1)
+                result[key.strip()] = value.strip()
+            elif item:
+                _logger.warning(
+                    "Invalid header pair in headers_list (missing '='): %s",
+                    item,
+                )
+    if headers:
+        for pair in headers:
+            result[pair.name] = pair.value or ""
+    return result
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/tests/_configuration/test_common.py b/opentelemetry-sdk/tests/_configuration/test_common.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5c3fcf112b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/tests/_configuration/test_common.py
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+# Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+import unittest
+from types import SimpleNamespace
+
+from opentelemetry.sdk._configuration._common import _parse_headers
+
+
+class TestParseHeaders(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_both_none_returns_none(self):
+        self.assertIsNone(_parse_headers(None, None))
+
+    def test_empty_headers_list_returns_empty_dict(self):
+        self.assertEqual(_parse_headers(None, ""), {})
+
+    def test_headers_list_single_pair(self):
+        self.assertEqual(
+            _parse_headers(None, "x-api-key=secret"),
+            {"x-api-key": "secret"},
+        )
+
+    def test_headers_list_multiple_pairs(self):
+        self.assertEqual(
+            _parse_headers(None, "x-api-key=secret,env=prod"),
+            {"x-api-key": "secret", "env": "prod"},
+        )
+
+    def test_headers_list_strips_whitespace(self):
+        self.assertEqual(
+            _parse_headers(None, " x-api-key = secret , env = prod "),
+            {"x-api-key": "secret", "env": "prod"},
+        )
+
+    def test_headers_list_value_with_equals(self):
+        # value contains '=' — only split on the first one
+        self.assertEqual(
+            _parse_headers(None, "auth=Bearer tok=en"),
+            {"auth": "Bearer tok=en"},
+        )
+
+    def test_headers_list_invalid_pair_ignored(self):
+        # malformed entry (no '=') should be skipped with a warning
+        result = _parse_headers(None, "bad,x-key=val")
+        self.assertEqual(result, {"x-key": "val"})
+
+    def test_struct_headers_only(self):
+        headers = [
+            SimpleNamespace(name="x-api-key", value="secret"),
+            SimpleNamespace(name="env", value="prod"),
+        ]
+        self.assertEqual(
+            _parse_headers(headers, None),
+            {"x-api-key": "secret", "env": "prod"},
+        )
+
+    def test_struct_header_none_value_becomes_empty_string(self):
+        headers = [SimpleNamespace(name="x-key", value=None)]
+        self.assertEqual(_parse_headers(headers, None), {"x-key": ""})
+
+    def test_struct_headers_override_headers_list(self):
+        # struct takes priority over headers_list for same key
+        headers = [SimpleNamespace(name="x-api-key", value="from-struct")]
+        self.assertEqual(
+            _parse_headers(headers, "x-api-key=from-list,env=prod"),
+            {"x-api-key": "from-struct", "env": "prod"},
+        )
+
+    def test_both_empty_struct_and_none_list_returns_empty_dict(self):
+        self.assertEqual(_parse_headers([], None), {})