The practice of defensive medicine (DM) including requesting unnecessary tests, procedures and treatments or avoiding risk taking is increasing worldwide. There is no data from the Arab world and Bahrain. It is vital to identify the drivers behind this growing practice in an attempt to combat it. In our study we aimed to estimate the practice of defensive medicine in primary care in the kingdom of Bahrain and to study the factors associated with it. We conducted a cross-sectional study between the months of March and June 2016 in all governmental health centers in the kingdom of Bahrain. Study participants were all the primary care doctors practicing clinically in those local health centers. A total of 247 physicians out of 285 (86.7%) completed the survey. Nearly all (86.6%) reported practicing defensive medicine. Taking more detailed history note taking (66.4%, 95% CI 60.5 -72.3) and ordering unnecessary tests than indicated 60.0%, 95% CI (54 -66.0) and avoiding risky procedures 59.0% (95% CI 53.0 -65.2), were there most common forms of DM practiced. Patient pressure, relief of anxiety and fear of legal claim, 86.4%, 65.0% and 62.0% respectively were the most common reasons given for the practice of DM. Significantly, physicians with more years of experience were less likely to practice DM and more likely to practice with extra hour of work per week (p< 0.05). We concluded that the practice of Defensive medicine is highly common among practicing primary care physicians in the Kingdom of Bahrain