Martin O'Neill made six changes from the side that beat Barcelona in the UEFA Cup on Thursday and Motherwell took their chance to take a point from Celtic Park to end Celtic's run of 25 straight SPL wins.
It was only a second-half goal from substitute Henrik Larsson, who was not in the starting line-up for the first time this season, which saved Celtic from defeat after Motherwell took the lead in the first half.
Celtic started brightly but the visitors quickly settled into their stride and produced the first real scoring chance of the match.
Alex Burns' 12-yard volley forced David Marshall to produce a great reaction save as he pushed the ball wide of goal.
But in an open game, Celtic also had their chances with Momo Sylla, ex-Motherwell star Stephen Pearson and Bobo Balde all going close.
By midway through the first half O'Neill must have been having second thoughts about his team selection as his side suffered from poor finishing and Motherwell took the lead.
Scott McDonald produced an excellent cross into the box for Derek Adams whose shot from the edge of the area was blasted high into the left-hand corner of the net giving Marshall no chance.
Celtic showed their intent to equalise at the start of the second half as Paul Lambert blasted a shot against the woodwork in the first minute of the period.
But it wasn't until Larsson was brought on for his 300th appearance for Celtic that their best chances came.
As the Bhoys exerted more pressure, Larsson saw a powerful header knocked wide by a diving save from Marshall and less than a minute later Sylla forced the keeper to make another smart stop.
It wasn't long before Celtic were back on terms and a Larsson header from a Ross Wallace corner made it 1-1.
Celtic were denied a penalty shortly afterwards when Sylla took a tumble in the area but neither team created any further chances as both sides settled for a draw.