The pair teamed up for the 1992 black comedy in which they played friends caught in a love triangle complicated by a magic potion which gives them everlasting life and Streep - whose latest film The Devil Wears Prada 2 is in cinemas from Friday - has admitted she wasn't a fan of Hawn's tardiness.
In an interview with Vanity Fair - posted on YouTube - Streep explained: "Goldie, she was always late to set. But she was so adorable.
"And I'm always on time, you know, and annoying. But she's late, and she had a red convertible, I remember, and she'd drive herself to set. So that was probably the problem.
"She'd drive herself to set. She had her hair all … 'Oh gosh, sorry!' And everybody thought: 'Oh, she's so cute.' Yeah. So I had a beef with her."
However, The Devil Wears Prada 2 star Streep insists they pair went on to become close friends and they still look back fondly on Death Becomes Her.
She added: "I loved her. I love her. She's one of my buddies, and over the years, we've had some laughs about that movie because people love it. I thought it was like a documentary on Beverly Hills."
Streep and Hawn shared the screen in Death Becomes Her with Bruce Willis - whose character finds himself at the centre of the love triangle between the two undead women - and the Oscar-winner admits the Die Hard actor was "divine" to work with despite his "bad boy" reputation.
She added: "Oh Bruce was divine! I guess he was a bad boy on certain sets and came with a little reputation for being difficult but we had so much fun with him.
"He was such a gent and so game and willing to be ridiculous. And I just thought he was wonderful."
It comes after Streep confessed she was "ready to retire" from Hollywood before she signed up for The Devil Wears Prada.
The 76-year-old actress almost missed out on playing Miranda Priestly, the formidable Runway Magazine editor, in the 2006 comedy-drama film, but decided to "double" her salary ask.
Streep revealed to NBC: "They called me up, and they made an offer, and I said, 'No, not going to do it.'"
After Jenna Bush Hager, 44, quizzed the Hollywood legend why, Streep replied: "I knew it was going to be a hit and I wanted to see if I doubled my ask... "And they went right away and said, 'Sure.' And I thought, I'm 50, 60, it took me this long to understand that I could do that. They needed me, I felt.
"I was ready to retire, but that was a lesson."
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