diff --git a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-falcon/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/falcon/__init__.py b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-falcon/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/falcon/__init__.py
index bfcd45a8b..0a93fe013 100644
--- a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-falcon/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/falcon/__init__.py
+++ b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-falcon/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/falcon/__init__.py
@@ -117,13 +117,16 @@ class _InstrumentedFalconAPI(falcon.API):
         token = context.attach(
             propagators.extract(otel_wsgi.get_header_from_environ, env)
         )
-        attributes = otel_wsgi.collect_request_attributes(env)
         span = self._tracer.start_span(
             otel_wsgi.get_default_span_name(env),
             kind=trace.SpanKind.SERVER,
-            attributes=attributes,
             start_time=start_time,
         )
+        if span.is_recording():
+            attributes = otel_wsgi.collect_request_attributes(env)
+            for key, value in attributes.items():
+                span.set_attribute(key, value)
+
         activation = self._tracer.use_span(span, end_on_exit=True)
         activation.__enter__()
         env[_ENVIRON_SPAN_KEY] = span
@@ -162,7 +165,7 @@ class _TraceMiddleware:
 
     def process_request(self, req, resp):
         span = req.env.get(_ENVIRON_SPAN_KEY)
-        if not span:
+        if not span or not span.is_recording():
             return
 
         attributes = extract_attributes_from_object(
@@ -173,7 +176,7 @@ class _TraceMiddleware:
 
     def process_resource(self, req, resp, resource, params):
         span = req.env.get(_ENVIRON_SPAN_KEY)
-        if not span:
+        if not span or not span.is_recording():
             return
 
         resource_name = resource.__class__.__name__
@@ -186,7 +189,7 @@ class _TraceMiddleware:
         self, req, resp, resource, req_succeeded=None
     ):  # pylint:disable=R0201
         span = req.env.get(_ENVIRON_SPAN_KEY)
-        if not span:
+        if not span or not span.is_recording():
             return
 
         status = resp.status
diff --git a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-falcon/tests/test_falcon.py b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-falcon/tests/test_falcon.py
index 5e27e4aac..d64154a77 100644
--- a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-falcon/tests/test_falcon.py
+++ b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-falcon/tests/test_falcon.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from unittest.mock import patch
+from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
 
 from falcon import testing
 
@@ -188,3 +188,18 @@ class TestFalconInstrumentation(TestBase):
             span = self.memory_exporter.get_finished_spans()[0]
             self.assertIn("query_string", span.attributes)
             self.assertEqual(span.attributes["query_string"], "q=abc")
+
+    def test_traced_not_recording(self):
+        mock_tracer = Mock()
+        mock_span = Mock()
+        mock_span.is_recording.return_value = False
+        mock_tracer.start_span.return_value = mock_span
+        mock_tracer.use_span.return_value.__enter__ = mock_span
+        mock_tracer.use_span.return_value.__exit__ = mock_span
+        with patch("opentelemetry.trace.get_tracer") as tracer:
+            tracer.return_value = mock_tracer
+            self.client().simulate_get(path="/hello?q=abc")
+            self.assertFalse(mock_span.is_recording())
+            self.assertTrue(mock_span.is_recording.called)
+            self.assertFalse(mock_span.set_attribute.called)
+            self.assertFalse(mock_span.set_status.called)