diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry/src/sampler.ts b/packages/opentelemetry/src/sampler.ts
index 6da0df78ac7d..446c325f3ac7 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry/src/sampler.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry/src/sampler.ts
@@ -70,11 +70,14 @@ export class SentrySampler implements Sampler {
     } = inferSpanData(spanName, spanAttributes, spanKind);
 
     const mergedAttributes = {
-      [SEMANTIC_ATTRIBUTE_SENTRY_OP]: op,
       ...inferredAttributes,
       ...spanAttributes,
     };
 
+    if (op) {
+      mergedAttributes[SEMANTIC_ATTRIBUTE_SENTRY_OP] = op;
+    }
+
     const mutableSamplingDecision = { decision: true };
     this._client.emit(
       'beforeSampling',
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry/src/trace.ts b/packages/opentelemetry/src/trace.ts
index 6f9fe5dad6d1..54195beb61ee 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry/src/trace.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry/src/trace.ts
@@ -45,8 +45,6 @@ export function startSpan<T>(options: OpenTelemetrySpanContext, callback: (span:
     const spanOptions = getSpanOptions(options);
 
     return tracer.startActiveSpan(name, spanOptions, ctx, span => {
-      _applySentryAttributesToSpan(span, options);
-
       return handleCallbackErrors(
         () => callback(span),
         () => {
@@ -90,8 +88,6 @@ export function startSpanManual<T>(
     const spanOptions = getSpanOptions(options);
 
     return tracer.startActiveSpan(name, spanOptions, ctx, span => {
-      _applySentryAttributesToSpan(span, options);
-
       return handleCallbackErrors(
         () => callback(span, () => span.end()),
         () => {
@@ -131,8 +127,6 @@ export function startInactiveSpan(options: OpenTelemetrySpanContext): Span {
 
     const span = tracer.startSpan(name, spanOptions, ctx);
 
-    _applySentryAttributesToSpan(span, options);
-
     return span;
   });
 }
@@ -156,22 +150,19 @@ function getTracer(): Tracer {
   return (client && client.tracer) || trace.getTracer('@sentry/opentelemetry', SDK_VERSION);
 }
 
-function _applySentryAttributesToSpan(span: Span, options: OpenTelemetrySpanContext): void {
-  const { op } = options;
-
-  if (op) {
-    span.setAttribute(SEMANTIC_ATTRIBUTE_SENTRY_OP, op);
-  }
-}
-
 function getSpanOptions(options: OpenTelemetrySpanContext): SpanOptions {
-  const { startTime, attributes, kind } = options;
+  const { startTime, attributes, kind, op } = options;
 
   // OTEL expects timestamps in ms, not seconds
   const fixedStartTime = typeof startTime === 'number' ? ensureTimestampInMilliseconds(startTime) : startTime;
 
   return {
-    attributes,
+    attributes: op
+      ? {
+          [SEMANTIC_ATTRIBUTE_SENTRY_OP]: op,
+          ...attributes,
+        }
+      : attributes,
     kind,
     startTime: fixedStartTime,
   };
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry/test/trace.test.ts b/packages/opentelemetry/test/trace.test.ts
index 2332fd1ced05..5d9329650969 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry/test/trace.test.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry/test/trace.test.ts
@@ -1320,9 +1320,7 @@ describe('trace (sampling)', () => {
     expect(tracesSampler).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith({
       parentSampled: undefined,
       name: 'outer',
-      attributes: {
-        [SEMANTIC_ATTRIBUTE_SENTRY_SAMPLE_RATE]: 1,
-      },
+      attributes: {},
       transactionContext: { name: 'outer', parentSampled: undefined },
     });
 
@@ -1357,16 +1355,25 @@ describe('trace (sampling)', () => {
 
     mockSdkInit({ tracesSampler });
 
-    startSpan({ name: 'outer' }, outerSpan => {
-      expect(outerSpan).toBeDefined();
-    });
+    startSpan(
+      {
+        name: 'outer',
+        op: 'test.op',
+        attributes: { attr1: 'yes', attr2: 1 },
+      },
+      outerSpan => {
+        expect(outerSpan).toBeDefined();
+      },
+    );
 
-    expect(tracesSampler).toBeCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(tracesSampler).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
     expect(tracesSampler).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith({
       parentSampled: undefined,
       name: 'outer',
       attributes: {
-        [SEMANTIC_ATTRIBUTE_SENTRY_SAMPLE_RATE]: 1,
+        attr1: 'yes',
+        attr2: 1,
+        'sentry.op': 'test.op',
       },
       transactionContext: { name: 'outer', parentSampled: undefined },
     });