diff --git a/sdk-platform-java/gax-java/gax/src/main/java/com/google/api/gax/tracing/OpenTelemetryTracingTracer.java b/sdk-platform-java/gax-java/gax/src/main/java/com/google/api/gax/tracing/OpenTelemetryTracingTracer.java
index cb41da9ccbeb..9ef300d6323d 100644
--- a/sdk-platform-java/gax-java/gax/src/main/java/com/google/api/gax/tracing/OpenTelemetryTracingTracer.java
+++ b/sdk-platform-java/gax-java/gax/src/main/java/com/google/api/gax/tracing/OpenTelemetryTracingTracer.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 import io.opentelemetry.api.trace.Span;
 import io.opentelemetry.api.trace.SpanBuilder;
 import io.opentelemetry.api.trace.SpanKind;
+import io.opentelemetry.api.trace.StatusCode;
 import io.opentelemetry.api.trace.Tracer;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -53,6 +54,7 @@ class OpenTelemetryTracingTracer implements ApiTracer {
   private final String attemptSpanName;
   private final ApiTracerContext apiTracerContext;
   private @Nullable Span attemptSpan;
+  private io.opentelemetry.context.@Nullable Scope attemptScope;
 
   @Override
   public void injectTraceContext(java.util.Map<String, String> carrier) {
@@ -225,21 +227,22 @@ private void recordErrorAndEndAttempt(@Nullable Throwable error) {
       attemptSpan.setAllAttributes(ObservabilityUtils.toOtelAttributes(responseAttributes));
     }
 
-    if (error != null && !Strings.isNullOrEmpty(error.getMessage())) {
-      attemptSpan.setAttribute(
-          ObservabilityAttributes.STATUS_MESSAGE_ATTRIBUTE, error.getMessage());
+    if (error != null) {
+      attemptSpan.setStatus(StatusCode.ERROR);
+      if (!Strings.isNullOrEmpty(error.getMessage())) {
+        attemptSpan.setAttribute(
+            ObservabilityAttributes.STATUS_MESSAGE_ATTRIBUTE, error.getMessage());
+      }
     }
 
     endAttempt();
   }
 
   private void endAttempt() {
-    if (attemptSpan == null) {
-      return;
+    if (attemptSpan != null) {
+      attemptSpan.end();
+      attemptSpan = null;
     }
-
-    attemptSpan.end();
-    attemptSpan = null;
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/sdk-platform-java/gax-java/gax/src/test/java/com/google/api/gax/tracing/OpenTelemetryTracingTracerTest.java b/sdk-platform-java/gax-java/gax/src/test/java/com/google/api/gax/tracing/OpenTelemetryTracingTracerTest.java
index 33fa2efcc0da..d4aa18ce6176 100644
--- a/sdk-platform-java/gax-java/gax/src/test/java/com/google/api/gax/tracing/OpenTelemetryTracingTracerTest.java
+++ b/sdk-platform-java/gax-java/gax/src/test/java/com/google/api/gax/tracing/OpenTelemetryTracingTracerTest.java
@@ -87,6 +87,16 @@ void testAttemptLifecycle_startsAndEndsAttemptSpan() {
     verify(span).end();
   }
 
+  @Test
+  void testAttemptFailed_setsErrorStatus() {
+    openTelemetryTracingTracer.attemptStarted(new Object(), 1);
+    openTelemetryTracingTracer.attemptFailedDuration(
+        new RuntimeException("Test error"), java.time.Duration.ofSeconds(1));
+
+    verify(span).setStatus(io.opentelemetry.api.trace.StatusCode.ERROR);
+    verify(span).end();
+  }
+
   @Test
   void testAttemptSucceeded_grpc() {
     ApiTracerContext context =