diff --git a/sdk/go.mod b/sdk/go.mod
index 7e4dd27c9..44ce135c6 100644
--- a/sdk/go.mod
+++ b/sdk/go.mod
@@ -5,16 +5,20 @@ go 1.22.0
 toolchain go1.22.6
 
 require (
+	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.9.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata v1.15.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel v1.30.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/otel/trace v1.30.0
 )
 
 require (
+	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 // indirect
 	github.com/gogo/protobuf v1.3.2 // indirect
 	github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12 // indirect
+	github.com/kr/text v0.2.0 // indirect
 	github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd // indirect
 	github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2 // indirect
+	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 // indirect
 	go.uber.org/multierr v1.11.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/net v0.26.0 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.21.0 // indirect
@@ -22,4 +26,5 @@ require (
 	google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20240604185151-ef581f913117 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/grpc v1.66.0 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.34.2 // indirect
+	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/sdk/go.sum b/sdk/go.sum
index bea79268b..dcd043b08 100644
--- a/sdk/go.sum
+++ b/sdk/go.sum
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+github.com/creack/pty v1.1.9/go.mod h1:oKZEueFk5CKHvIhNR5MUki03XCEU+Q6VDXinZuGJ33E=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
@@ -10,6 +11,10 @@ github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12 h1:PV8peI4a0ysnczrg+LtxykD8LfKY9ML6u2jnxaEnr
 github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12/go.mod h1:e30LSqwooZae/UwlEbR2852Gd8hjQvJoHmT4TnhNGBo=
 github.com/kisielk/errcheck v1.5.0/go.mod h1:pFxgyoBC7bSaBwPgfKdkLd5X25qrDl4LWUI2bnpBCr8=
 github.com/kisielk/gotool v1.0.0/go.mod h1:XhKaO+MFFWcvkIS/tQcRk01m1F5IRFswLeQ+oQHNcck=
+github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1 h1:flRD4NNwYAUpkphVc1HcthR4KEIFJ65n8Mw5qdRn3LE=
+github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1/go.mod h1:hoEshYVHaxMs3cyo3Yncou5ZscifuDolrwPKZanG3xk=
+github.com/kr/text v0.2.0 h1:5Nx0Ya0ZqY2ygV366QzturHI13Jq95ApcVaJBhpS+AY=
+github.com/kr/text v0.2.0/go.mod h1:eLer722TekiGuMkidMxC/pM04lWEeraHUUmBw8l2grE=
 github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180228061459-e0a39a4cb421/go.mod h1:6dJC0mAP4ikYIbvyc7fijjWJddQyLn8Ig3JB5CqoB9Q=
 github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd h1:TRLaZ9cD/w8PVh93nsPXa1VrQ6jlwL5oN8l14QlcNfg=
 github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd/go.mod h1:6dJC0mAP4ikYIbvyc7fijjWJddQyLn8Ig3JB5CqoB9Q=
@@ -17,6 +22,8 @@ github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2 h1:xBagoLtFs94CBntxluKeaWgTMpvLxC4ur3nMaC9G
 github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2/go.mod h1:yWuevngMOJpCy52FWWMvUC8ws7m/LJsjYzDa0/r8luk=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
+github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.10.0 h1:TMyTOH3F/DB16zRVcYyreMH6GnZZrwQVAoYjRBZyWFQ=
+github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.10.0/go.mod h1:UQnix2H7Ngw/k4C5ijL5+65zddjncjaFoBhdsK/akog=
 github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+wExME=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.3.0/go.mod h1:M5WIy9Dh21IEIfnGCwXGc5bZfKNJtfHm1UVUgZn+9EI=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.9.0 h1:HtqpIVDClZ4nwg75+f6Lvsy/wHu+3BoSGCbBAcpTsTg=
@@ -70,5 +77,8 @@ google.golang.org/grpc v1.66.0 h1:DibZuoBznOxbDQxRINckZcUvnCEvrW9pcWIE2yF9r1c=
 google.golang.org/grpc v1.66.0/go.mod h1:s3/l6xSSCURdVfAnL+TqCNMyTDAGN6+lZeVxnZR128Y=
 google.golang.org/protobuf v1.34.2 h1:6xV6lTsCfpGD21XK49h7MhtcApnLqkfYgPcdHftf6hg=
 google.golang.org/protobuf v1.34.2/go.mod h1:qYOHts0dSfpeUzUFpOMr/WGzszTmLH+DiWniOlNbLDw=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20201130134442-10cb98267c6c h1:Hei/4ADfdWqJk1ZMxUNpqntNwaWcugrBjAiHlqqRiVk=
+gopkg.in/check.v1 v1.0.0-20201130134442-10cb98267c6c/go.mod h1:JHkPIbrfpd72SG/EVd6muEfDQjcINNoR0C8j2r3qZ4Q=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
diff --git a/sdk/trace.go b/sdk/trace.go
index 67e3fd2b0..b011fae2a 100644
--- a/sdk/trace.go
+++ b/sdk/trace.go
@@ -94,15 +94,38 @@ type span struct {
 	span   ptrace.Span
 }
 
-func (s *span) SpanContext() trace.SpanContext { return s.spanContext }
+func (s *span) SpanContext() trace.SpanContext {
+	if s == nil {
+		return trace.SpanContext{}
+	}
+	return s.spanContext
+}
 
-func (s *span) IsRecording() bool { return s.sampled }
+func (s *span) IsRecording() bool {
+	if s == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	return s.sampled
+}
 
-func (s *span) SetStatus(c codes.Code, msg string) { /* TODO: implement */ }
+func (s *span) SetStatus(c codes.Code, msg string) {
+	if s == nil || !s.sampled {
+		return
+	}
+	/* TODO: implement */
+}
 
-func (s *span) SetAttributes(attrs ...attribute.KeyValue) { /* TODO: implement */ }
+func (s *span) SetAttributes(attrs ...attribute.KeyValue) {
+	if s == nil || !s.sampled {
+		return
+	}
+	/* TODO: implement */
+}
 
 func (s *span) End(opts ...trace.SpanEndOption) {
+	if s == nil || !s.sampled {
+		return
+	}
 	// TODO: implement.
 	s.ended(nil)
 }
@@ -112,12 +135,34 @@ func (s *span) End(opts ...trace.SpanEndOption) {
 //go:noinline
 func (*span) ended(buf []byte) {}
 
-func (s *span) RecordError(err error, opts ...trace.EventOption) { /* TODO: implement */ }
+func (s *span) RecordError(err error, opts ...trace.EventOption) {
+	if s == nil || err == nil || !s.sampled {
+		return
+	}
+	/* TODO: implement */
+}
 
-func (s *span) AddEvent(name string, opts ...trace.EventOption) { /* TODO: implement */ }
+func (s *span) AddEvent(name string, opts ...trace.EventOption) {
+	if s == nil || !s.sampled {
+		return
+	}
+	/* TODO: implement */
+}
 
-func (s *span) AddLink(link trace.Link) { /* TODO: implement */ }
+func (s *span) AddLink(link trace.Link) {
+	if s == nil || !s.sampled {
+		return
+	}
+	/* TODO: implement */
+}
 
-func (s *span) SetName(name string) { /* TODO: implement */ }
+func (s *span) SetName(name string) {
+	if s == nil || !s.sampled {
+		return
+	}
+	/* TODO: implement */
+}
 
-func (*span) TracerProvider() trace.TracerProvider { return GetTracerProvider() }
+func (*span) TracerProvider() trace.TracerProvider {
+	return GetTracerProvider()
+}
diff --git a/sdk/trace_test.go b/sdk/trace_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..91a9636e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sdk/trace_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+// Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+package sdk
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/attribute"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/codes"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/trace"
+)
+
+var attrs = []attribute.KeyValue{
+	attribute.Bool("bool", true),
+	attribute.Int("int", -1),
+	attribute.Int64("int64", 43),
+	attribute.Float64("float64", 0.3),
+	attribute.String("string", "value"),
+	attribute.BoolSlice("bool slice", []bool{true, false, true}),
+	attribute.IntSlice("int slice", []int{-1, -30, 328}),
+	attribute.Int64Slice("int64 slice", []int64{1030, 0, 0}),
+	attribute.Float64Slice("float64 slice", []float64{1e9}),
+	attribute.StringSlice("string slice", []string{"one", "two"}),
+}
+
+func TestSpanNilUnsampledGuards(t *testing.T) {
+	run := func(fn func(s *span)) func(*testing.T) {
+		return func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Helper()
+
+			f := func(s *span) func() { return func() { fn(s) } }
+			assert.NotPanics(t, f(nil), "nil span")
+			assert.NotPanics(t, f(new(span)), "unsampled span")
+		}
+	}
+
+	t.Run("End", run(func(s *span) { s.End() }))
+	t.Run("AddEvent", run(func(s *span) { s.AddEvent("event name") }))
+	t.Run("AddLink", run(func(s *span) { s.AddLink(trace.Link{}) }))
+	t.Run("IsRecording", run(func(s *span) { _ = s.IsRecording() }))
+	t.Run("RecordError", run(func(s *span) { s.RecordError(nil) }))
+	t.Run("SpanContext", run(func(s *span) { _ = s.SpanContext() }))
+	t.Run("SetStatus", run(func(s *span) { s.SetStatus(codes.Error, "test") }))
+	t.Run("SetName", run(func(s *span) { s.SetName("span name") }))
+	t.Run("SetAttributes", run(func(s *span) { s.SetAttributes(attrs...) }))
+	t.Run("TracerProvider", run(func(s *span) { _ = s.TracerProvider() }))
+}