diff --git a/src/main/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/ClientTelemetry.java b/src/main/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/ClientTelemetry.java
index b4f1c4cc..e00eec71 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/ClientTelemetry.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/ClientTelemetry.java
@@ -6,8 +6,11 @@
 import io.grpc.ManagedChannel;
 import io.opentelemetry.api.GlobalOpenTelemetry;
 import io.opentelemetry.api.trace.*;
+import io.opentelemetry.api.trace.propagation.W3CTraceContextPropagator;
 import io.opentelemetry.context.Context;
 import io.opentelemetry.context.Scope;
+import io.opentelemetry.context.propagation.TextMapGetter;
+import io.opentelemetry.context.propagation.TextMapSetter;
 
 import java.util.*;
 import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
@@ -19,14 +22,54 @@ class ClientTelemetry {
         put(ClientTelemetryAttributes.Database.SYSTEM, ClientTelemetryConstants.INSTRUMENTATION_NAME);
     }};
 
+    private static final ObjectMapper OBJECT_MAPPER = new ObjectMapper();
+
+    private static final String W3C_TRACE_PARENT_KEY = "traceparent";
+    private static final String W3C_TRACE_STATE_KEY = "tracestate";
+
+    private static final TextMapSetter<ObjectNode> METADATA_SETTER = (userMetadata, key, value) -> {
+        if (userMetadata == null)
+            return;
+
+        if (W3C_TRACE_PARENT_KEY.equals(key))
+            userMetadata.put(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_PARENT, value);
+        else if (W3C_TRACE_STATE_KEY.equals(key))
+            userMetadata.put(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_STATE, value);
+    };
+
+    private static final TextMapGetter<ObjectNode> METADATA_GETTER = new TextMapGetter<ObjectNode>() {
+        @Override
+        public Iterable<String> keys(ObjectNode userMetadata) {
+            return Arrays.asList(W3C_TRACE_PARENT_KEY, W3C_TRACE_STATE_KEY);
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public String get(ObjectNode userMetadata, String key) {
+            if (userMetadata == null)
+                return null;
+
+            if (W3C_TRACE_PARENT_KEY.equals(key))
+                return getTextField(userMetadata, ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_PARENT);
+            if (W3C_TRACE_STATE_KEY.equals(key))
+                return getTextField(userMetadata, ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_STATE);
+
+            return null;
+        }
+    };
+
+    private static String getTextField(ObjectNode userMetadata, String fieldName) {
+        JsonNode field = userMetadata.get(fieldName);
+        return field != null && field.isTextual() ? field.asText() : null;
+    }
+
     private static Tracer getTracer() {
         return GlobalOpenTelemetry.getTracer(
                 ClientTelemetry.class.getPackage().getName(),
                 ClientTelemetry.class.getPackage().getImplementationVersion());
     }
 
-    private static List<EventData> tryInjectTracingContext(Span span, List<EventData> events) {
-        if (!span.getSpanContext().isValid() || !span.getSpanContext().isSampled())
+    static List<EventData> tryInjectTracingContext(Span span, List<EventData> events) {
+        if (!span.getSpanContext().isValid())
             return events;
 
         List<EventData> injectedEvents = new ArrayList<>();
@@ -41,47 +84,72 @@ private static List<EventData> tryInjectTracingContext(Span span, List<EventData
         return injectedEvents;
     }
 
-    private static byte[] tryInjectTracingContext(Span span, byte[] userMetadataBytes) {
+    static byte[] tryInjectTracingContext(Span span, byte[] userMetadataBytes) {
+        if (!span.getSpanContext().isValid())
+            return userMetadataBytes;
+
         try {
-            ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
             ObjectNode userMetadata = userMetadataBytes != null
-                    ? objectMapper.readValue(userMetadataBytes, ObjectNode.class)
-                    : objectMapper.createObjectNode();
+                    ? OBJECT_MAPPER.readValue(userMetadataBytes, ObjectNode.class)
+                    : OBJECT_MAPPER.createObjectNode();
+
+            userMetadata.remove(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_STATE);
 
-            userMetadata.put(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_ID, span.getSpanContext().getTraceId());
-            userMetadata.put(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.SPAN_ID, span.getSpanContext().getSpanId());
+            W3CTraceContextPropagator.getInstance()
+                    .inject(Context.root().with(span), userMetadata, METADATA_SETTER);
 
-            return objectMapper.writeValueAsBytes(userMetadata);
+            if (span.getSpanContext().isSampled()) {
+                userMetadata.put(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_ID, span.getSpanContext().getTraceId());
+                userMetadata.put(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.SPAN_ID, span.getSpanContext().getSpanId());
+            } else {
+                userMetadata.remove(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_ID);
+                userMetadata.remove(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.SPAN_ID);
+            }
+
+            return OBJECT_MAPPER.writeValueAsBytes(userMetadata);
         } catch (Throwable t) {
             // User metadata may not be a valid JSON object, or not JSON altogether.
             return userMetadataBytes;
         }
     }
 
-    private static SpanContext tryExtractTracingContext(byte[] userMetadataBytes) {
+    static SpanContext tryExtractTracingContext(byte[] userMetadataBytes) {
         if (userMetadataBytes == null)
             return null;
 
         try {
-            ObjectNode userMetadata = new ObjectMapper().readValue(userMetadataBytes, ObjectNode.class);
+            ObjectNode userMetadata = OBJECT_MAPPER.readValue(userMetadataBytes, ObjectNode.class);
 
-            JsonNode traceIdNode = userMetadata.get(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_ID);
-            JsonNode spanIdNode = userMetadata.get(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.SPAN_ID);
+            SpanContext traceParentContext = tryExtractTraceParentContext(userMetadata);
+            if (traceParentContext != null)
+                return traceParentContext;
 
-            if (traceIdNode == null || spanIdNode == null)
-                return null;
+            return tryExtractLegacyTracingContext(userMetadata);
+        } catch (Throwable t) {
+            return null;
+        }
+    }
 
-            String traceId = traceIdNode.asText();
-            String spanId = spanIdNode.asText();
+    private static SpanContext tryExtractTraceParentContext(ObjectNode userMetadata) {
+        Context extractedContext = W3CTraceContextPropagator.getInstance()
+                .extract(Context.root(), userMetadata, METADATA_GETTER);
 
-            if (!TraceId.isValid(traceId) || !SpanId.isValid(spanId))
-                return null;
+        SpanContext spanContext = Span.fromContext(extractedContext).getSpanContext();
+        return spanContext.isValid() ? spanContext : null;
+    }
 
-            return SpanContext.createFromRemoteParent(traceId, spanId, TraceFlags.getSampled(),
-                    TraceState.getDefault());
-        } catch (Throwable t) {
+    private static SpanContext tryExtractLegacyTracingContext(ObjectNode userMetadata) {
+        String traceId = getTextField(userMetadata, ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_ID);
+        String spanId = getTextField(userMetadata, ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.SPAN_ID);
+
+        if (traceId == null || spanId == null)
             return null;
-        }
+
+        if (!TraceId.isValid(traceId) || !SpanId.isValid(spanId))
+            return null;
+
+        return SpanContext.createFromRemoteParent(traceId, spanId, TraceFlags.getSampled(),
+                TraceState.getDefault());
     }
 
     static CompletableFuture<WriteResult> traceAppend(
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/ClientTelemetryConstants.java b/src/main/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/ClientTelemetryConstants.java
index f4d77dc5..71167f7a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/ClientTelemetryConstants.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/ClientTelemetryConstants.java
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ public class ClientTelemetryConstants {
     public static class Metadata {
         public static final String TRACE_ID = "$traceId";
         public static final String SPAN_ID = "$spanId";
+        public static final String TRACE_PARENT = "$traceParent";
+        public static final String TRACE_STATE = "$traceState";
     }
 
     public static class Operations {
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/TelemetryTests.java b/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/TelemetryTests.java
index 5bfc0151..a385da14 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/TelemetryTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/TelemetryTests.java
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 
 import static io.opentelemetry.semconv.ServiceAttributes.SERVICE_NAME;
 
-public class TelemetryTests implements StreamsTracingInstrumentationTests, PersistentSubscriptionsTracingInstrumentationTests, TracingContextInjectionTests {
+public class TelemetryTests implements StreamsTracingInstrumentationTests, PersistentSubscriptionsTracingInstrumentationTests, TracingContextInjectionTests, TracingContextPropagationTests {
     static private Database database;
     static private Logger logger;
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/TracingContextPropagationTests.java b/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/TracingContextPropagationTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..724f96b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/TracingContextPropagationTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+package io.kurrent.dbclient;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.node.ObjectNode;
+import io.opentelemetry.api.trace.Span;
+import io.opentelemetry.api.trace.SpanContext;
+import io.opentelemetry.api.trace.TraceFlags;
+import io.opentelemetry.api.trace.TraceState;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
+
+public interface TracingContextPropagationTests {
+    String TRACE_ID = "0af7651916cd43dd8448eb211c80319c";
+    String SPAN_ID = "b7ad6b7169203331";
+    String STALE_METADATA = "{"
+            + "\"$traceParent\":\"00-11111111111111111111111111111111-1111111111111111-01\","
+            + "\"$traceState\":\"dd=s:1\","
+            + "\"$traceId\":\"11111111111111111111111111111111\","
+            + "\"$spanId\":\"1111111111111111\""
+            + "}";
+
+    default Span spanWith(TraceFlags flags, TraceState traceState) {
+        return Span.wrap(SpanContext.create(TRACE_ID, SPAN_ID, flags, traceState));
+    }
+
+    default ObjectNode parseMetadata(byte[] metadata) throws Exception {
+        return new ObjectMapper().readValue(metadata, ObjectNode.class);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    default void testInjectsSampledTraceContextAlongsideLegacyFields() throws Exception {
+        TraceState traceState = TraceState.builder().put("dd", "s:1").build();
+        Span span = spanWith(TraceFlags.getSampled(), traceState);
+        byte[] userMetadata = "{\"foo\":\"bar\"}".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+
+        ObjectNode metadata = parseMetadata(ClientTelemetry.tryInjectTracingContext(span, userMetadata));
+
+        Assertions.assertEquals(
+                "00-" + TRACE_ID + "-" + SPAN_ID + "-01",
+                metadata.get(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_PARENT).asText());
+        Assertions.assertEquals("dd=s:1", metadata.get(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_STATE).asText());
+        Assertions.assertEquals(TRACE_ID, metadata.get(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_ID).asText());
+        Assertions.assertEquals(SPAN_ID, metadata.get(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.SPAN_ID).asText());
+        Assertions.assertEquals("bar", metadata.get("foo").asText());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    default void testInjectsUnsampledTraceContextAndStripsStaleTracingFields() throws Exception {
+        Span span = spanWith(TraceFlags.getDefault(), TraceState.getDefault());
+
+        ObjectNode metadata = parseMetadata(ClientTelemetry.tryInjectTracingContext(
+                span, STALE_METADATA.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)));
+
+        Assertions.assertEquals(
+                "00-" + TRACE_ID + "-" + SPAN_ID + "-00",
+                metadata.get(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_PARENT).asText());
+        Assertions.assertNull(metadata.get(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_ID));
+        Assertions.assertNull(metadata.get(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.SPAN_ID));
+        Assertions.assertNull(metadata.get(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_STATE));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    default void testSkipsInjectionForInvalidSpanOrNonJsonObjectMetadata() {
+        List<EventData> events = Collections.singletonList(
+                EventData.builderAsJson("TestEvent", "{}".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)).build());
+        byte[] jsonMetadata = "{\"foo\":\"bar\"}".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+        byte[] nonJsonMetadata = "clearlynotvalidjson".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+        Span validSpan = spanWith(TraceFlags.getSampled(), TraceState.getDefault());
+
+        Assertions.assertSame(events, ClientTelemetry.tryInjectTracingContext(Span.getInvalid(), events));
+        Assertions.assertSame(jsonMetadata, ClientTelemetry.tryInjectTracingContext(Span.getInvalid(), jsonMetadata));
+        Assertions.assertArrayEquals(nonJsonMetadata, ClientTelemetry.tryInjectTracingContext(validSpan, nonJsonMetadata));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    default void testExtractionPrefersTraceParentAndPreservesFlagsAndTraceState() {
+        String metadata = "{"
+                + "\"$traceParent\":\"00-" + TRACE_ID + "-" + SPAN_ID + "-00\","
+                + "\"$traceState\":\"dd=s:1\","
+                + "\"$traceId\":\"11111111111111111111111111111111\","
+                + "\"$spanId\":\"1111111111111111\""
+                + "}";
+
+        SpanContext extracted = ClientTelemetry.tryExtractTracingContext(metadata.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+
+        Assertions.assertNotNull(extracted);
+        Assertions.assertEquals(TRACE_ID, extracted.getTraceId());
+        Assertions.assertEquals(SPAN_ID, extracted.getSpanId());
+        Assertions.assertFalse(extracted.isSampled());
+        Assertions.assertTrue(extracted.isRemote());
+        Assertions.assertEquals("s:1", extracted.getTraceState().get("dd"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    default void testExtractionFallsBackToLegacyFieldsAsSampled() {
+        String legacyOnly = "{\"$traceId\":\"" + TRACE_ID + "\",\"$spanId\":\"" + SPAN_ID + "\"}";
+        String malformedTraceParent = "{"
+                + "\"$traceParent\":\"not-a-traceparent\","
+                + "\"$traceId\":\"" + TRACE_ID + "\","
+                + "\"$spanId\":\"" + SPAN_ID + "\""
+                + "}";
+
+        for (String metadata : new String[]{legacyOnly, malformedTraceParent}) {
+            SpanContext extracted = ClientTelemetry.tryExtractTracingContext(metadata.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+
+            Assertions.assertNotNull(extracted);
+            Assertions.assertEquals(TRACE_ID, extracted.getTraceId());
+            Assertions.assertEquals(SPAN_ID, extracted.getSpanId());
+            Assertions.assertTrue(extracted.isSampled());
+            Assertions.assertTrue(extracted.isRemote());
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    default void testExtractionReturnsNullWhenNoTracingMetadataIsPresent() {
+        Assertions.assertNull(ClientTelemetry.tryExtractTracingContext(null));
+        Assertions.assertNull(ClientTelemetry.tryExtractTracingContext(
+                "{\"foo\":\"bar\"}".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    default void testRoundTripPreservesSamplingDecisionAndTraceState() {
+        TraceState traceState = TraceState.builder().put("dd", "s:0").build();
+        Span span = spanWith(TraceFlags.getDefault(), traceState);
+
+        byte[] metadata = ClientTelemetry.tryInjectTracingContext(span, (byte[]) null);
+        SpanContext extracted = ClientTelemetry.tryExtractTracingContext(metadata);
+
+        Assertions.assertNotNull(extracted);
+        Assertions.assertEquals(TRACE_ID, extracted.getTraceId());
+        Assertions.assertEquals(SPAN_ID, extracted.getSpanId());
+        Assertions.assertFalse(extracted.isSampled());
+        Assertions.assertEquals("s:0", extracted.getTraceState().get("dd"));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/TracingContextPropagationUnitTests.java b/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/TracingContextPropagationUnitTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1966c047
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/TracingContextPropagationUnitTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+package io.kurrent.dbclient;
+
+public class TracingContextPropagationUnitTests implements TracingContextPropagationTests {
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/streams/AppendTests.java b/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/streams/AppendTests.java
index b2bc0b80..d66e2bfe 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/streams/AppendTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/streams/AppendTests.java
@@ -37,7 +37,9 @@ default void testAppendSingleEventNoStream() throws Throwable {
                 () -> Assertions.assertEquals(foo, mapper.readValue(first.getEventData(), Foo.class)),
                 () -> Assertions.assertEquals(foo, mapper.readValue(first.getUserMetadata(), Foo.class)),
                 () -> Assertions.assertFalse(userMetadata.has(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_ID)),
-                () -> Assertions.assertFalse(userMetadata.has(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.SPAN_ID))
+                () -> Assertions.assertFalse(userMetadata.has(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.SPAN_ID)),
+                () -> Assertions.assertFalse(userMetadata.has(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_PARENT)),
+                () -> Assertions.assertFalse(userMetadata.has(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_STATE))
         );
     }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/telemetry/StreamsTracingInstrumentationTests.java b/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/telemetry/StreamsTracingInstrumentationTests.java
index 4e91ed0f..c7f54955 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/telemetry/StreamsTracingInstrumentationTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/kurrent/dbclient/telemetry/StreamsTracingInstrumentationTests.java
@@ -60,9 +60,11 @@ default void testTracingContextIsInjectedAsExpectedWhenUserMetadataIsJsonObject(
 
         JsonNode traceIdNode = userMetadata.get(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_ID);
         JsonNode spanIdNode = userMetadata.get(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.SPAN_ID);
+        JsonNode traceParentNode = userMetadata.get(ClientTelemetryConstants.Metadata.TRACE_PARENT);
 
         Assertions.assertNotNull(traceIdNode);
         Assertions.assertNotNull(spanIdNode);
+        Assertions.assertNotNull(traceParentNode);
     }
 
     @Test