diff --git a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-pymongo/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/pymongo/__init__.py b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-pymongo/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/pymongo/__init__.py
index 4cfff745d1750..bb20fd5442cf5 100644
--- a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-pymongo/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/pymongo/__init__.py
+++ b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-pymongo/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/pymongo/__init__.py
@@ -71,28 +71,32 @@ def started(self, event: monitoring.CommandStartedEvent):
 
         try:
             span = self._tracer.start_span(name, kind=SpanKind.CLIENT)
-            span.set_attribute("component", DATABASE_TYPE)
-            span.set_attribute("db.type", DATABASE_TYPE)
-            span.set_attribute("db.instance", event.database_name)
-            span.set_attribute("db.statement", statement)
-            if event.connection_id is not None:
-                span.set_attribute("net.peer.name", event.connection_id[0])
-                span.set_attribute("net.peer.port", event.connection_id[1])
-
-            # pymongo specific, not specified by spec
-            span.set_attribute("db.mongo.operation_id", event.operation_id)
-            span.set_attribute("db.mongo.request_id", event.request_id)
-
-            for attr in COMMAND_ATTRIBUTES:
-                _attr = event.command.get(attr)
-                if _attr is not None:
-                    span.set_attribute("db.mongo." + attr, str(_attr))
+            if span.is_recording():
+                span.set_attribute("component", DATABASE_TYPE)
+                span.set_attribute("db.type", DATABASE_TYPE)
+                span.set_attribute("db.instance", event.database_name)
+                span.set_attribute("db.statement", statement)
+                if event.connection_id is not None:
+                    span.set_attribute("net.peer.name", event.connection_id[0])
+                    span.set_attribute("net.peer.port", event.connection_id[1])
+
+                # pymongo specific, not specified by spec
+                span.set_attribute("db.mongo.operation_id", event.operation_id)
+                span.set_attribute("db.mongo.request_id", event.request_id)
+
+                for attr in COMMAND_ATTRIBUTES:
+                    _attr = event.command.get(attr)
+                    if _attr is not None:
+                        span.set_attribute("db.mongo." + attr, str(_attr))
 
             # Add Span to dictionary
             self._span_dict[_get_span_dict_key(event)] = span
         except Exception as ex:  # noqa pylint: disable=broad-except
             if span is not None:
-                span.set_status(Status(StatusCanonicalCode.INTERNAL, str(ex)))
+                if span.is_recording():
+                    span.set_status(
+                        Status(StatusCanonicalCode.INTERNAL, str(ex))
+                    )
                 span.end()
                 self._pop_span(event)
 
@@ -103,8 +107,11 @@ def succeeded(self, event: monitoring.CommandSucceededEvent):
         span = self._pop_span(event)
         if span is None:
             return
-        span.set_attribute("db.mongo.duration_micros", event.duration_micros)
-        span.set_status(Status(StatusCanonicalCode.OK, event.reply))
+        if span.is_recording():
+            span.set_attribute(
+                "db.mongo.duration_micros", event.duration_micros
+            )
+            span.set_status(Status(StatusCanonicalCode.OK, event.reply))
         span.end()
 
     def failed(self, event: monitoring.CommandFailedEvent):
@@ -114,8 +121,11 @@ def failed(self, event: monitoring.CommandFailedEvent):
         span = self._pop_span(event)
         if span is None:
             return
-        span.set_attribute("db.mongo.duration_micros", event.duration_micros)
-        span.set_status(Status(StatusCanonicalCode.UNKNOWN, event.failure))
+        if span.is_recording():
+            span.set_attribute(
+                "db.mongo.duration_micros", event.duration_micros
+            )
+            span.set_status(Status(StatusCanonicalCode.UNKNOWN, event.failure))
         span.end()
 
     def _pop_span(self, event):
diff --git a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-pymongo/tests/test_pymongo.py b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-pymongo/tests/test_pymongo.py
index a84841b28b28b..d5f67cafe8c74 100644
--- a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-pymongo/tests/test_pymongo.py
+++ b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-pymongo/tests/test_pymongo.py
@@ -91,6 +91,22 @@ def test_succeeded(self):
         self.assertEqual(span.status.description, "reply")
         self.assertIsNotNone(span.end_time)
 
+    def test_not_recording(self):
+        mock_tracer = mock.Mock()
+        mock_span = mock.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__ = True
+        mock_event = MockEvent({})
+        command_tracer = CommandTracer(mock_tracer)
+        command_tracer.started(event=mock_event)
+        command_tracer.succeeded(event=mock_event)
+        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)
+
     def test_failed(self):
         mock_event = MockEvent({})
         command_tracer = CommandTracer(self.tracer)