diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-plugin-http/src/http.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-plugin-http/src/http.ts
index 51263cc89e0..bf9e5714f37 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-plugin-http/src/http.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-plugin-http/src/http.ts
@@ -380,8 +380,12 @@ export class HttpPlugin extends BasePlugin<Http> {
         extraOptions
       );
 
+      if (utils.isOpenTelemetryRequest(optionsParsed)) {
+        delete optionsParsed.headers![utils.OT_REQUEST_HEADER];
+        return original.apply(this, [optionsParsed, ...args]);
+      }
+
       if (
-        utils.isOpenTelemetryRequest(optionsParsed) ||
         utils.isIgnored(
           origin + pathname,
           plugin._config.ignoreOutgoingUrls,
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-plugin-http/src/utils.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-plugin-http/src/utils.ts
index e97e421c460..1b492285994 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-plugin-http/src/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-plugin-http/src/utils.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ import { AttributeNames } from './enums/AttributeNames';
 import * as url from 'url';
 import { Socket } from 'net';
 
+/**
+ * Specific header used by exporters to "mark" outgoing request to avoid creating
+ * spans for request that export them which would create a infinite loop.
+ */
 export const OT_REQUEST_HEADER = 'x-opentelemetry-outgoing-request';
 
 export const HTTP_STATUS_SPECIAL_CASES: SpecialHttpStatusCodeMapping = {
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-plugin-http/test/functionals/http-enable.test.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-plugin-http/test/functionals/http-enable.test.ts
index 94c9c410f60..76abea604b4 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-plugin-http/test/functionals/http-enable.test.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-plugin-http/test/functionals/http-enable.test.ts
@@ -180,6 +180,10 @@ describe('HttpPlugin', () => {
         };
 
         const result = await httpRequest.get(options);
+        assert(
+          result.reqHeaders[OT_REQUEST_HEADER] === undefined,
+          'custom header should be stripped'
+        );
         const spans = memoryExporter.getFinishedSpans();
         assert.strictEqual(result.data, 'Ok');
         assert.strictEqual(spans.length, 0);
@@ -293,6 +297,10 @@ describe('HttpPlugin', () => {
         };
 
         const result = await httpRequest.get(options);
+        assert(
+          result.reqHeaders[OT_REQUEST_HEADER] === undefined,
+          'custom header should be stripped'
+        );
         const spans = memoryExporter.getFinishedSpans();
         assert.strictEqual(result.data, 'Ok');
         assert.strictEqual(spans.length, 0);