diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/src/Tracer.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/src/Tracer.ts
index 700fe97626..d5c1365ac8 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/src/Tracer.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-tracing/src/Tracer.ts
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ export class Tracer implements api.Tracer {
     const spanId = this._idGenerator.generateSpanId();
     let traceId;
     let traceState;
-    if (!parentContext || !parentContext?.isValid()) {
+    if (!parentContext || !parentContext.isValid || !parentContext.isValid()) {
       // New root span.
       traceId = this._idGenerator.generateTraceId();
     } else {