diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ae9799d..62f9a19 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -271,9 +271,9 @@ users:
 
 ### Tracing (experimental)
 
-For tracing, dyndnsd.rb is instrumented using the [OpenTracing](http://opentracing.io/) framework and will emit span tracing data for the most important operations happening during the request/response cycle. Using a middleware for Rack allows handling incoming OpenTracing span information properly.
+For tracing, dyndnsd.rb is instrumented using the [OpenTelemetry](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/ruby/) framework and will emit span tracing data for the most important operations happening during the request/response cycle. Using an [instrumentation for Rack](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ruby/tree/main/instrumentation/rack) allows handling incoming OpenTelemetry parent span information properly (when desired, turned off by default to reduce attack surface).
 
-Currently, only one OpenTracing-compatible tracer implementation named [CNCF Jaeger](https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger) can be configured to use with dyndnsd.rb.
+Currently, the [OpenTelemetry trace exporter](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-ruby/tree/main/exporter/jaeger) for [CNCF Jaeger](https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger) can be enabled via dyndnsd.rb configuration. Alternatively, you can also enable other exporters via the environment variable `OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER`, e.g. `OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER=console`.
 
 ```yaml
 host: "0.0.0.0"
@@ -282,11 +282,9 @@ db: "/opt/dyndnsd/db.json"
 domain: "dyn.example.org"
 # enable and configure tracing using the (currently only) tracer jaeger
 tracing:
-  trust_incoming_span: false # default value, change to accept incoming OpenTracing spans as parents
-  jaeger:
-    host: 127.0.0.1 # defaults for host and port of local jaeger-agent
-    port: 6831
-    service_name: "my.dyndnsd.identifier"
+  trust_incoming_span: false # default value, change to accept incoming OpenTelemetry spans as parents
+  service_name: "my.dyndnsd.identifier" # default unset, will be populated by OpenTelemetry
+  jaeger: true # enables the Jaeger AgentExporter
 # configure the updater, here we use command_with_bind_zone, params are updater-specific
 updater:
   name: "command_with_bind_zone"
diff --git a/dyndnsd.gemspec b/dyndnsd.gemspec
index 4a0c501..34daaa8 100644
--- a/dyndnsd.gemspec
+++ b/dyndnsd.gemspec
@@ -28,11 +28,11 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.required_ruby_version = '>= 2.5'
 
   s.add_runtime_dependency 'async-dns', '~> 1.2.0'
-  s.add_runtime_dependency 'jaeger-client', '~> 1.1.0'
   s.add_runtime_dependency 'metriks'
-  s.add_runtime_dependency 'opentracing', '~> 0.5.0'
+  s.add_runtime_dependency 'opentelemetry-exporter-jaeger', '~> 0.18.0'
+  s.add_runtime_dependency 'opentelemetry-instrumentation-rack', '~> 0.18.0'
+  s.add_runtime_dependency 'opentelemetry-sdk', '~> 1.0.0.rc1'
   s.add_runtime_dependency 'rack', '~> 2.0'
-  s.add_runtime_dependency 'rack-tracer', '~> 0.9.0'
   s.add_runtime_dependency 'webrick', '>= 1.6.1'
 
   s.add_development_dependency 'bundler'
diff --git a/lib/dyndnsd.rb b/lib/dyndnsd.rb
index 2134745..7821044 100644
--- a/lib/dyndnsd.rb
+++ b/lib/dyndnsd.rb
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ require 'json'
 require 'yaml'
 require 'rack'
 require 'metriks'
+require 'opentelemetry/instrumentation/rack'
+require 'opentelemetry/sdk'
 require 'metriks/reporter/graphite'
-require 'opentracing'
-require 'rack/tracer'
 
 require 'dyndnsd/generator/bind'
 require 'dyndnsd/updater/command_with_bind_zone'
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ module Dyndnsd
     # @return [Boolean]
     def authorized?(username, password)
       Helper.span('check_authorized') do |span|
-        span.set_tag('dyndnsd.user', username)
+        span.set_attribute('enduser.id', username)
 
         allow = Helper.user_allowed?(username, password, @users)
         if !allow
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ module Dyndnsd
     def process_changes(hostnames, myips)
       changes = []
       Helper.span('process_changes') do |span|
-        span.set_tag('dyndnsd.hostnames', hostnames.join(','))
+        span.set_attribute('dyndnsd.hostnames', hostnames.join(','))
 
         hostnames.each do |hostname|
           # myips order is always deterministic
@@ -252,6 +252,8 @@ module Dyndnsd
       Dyndnsd.logger.progname = 'dyndnsd'
       Dyndnsd.logger.formatter = LogFormatter.new
       Dyndnsd.logger.level = config['debug'] ? Logger::DEBUG : Logger::INFO
+
+      OpenTelemetry.logger = Dyndnsd.logger
     end
 
     # @return [void]
@@ -296,16 +298,31 @@ module Dyndnsd
     # @param config [Hash{String => Object}]
     # @return [void]
     private_class_method def self.setup_tracing(config)
-      # configure OpenTracing
-      if config.dig('tracing', 'jaeger')
-        require 'jaeger/client'
+      # by default do not try to emit any traces until the user opts in
+      ENV['OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER'] ||= 'none'
 
-        host = config['tracing']['jaeger']['host'] || '127.0.0.1'
-        port = config['tracing']['jaeger']['port'] || 6831
-        service_name = config['tracing']['jaeger']['service_name'] || 'dyndnsd'
-        OpenTracing.global_tracer = Jaeger::Client.build(
-          host: host, port: port, service_name: service_name, flush_interval: 1
-        )
+      # configure OpenTelemetry
+      OpenTelemetry::SDK.configure do |c|
+        if config.dig('tracing', 'jaeger')
+          require 'opentelemetry/exporter/jaeger'
+
+          c.add_span_processor(
+            OpenTelemetry::SDK::Trace::Export::BatchSpanProcessor.new(
+              OpenTelemetry::Exporter::Jaeger::AgentExporter.new
+            )
+          )
+        end
+
+        if config.dig('tracing', 'service_name')
+          c.service_name = config['tracing']['service_name']
+        end
+
+        c.service_version = Dyndnsd::VERSION
+        c.use('OpenTelemetry::Instrumentation::Rack')
+      end
+
+      if !config.dig('tracing', 'trust_incoming_span')
+        OpenTelemetry.propagation = OpenTelemetry::Context::Propagation::NoopTextMapPropagator.new
       end
     end
 
@@ -331,8 +348,7 @@ module Dyndnsd
         app = Responder::DynDNSStyle.new(app)
       end
 
-      trust_incoming_span = config.dig('tracing', 'trust_incoming_span') || false
-      app = Rack::Tracer.new(app, trust_incoming_span: trust_incoming_span)
+      app = OpenTelemetry::Instrumentation::Rack::Middlewares::TracerMiddleware.new(app)
 
       Rack::Handler::WEBrick.run app, Host: config['host'], Port: config['port']
     end
diff --git a/lib/dyndnsd/helper.rb b/lib/dyndnsd/helper.rb
index 88bae76..ef6fce3 100644
--- a/lib/dyndnsd/helper.rb
+++ b/lib/dyndnsd/helper.rb
@@ -45,24 +45,17 @@ module Dyndnsd
     # @param block [Proc]
     # @return [void]
     def self.span(operation, &block)
-      scope = OpenTracing.start_active_span(operation)
-      span = scope.span
-      span.set_tag('component', 'dyndnsd')
-      span.set_tag('span.kind', 'server')
-      begin
+      tracer = OpenTelemetry.tracer_provider.tracer(Dyndnsd.name, Dyndnsd::VERSION)
+      tracer.in_span(
+        operation,
+        attributes: {'component' => 'dyndnsd'},
+        kind: :server
+      ) do |span|
+        Dyndnsd.logger.debug "Creating span ID #{span.context.hex_span_id} for trace ID #{span.context.hex_trace_id}"
         block.call(span)
       rescue StandardError => e
-        span.set_tag('error', true)
-        span.log_kv(
-          event: 'error',
-          'error.kind': e.class.to_s,
-          'error.object': e,
-          message: e.message,
-          stack: e.backtrace&.join("\n") || ''
-        )
+        span.record_exception(e)
         raise e
-      ensure
-        scope.close
       end
     end
   end
diff --git a/lib/dyndnsd/updater/command_with_bind_zone.rb b/lib/dyndnsd/updater/command_with_bind_zone.rb
index 0419216..ad5e00c 100644
--- a/lib/dyndnsd/updater/command_with_bind_zone.rb
+++ b/lib/dyndnsd/updater/command_with_bind_zone.rb
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ module Dyndnsd
         return if !db.changed?
 
         Helper.span('updater_update') do |span|
-          span.set_tag('dyndnsd.updater.name', self.class.name&.split('::')&.last || 'None')
+          span.set_attribute('dyndnsd.updater.name', self.class.name&.split('::')&.last || 'None')
 
           # write zone file in bind syntax
           File.open(@zone_file, 'w') { |f| f.write(@generator.generate(db)) }
diff --git a/lib/dyndnsd/updater/zone_transfer_server.rb b/lib/dyndnsd/updater/zone_transfer_server.rb
index 541d82a..e04ba22 100644
--- a/lib/dyndnsd/updater/zone_transfer_server.rb
+++ b/lib/dyndnsd/updater/zone_transfer_server.rb
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ module Dyndnsd
       # @return [void]
       def update(db)
         Helper.span('updater_update') do |span|
-          span.set_tag('dyndnsd.updater.name', self.class.name&.split('::')&.last || 'None')
+          span.set_attribute('dyndnsd.updater.name', self.class.name&.split('::')&.last || 'None')
 
           soa_rr = Resolv::DNS::Resource::IN::SOA.new(
             @zone_nameservers[0], @zone_email_address,
diff --git a/spec/dyndnsd/daemon_spec.rb b/spec/dyndnsd/daemon_spec.rb
index 1936805..6164c09 100644
--- a/spec/dyndnsd/daemon_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/dyndnsd/daemon_spec.rb
@@ -24,9 +24,7 @@ describe Dyndnsd::Daemon do
 
     app = Rack::Auth::Basic.new(daemon, 'DynDNS', &daemon.method(:authorized?))
 
-    app = Dyndnsd::Responder::DynDNSStyle.new(app)
-
-    Rack::Tracer.new(app, trust_incoming_span: false)
+    Dyndnsd::Responder::DynDNSStyle.new(app)
   end
 
   it 'requires authentication' do