diff --git a/lib/datadog/tracing/trace_operation.rb b/lib/datadog/tracing/trace_operation.rb
index b7097bfede6..ac820d2ecf1 100644
--- a/lib/datadog/tracing/trace_operation.rb
+++ b/lib/datadog/tracing/trace_operation.rb
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ def to_digest
         span_id = @active_span && @active_span.id
         span_id ||= @parent_span_id unless finished?
         # sample the trace_operation with the tracer
-        tracer.sample_trace(self) if @sampled.nil?
+        tracer.sample_trace(self) unless sampled?
 
         TraceDigest.new(
           span_id: span_id,