diff --git a/lib/datadog/tracing/contrib/rails/runner.rb b/lib/datadog/tracing/contrib/rails/runner.rb
index 79920d5b707..c6461c63a08 100644
--- a/lib/datadog/tracing/contrib/rails/runner.rb
+++ b/lib/datadog/tracing/contrib/rails/runner.rb
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ def runner(code_or_file = nil, *_command_argv)
           # Capture the executed source code when provided from STDIN.
           def eval(*args)
             span = Datadog::Tracing.active_span
-            if span.name == Ext::SPAN_RUNNER_STDIN
+            if span&.name == Ext::SPAN_RUNNER_STDIN
               source = args[0]
               span.set_tag(
                 Ext::TAG_RUNNER_SOURCE,
diff --git a/spec/datadog/tracing/contrib/rails/runner_spec.rb b/spec/datadog/tracing/contrib/rails/runner_spec.rb
index 388951ac72f..79e05d73215 100644
--- a/spec/datadog/tracing/contrib/rails/runner_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/datadog/tracing/contrib/rails/runner_spec.rb
@@ -136,6 +136,14 @@
       expect(span.get_tag('operation')).to eq('runner.inline')
     end
 
+    context "when a current span isn't detected" do
+      it "doesn't error when a span can't be identified to set the source tag on" do
+        allow(Datadog::Tracing).to receive(:active_span).and_return(nil)
+
+        expect { run }.to output('OK').to_stdout
+      end
+    end
+
     include_context 'with a custom service name'
     include_context 'with source code too long'