diff --git a/api/include/opentelemetry/trace/default_span.h b/api/include/opentelemetry/trace/default_span.h
index da00c25502..e5b95ba66c 100644
--- a/api/include/opentelemetry/trace/default_span.h
+++ b/api/include/opentelemetry/trace/default_span.h
@@ -68,10 +68,11 @@ class DefaultSpan: public Span {
     DefaultSpan(const DefaultSpan& spn) : span_context_(spn.GetContext()) {}
 
     trace::Tracer &tracer() const noexcept {
-      return trace::DefaultTracer();
+      return tracer_;
     }
 
   private:
+    trace::Tracer tracer_;
     SpanContext span_context_;
 };
 }