diff --git a/exporters/zipkin/src/recordable.cc b/exporters/zipkin/src/recordable.cc
index 283e02ed45..a6722f225f 100644
--- a/exporters/zipkin/src/recordable.cc
+++ b/exporters/zipkin/src/recordable.cc
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@
 
 #include "opentelemetry/exporters/zipkin/recordable.h"
 
-#include <iostream>
+#include <map>
+#include <string>
 
 OPENTELEMETRY_BEGIN_NAMESPACE
 namespace exporter
@@ -24,6 +25,14 @@ namespace exporter
 namespace zipkin
 {
 
+// constexpr needs keys to be constexpr, const is next best to use.
+static const std::map<opentelemetry::trace::SpanKind, std::string> kSpanKindMap = {
+    {opentelemetry::trace::SpanKind::kClient, "CLIENT"},
+    {opentelemetry::trace::SpanKind::kServer, "SERVER"},
+    {opentelemetry::trace::SpanKind::kConsumer, "CONSUMER"},
+    {opentelemetry::trace::SpanKind::kProducer, "PRODUCER"},
+};
+
 //
 // See `attribute_value.h` for details.
 //
@@ -215,6 +224,15 @@ void Recordable::SetDuration(std::chrono::nanoseconds duration) noexcept
   span_["duration"] = duration.count();
 }
 
+void Recordable::SetSpanKind(opentelemetry::trace::SpanKind span_kind) noexcept
+{
+  auto span_iter = kSpanKindMap.find(span_kind);
+  if (span_iter != kSpanKindMap.end())
+  {
+    span_["kind"] = span_iter->second;
+  }
+}
+
 void Recordable::SetInstrumentationLibrary(
     const opentelemetry::sdk::instrumentationlibrary::InstrumentationLibrary
         &instrumentation_library) noexcept
@@ -223,7 +241,6 @@ void Recordable::SetInstrumentationLibrary(
   span_["tags"]["otel.library.version"] = instrumentation_library.GetVersion();
 }
 
-void Recordable::SetSpanKind(opentelemetry::trace::SpanKind span_kind) noexcept {}
 }  // namespace zipkin
 }  // namespace exporter
 OPENTELEMETRY_END_NAMESPACE
diff --git a/exporters/zipkin/test/zipkin_recordable_test.cc b/exporters/zipkin/test/zipkin_recordable_test.cc
index f189d04d9c..a5eb1dc934 100644
--- a/exporters/zipkin/test/zipkin_recordable_test.cc
+++ b/exporters/zipkin/test/zipkin_recordable_test.cc
@@ -129,6 +129,14 @@ TEST(ZipkinSpanRecordable, SetStatus)
   }
 }
 
+TEST(ZipkinSpanRecordable, SetSpanKind)
+{
+  json j_json_client = {{"kind", "CLIENT"}};
+  opentelemetry::exporter::zipkin::Recordable rec;
+  rec.SetSpanKind(opentelemetry::trace::SpanKind::kClient);
+  EXPECT_EQ(rec.span(), j_json_client);
+}
+
 TEST(ZipkinSpanRecordable, AddEventDefault)
 {
   opentelemetry::exporter::zipkin::Recordable rec;