diff --git a/api/include/opentelemetry/trace/default_span.h b/api/include/opentelemetry/trace/default_span.h
index 778f514ab5..d6c484daa7 100644
--- a/api/include/opentelemetry/trace/default_span.h
+++ b/api/include/opentelemetry/trace/default_span.h
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ class DefaultSpan: public Span {
 
   private:
     SpanContext span_context_;
-    trace::Tracer &tracer_;
+    trace::Tracer tracer_;
 };
 }
 OPENTELEMETRY_END_NAMESPACE
\ No newline at end of file