diff --git a/rpc/client.go b/rpc/client.go
index 8d81503d59..89cc8235a2 100644
--- a/rpc/client.go
+++ b/rpc/client.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/log"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/trace"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -88,6 +89,7 @@ type Client struct {
 	// config fields
 	batchItemLimit       int
 	batchResponseMaxSize int
+	tracerProvider       trace.TracerProvider
 
 	// writeConn is used for writing to the connection on the caller's goroutine. It should
 	// only be accessed outside of dispatch, with the write lock held. The write lock is
@@ -119,7 +121,7 @@ func (c *Client) newClientConn(conn ServerCodec) *clientConn {
 	ctx := context.Background()
 	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, clientContextKey{}, c)
 	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, peerInfoContextKey{}, conn.peerInfo())
-	handler := newHandler(ctx, conn, c.idgen, c.services, c.batchItemLimit, c.batchResponseMaxSize, nil)
+	handler := newHandler(ctx, conn, c.idgen, c.services, c.batchItemLimit, c.batchResponseMaxSize, c.tracerProvider)
 	return &clientConn{conn, handler}
 }
 
@@ -247,6 +249,7 @@ func initClient(conn ServerCodec, services *serviceRegistry, cfg *clientConfig)
 		idgen:                cfg.idgen,
 		batchItemLimit:       cfg.batchItemLimit,
 		batchResponseMaxSize: cfg.batchResponseLimit,
+		tracerProvider:       cfg.tracerProvider,
 		writeConn:            conn,
 		close:                make(chan struct{}),
 		closing:              make(chan struct{}),
diff --git a/rpc/client_opt.go b/rpc/client_opt.go
index 3fa045a9b9..49cdb54c8a 100644
--- a/rpc/client_opt.go
+++ b/rpc/client_opt.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 
 	"github.com/gorilla/websocket"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/trace"
 )
 
 // ClientOption is a configuration option for the RPC client.
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ type clientConfig struct {
 	idgen              func() ID
 	batchItemLimit     int
 	batchResponseLimit int
+	tracerProvider     trace.TracerProvider
 }
 
 func (cfg *clientConfig) initHeaders() {
diff --git a/rpc/server.go b/rpc/server.go
index 94d4a3e13e..6f6c44ebf5 100644
--- a/rpc/server.go
+++ b/rpc/server.go
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ func (s *Server) ServeCodec(codec ServerCodec, options CodecOption) {
 		idgen:              s.idgen,
 		batchItemLimit:     s.batchItemLimit,
 		batchResponseLimit: s.batchResponseLimit,
+		tracerProvider:     s.tracerProvider,
 	}
 	c := initClient(codec, &s.services, cfg)
 	<-codec.closed()
diff --git a/rpc/tracing_test.go b/rpc/tracing_test.go
index 5a04c901fd..b1af750045 100644
--- a/rpc/tracing_test.go
+++ b/rpc/tracing_test.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package rpc
 import (
 	"context"
 	"net/http/httptest"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel"
@@ -240,8 +241,8 @@ func TestTracingBatchHTTP(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 // TestTracingSubscribeUnsubscribe verifies that subscribe and unsubscribe calls
-// do not emit any spans.
-// Note: This works because client.newClientConn() passes nil as the tracer provider.
+// do not emit RPC server spans (like "jsonrpc.service/method").
+// Note: handleSubscribe does not create the main RPC span, only internal encoding spans.
 func TestTracingSubscribeUnsubscribe(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 	server, tracer, exporter := newTracingServer(t)
@@ -257,12 +258,16 @@ func TestTracingSubscribeUnsubscribe(t *testing.T) {
 	// Unsubscribe.
 	sub.Unsubscribe()
 
-	// Flush and check that no spans were emitted.
+	// Flush and check that no RPC server spans were emitted.
+	// Internal spans like "rpc.encodeJSONResponse" are allowed.
 	if err := tracer.ForceFlush(context.Background()); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to flush: %v", err)
 	}
 	spans := exporter.GetSpans()
-	if len(spans) != 0 {
-		t.Errorf("expected no spans for subscribe/unsubscribe, got %d", len(spans))
+	for _, span := range spans {
+		// RPC server spans have names like "jsonrpc.service/method"
+		if strings.HasPrefix(span.Name, "jsonrpc.") {
+			t.Errorf("unexpected RPC server span for subscribe/unsubscribe: %s", span.Name)
+		}
 	}
 }