diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport.go b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport.go
index 6ba13bc08..80a498066 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/httptransport.go
@@ -21,11 +21,6 @@ import (
 	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
-	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel"
-	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/codes"
-	semconv "go.opentelemetry.io/otel/semconv/v1.17.0"
-	semconv2 "go.opentelemetry.io/otel/semconv/v1.4.0"
-	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/trace"
 	weakrand "math/rand"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
@@ -142,8 +137,6 @@ type HTTPTransport struct {
 
 	h2cTransport *http2.Transport
 	h3Transport  *http3.RoundTripper // TODO: EXPERIMENTAL (May 2024)
-
-	tracer *trace.Tracer
 }
 
 // CaddyModule returns the Caddy module information.
@@ -449,54 +442,7 @@ func (h *HTTPTransport) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
 		return h.h2cTransport.RoundTrip(req)
 	}
 
-	ctx, span := createClientSpanForProxy(req.Context(), req)
-	defer span.End()
-
-	// override the request's context with the span context, so it can be propagated
-	req = req.WithContext(ctx)
-
-	res, err := transport.Transport.RoundTrip(req)
-
-	return recordResponseToSpan(span, res, err)
-}
-
-func recordResponseToSpan(span trace.Span, res *http.Response, err error) (*http.Response, error) {
-	if err != nil {
-		span.RecordError(err)
-		span.SetStatus(codes.Error, err.Error())
-
-		return res, err
-	}
-
-	// record response into span
-	if res != nil {
-		span.SetStatus(semconv2.SpanStatusFromHTTPStatusCodeAndSpanKind(res.StatusCode, trace.SpanKindClient))
-		span.SetAttributes(
-			semconv.HTTPStatusCodeKey.Int(res.StatusCode),
-			semconv.HTTPResponseContentLengthKey.Int64(res.ContentLength),
-		)
-	}
-
-	return res, err
-}
-
-func createClientSpanForProxy(ctx context.Context, req *http.Request) (context.Context, trace.Span) {
-	tracer := otel.Tracer("caddy/reverseproxy/httptransport")
-
-	// create a new span for the client request
-	ctx, span := tracer.Start(ctx, "client request",
-		trace.WithAttributes(
-			semconv.HTTPURLKey.String(req.URL.String()),
-			semconv.HTTPMethodKey.String(req.Method),
-			semconv.HTTPUserAgentKey.String(req.UserAgent()),
-			semconv.HTTPSchemeKey.String(req.URL.Scheme),
-			semconv.HTTPTargetKey.String(req.URL.Path),
-			semconv.HTTPClientIPKey.String(req.RemoteAddr),
-			semconv.HTTPFlavorKey.String(req.Proto),
-		),
-	)
-
-	return ctx, span
+	return transport.Transport.RoundTrip(req)
 }
 
 // SetScheme ensures that the outbound request req
diff --git a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/reverseproxy.go b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/reverseproxy.go
index 1a559e5dd..de2e5ea5a 100644
--- a/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/reverseproxy.go
+++ b/modules/caddyhttp/reverseproxy/reverseproxy.go
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/contrib/instrumentation/net/http/otelhttp"
 	"io"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
@@ -784,8 +785,10 @@ func (h *Handler) reverseProxy(rw http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request, origRe
 
 	// do the round-trip; emit debug log with values we know are
 	// safe, or if there is no error, emit fuller log entry
+	// we are wrapping the RoundTripper to make it observable
 	start := time.Now()
-	res, err := h.Transport.RoundTrip(req)
+	otelTransport := otelhttp.NewTransport(h.Transport)
+	res, err := otelTransport.RoundTrip(req)
 	duration := time.Since(start)
 	logger := h.logger.With(
 		zap.String("upstream", di.Upstream.String()),