diff --git a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/SessionImpl.java b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/SessionImpl.java
index a24742dbfd..a20a6b7b24 100644
--- a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/SessionImpl.java
+++ b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/SessionImpl.java
@@ -113,6 +113,10 @@ void setCurrentSpan(Span span) {
     currentSpan = span;
   }
 
+  Span getCurrentSpan() {
+    return currentSpan;
+  }
+
   @Override
   public long executePartitionedUpdate(Statement stmt, UpdateOption... options) {
     setActive(null);
diff --git a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/SessionPool.java b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/SessionPool.java
index cc431b52a5..c9e1b72e77 100644
--- a/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/SessionPool.java
+++ b/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/SessionPool.java
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@
 import io.opencensus.metrics.Metrics;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Annotation;
 import io.opencensus.trace.AttributeValue;
+import io.opencensus.trace.BlankSpan;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Span;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Status;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Tracer;
@@ -1472,11 +1473,15 @@ public void prepareReadWriteTransaction() {
 
     private void keepAlive() {
       markUsed();
+      final Span previousSpan = delegate.getCurrentSpan();
+      delegate.setCurrentSpan(BlankSpan.INSTANCE);
       try (ResultSet resultSet =
           delegate
               .singleUse(TimestampBound.ofMaxStaleness(60, TimeUnit.SECONDS))
               .executeQuery(Statement.newBuilder("SELECT 1").build())) {
         resultSet.next();
+      } finally {
+        delegate.setCurrentSpan(previousSpan);
       }
     }