diff --git a/ddtrace/tracer/context.go b/ddtrace/tracer/context.go
index f33f0048a8b..78e830cfe78 100644
--- a/ddtrace/tracer/context.go
+++ b/ddtrace/tracer/context.go
@@ -11,11 +11,17 @@ import (
 	"github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/v2/instrumentation/options"
 	"github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/v2/internal"
 	illmobs "github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/v2/internal/llmobs"
+	"github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/v2/internal/log"
 	"github.com/DataDog/dd-trace-go/v2/internal/orchestrion"
 )
 
 // ContextWithSpan returns a copy of the given context which includes the span s.
+// If ctx is nil, a new background context is created to avoid panicking.
 func ContextWithSpan(ctx context.Context, s *Span) context.Context {
+	if ctx == nil {
+		log.Warn("ContextWithSpan: received nil context, falling back to context.Background()")
+		ctx = context.Background()
+	}
 	newCtx := orchestrion.CtxWithValue(ctx, internal.ActiveSpanKey, s)
 	return contextWithPropagatedLLMSpan(newCtx, s)
 }
diff --git a/ddtrace/tracer/context_test.go b/ddtrace/tracer/context_test.go
index a6b4ad952f2..3e98bb613fc 100644
--- a/ddtrace/tracer/context_test.go
+++ b/ddtrace/tracer/context_test.go
@@ -17,11 +17,23 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestContextWithSpan(t *testing.T) {
-	want := &Span{spanID: 123}
-	ctx := ContextWithSpan(context.Background(), want)
-	got := ctx.Value(internal.ActiveSpanKey)
-	assert := assert.New(t)
-	assert.Equal(got, want)
+	t.Run("OK", func(t *testing.T) {
+		want := &Span{spanID: 123}
+		ctx := ContextWithSpan(context.Background(), want)
+		got := ctx.Value(internal.ActiveSpanKey)
+		assert := assert.New(t)
+		assert.Equal(got, want)
+	})
+
+	t.Run("nil context", func(t *testing.T) {
+		assert.NotPanics(t, func() {
+			want := &Span{spanID: 123}
+			ctx := ContextWithSpan(nil, want)
+			got := ctx.Value(internal.ActiveSpanKey)
+			assert := assert.New(t)
+			assert.Equal(got, want)
+		})
+	})
 }
 
 func TestSpanFromContext(t *testing.T) {