diff --git a/pkg/services/sqlstore/session.go b/pkg/services/sqlstore/session.go
index 2c523ecc4ba..b0cc6a804d8 100644
--- a/pkg/services/sqlstore/session.go
+++ b/pkg/services/sqlstore/session.go
@@ -7,11 +7,13 @@ import (
 	"reflect"
 	"time"
 
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/attribute"
 	"xorm.io/xorm"
 
 	"github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3"
 
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/infra/log"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/infra/tracing"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/sqlstore/migrator"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/util/errutil"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/util/retryer"
@@ -36,7 +38,7 @@ func (sess *DBSession) PublishAfterCommit(msg interface{}) {
 	sess.events = append(sess.events, msg)
 }
 
-func startSessionOrUseExisting(ctx context.Context, engine *xorm.Engine, beginTran bool) (*DBSession, bool, error) {
+func startSessionOrUseExisting(ctx context.Context, engine *xorm.Engine, beginTran bool, tracer tracing.Tracer) (*DBSession, bool, tracing.Span, error) {
 	value := ctx.Value(ContextSessionKey{})
 	var sess *DBSession
 	sess, ok := value.(*DBSession)
@@ -45,20 +47,23 @@ func startSessionOrUseExisting(ctx context.Context, engine *xorm.Engine, beginTr
 		ctxLogger := sessionLogger.FromContext(ctx)
 		ctxLogger.Debug("reusing existing session", "transaction", sess.transactionOpen)
 		sess.Session = sess.Session.Context(ctx)
-		return sess, false, nil
+		return sess, false, nil, nil
 	}
 
+	tctx, span := tracer.Start(ctx, "open session")
+	span.SetAttributes("transaction", beginTran, attribute.Key("transaction").Bool(beginTran))
+
 	newSess := &DBSession{Session: engine.NewSession(), transactionOpen: beginTran}
+
 	if beginTran {
 		err := newSess.Begin()
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, false, err
+			return nil, false, span, err
 		}
 	}
+	newSess.Session = newSess.Session.Context(tctx)
 
-	newSess.Session = newSess.Session.Context(ctx)
-
-	return newSess, true, nil
+	return newSess, true, span, nil
 }
 
 // WithDbSession calls the callback with the session in the context (if exists).
@@ -106,12 +111,17 @@ func (ss *SQLStore) retryOnLocks(ctx context.Context, callback DBTransactionFunc
 }
 
 func (ss *SQLStore) withDbSession(ctx context.Context, engine *xorm.Engine, callback DBTransactionFunc) error {
-	sess, isNew, err := startSessionOrUseExisting(ctx, engine, false)
+	sess, isNew, span, err := startSessionOrUseExisting(ctx, engine, false, ss.tracer)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	if isNew {
-		defer sess.Close()
+		defer func() {
+			if span != nil {
+				span.End()
+			}
+			sess.Close()
+		}()
 	}
 	retry := 0
 	return retryer.Retry(ss.retryOnLocks(ctx, callback, sess, retry), ss.dbCfg.QueryRetries, time.Millisecond*time.Duration(10), time.Second)
diff --git a/pkg/services/sqlstore/transactions.go b/pkg/services/sqlstore/transactions.go
index 92b466f4890..a3ed3527428 100644
--- a/pkg/services/sqlstore/transactions.go
+++ b/pkg/services/sqlstore/transactions.go
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ func (ss *SQLStore) inTransactionWithRetry(ctx context.Context, fn func(ctx cont
 }
 
 func (ss *SQLStore) inTransactionWithRetryCtx(ctx context.Context, engine *xorm.Engine, bus bus.Bus, callback DBTransactionFunc, retry int) error {
-	sess, isNew, err := startSessionOrUseExisting(ctx, engine, true)
+	sess, isNew, span, err := startSessionOrUseExisting(ctx, engine, true, ss.tracer)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -45,7 +45,12 @@ func (ss *SQLStore) inTransactionWithRetryCtx(ctx context.Context, engine *xorm.
 	}
 
 	if isNew { // if this call initiated the session, it should be responsible for closing it.
-		defer sess.Close()
+		defer func() {
+			if span != nil {
+				span.End()
+			}
+			sess.Close()
+		}()
 	}
 
 	err = callback(sess)