diff --git a/pkg/api/http_server.go b/pkg/api/http_server.go
index afbf542ea09..ac8cde887f0 100644
--- a/pkg/api/http_server.go
+++ b/pkg/api/http_server.go
@@ -319,6 +319,8 @@ func (hs *HTTPServer) applyRoutes() {
 func (hs *HTTPServer) addMiddlewaresAndStaticRoutes() {
 	m := hs.macaron
 
+	m.Use(middleware.RequestTracing())
+
 	m.Use(middleware.Logger(hs.Cfg))
 
 	if hs.Cfg.EnableGzip {
diff --git a/pkg/middleware/request_tracing.go b/pkg/middleware/request_tracing.go
index c35c2a00734..2a531c0533c 100644
--- a/pkg/middleware/request_tracing.go
+++ b/pkg/middleware/request_tracing.go
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 package middleware
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
+	"strings"
 
 	opentracing "github.com/opentracing/opentracing-go"
 	"github.com/opentracing/opentracing-go/ext"
@@ -10,20 +12,56 @@ import (
 	"gopkg.in/macaron.v1"
 )
 
-func RequestTracing(handler string) macaron.Handler {
+type contextKey struct{}
+
+var routeOperationNameKey = contextKey{}
+
+// ProvideRouteOperationName creates a named middleware responsible for populating
+// the context with the route operation name that can be used later in the request pipeline.
+// Implements routing.RegisterNamedMiddleware.
+func ProvideRouteOperationName(name string) macaron.Handler {
 	return func(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request, c *macaron.Context) {
+		ctx := context.WithValue(c.Req.Context(), routeOperationNameKey, name)
+		c.Req.Request = c.Req.WithContext(ctx)
+	}
+}
+
+// RouteOperationNameFromContext receives the route operation name from context, if set.
+func RouteOperationNameFromContext(ctx context.Context) (string, bool) {
+	if val := ctx.Value(routeOperationNameKey); val != nil {
+		op, ok := val.(string)
+		return op, ok
+	}
+
+	return "", false
+}
+
+func RequestTracing() macaron.Handler {
+	return func(res http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request, c *macaron.Context) {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(c.Req.URL.Path, "/public/") ||
+			c.Req.URL.Path == "robots.txt" {
+			c.Next()
+			return
+		}
+
 		rw := res.(macaron.ResponseWriter)
 
 		tracer := opentracing.GlobalTracer()
 		wireContext, _ := tracer.Extract(opentracing.HTTPHeaders, opentracing.HTTPHeadersCarrier(req.Header))
-		span := tracer.StartSpan(fmt.Sprintf("HTTP %s", handler), ext.RPCServerOption(wireContext))
-		defer span.Finish()
+		span := tracer.StartSpan(fmt.Sprintf("HTTP %s %s", req.Method, req.URL.Path), ext.RPCServerOption(wireContext))
 
 		ctx := opentracing.ContextWithSpan(req.Context(), span)
 		c.Req.Request = req.WithContext(ctx)
 
 		c.Next()
 
+		// Only call span.Finish when a route operation name have been set,
+		// meaning that not set the span would not be reported.
+		if routeOperation, exists := RouteOperationNameFromContext(c.Req.Context()); exists {
+			defer span.Finish()
+			span.SetOperationName(fmt.Sprintf("HTTP %s %s", req.Method, routeOperation))
+		}
+
 		status := rw.Status()
 
 		ext.HTTPStatusCode.Set(span, uint16(status))
diff --git a/pkg/server/server.go b/pkg/server/server.go
index fcd5132e6ce..dc3744aab60 100644
--- a/pkg/server/server.go
+++ b/pkg/server/server.go
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ func (s *Server) buildServiceGraph(services []*registry.Descriptor) error {
 	objs := []interface{}{
 		bus.GetBus(),
 		s.cfg,
-		routing.NewRouteRegister(middleware.RequestTracing, middleware.RequestMetrics(s.cfg)),
+		routing.NewRouteRegister(middleware.ProvideRouteOperationName, middleware.RequestMetrics(s.cfg)),
 		localcache.New(5*time.Minute, 10*time.Minute),
 		s,
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/services/contexthandler/contexthandler.go b/pkg/services/contexthandler/contexthandler.go
index f858df42c1a..87216dc5318 100644
--- a/pkg/services/contexthandler/contexthandler.go
+++ b/pkg/services/contexthandler/contexthandler.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/sqlstore"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/setting"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/util"
+	cw "github.com/weaveworks/common/middleware"
 	"gopkg.in/macaron.v1"
 )
 
@@ -70,6 +71,11 @@ func (h *ContextHandler) Middleware(c *macaron.Context) {
 		Logger:         log.New("context"),
 	}
 
+	traceID, exists := cw.ExtractTraceID(c.Req.Request.Context())
+	if exists {
+		ctx.Logger = ctx.Logger.New("traceID", traceID)
+	}
+
 	const headerName = "X-Grafana-Org-Id"
 	orgID := int64(0)
 	orgIDHeader := ctx.Req.Header.Get(headerName)