diff --git a/config/envoyconfig/clusters.go b/config/envoyconfig/clusters.go
index 3fa9d2f8f..bfb083cc5 100644
--- a/config/envoyconfig/clusters.go
+++ b/config/envoyconfig/clusters.go
@@ -437,16 +437,6 @@ func grpcHealthChecks(name string) []*envoy_config_core_v3.HealthCheck {
 				ServiceName: name,
 			},
 		},
-		// EventLogger: []*envoy_config_core_v3.TypedExtensionConfig{
-		// 	{
-		// 		Name: "envoy.health_check.event_sink.file",
-		// 		TypedConfig: marshalAny(&envoy_extensions_eventsinks_file_v3.HealthCheckEventFileSink{
-		// 			EventLogPath: "/tmp/healthchecks",
-		// 		}),
-		// 	},
-		// },
-		// AlwaysLogHealthCheckFailures: true,
-		// AlwaysLogHealthCheckSuccess:  true,
 	}}
 }
 
diff --git a/config/envoyconfig/tracing.go b/config/envoyconfig/tracing.go
index a47ea356a..fe9b73a98 100644
--- a/config/envoyconfig/tracing.go
+++ b/config/envoyconfig/tracing.go
@@ -15,13 +15,31 @@ import (
 	envoy_type_v3 "github.com/envoyproxy/go-control-plane/envoy/type/v3"
 	"github.com/pomerium/pomerium/config"
 	"github.com/pomerium/pomerium/config/envoyconfig/extensions"
+	"github.com/pomerium/pomerium/internal/telemetry/trace"
 	"google.golang.org/protobuf/types/known/wrapperspb"
 )
 
+func isTracingEnabled(cfg *config.Options) bool {
+	if os.Getenv("OTEL_SDK_DISABLED") == "true" {
+		return false
+	}
+	switch cfg.TracingProvider {
+	case "none", "noop": // explicitly disabled from config
+		return false
+	case "": // unset
+		return trace.IsEnabledViaEnvironment()
+	default: // set to a non-empty value
+		return !trace.IsDisabledViaEnvironment()
+	}
+}
+
 func applyTracingConfig(
 	mgr *envoy_extensions_filters_network_http_connection_manager.HttpConnectionManager,
 	opts *config.Options,
 ) {
+	if !isTracingEnabled(opts) {
+		return
+	}
 	mgr.HttpFilters = append([]*envoy_extensions_filters_network_http_connection_manager.HttpFilter{
 		tracingMetadataFilter(),
 	}, mgr.HttpFilters...)
diff --git a/internal/telemetry/trace/client.go b/internal/telemetry/trace/client.go
index 5ab4510d5..0dcf332f9 100644
--- a/internal/telemetry/trace/client.go
+++ b/internal/telemetry/trace/client.go
@@ -225,3 +225,35 @@ func (n NoopClient) Stop(context.Context) error {
 func (n NoopClient) UploadTraces(context.Context, []*v1.ResourceSpans) error {
 	return nil
 }
+
+func IsDisabledViaEnvironment() bool {
+	if os.Getenv("OTEL_SDK_DISABLED") == "true" {
+		return true
+	}
+	exporter, ok := os.LookupEnv("OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER")
+	if !ok {
+		return false
+	}
+	switch strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(exporter)) {
+	case "none, noop":
+		return true
+	default:
+		return false
+	}
+}
+
+func IsEnabledViaEnvironment() bool {
+	if os.Getenv("OTEL_SDK_DISABLED") == "true" {
+		return false
+	}
+	exporter, ok := os.LookupEnv("OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER")
+	if !ok {
+		return false
+	}
+	switch strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(exporter)) {
+	case "none, noop", "":
+		return false
+	default:
+		return true
+	}
+}