diff --git a/instrumentation/faraday/lib/opentelemetry/instrumentation/faraday/instrumentation.rb b/instrumentation/faraday/lib/opentelemetry/instrumentation/faraday/instrumentation.rb
index abed74af45..17d4826e8d 100644
--- a/instrumentation/faraday/lib/opentelemetry/instrumentation/faraday/instrumentation.rb
+++ b/instrumentation/faraday/lib/opentelemetry/instrumentation/faraday/instrumentation.rb
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ class Instrumentation < OpenTelemetry::Instrumentation::Base
 
         def require_dependencies
           require_relative 'middlewares/tracer_middleware'
+          require_relative 'patches/connection'
           require_relative 'patches/rack_builder'
         end
 
@@ -37,7 +38,11 @@ def register_tracer_middleware
         end
 
         def use_middleware_by_default
-          ::Faraday::RackBuilder.prepend(Patches::RackBuilder)
+          if Gem::Version.new(::Faraday::VERSION) >= Gem::Version.new('1')
+            ::Faraday::Connection.prepend(Patches::Connection)
+          else
+            ::Faraday::RackBuilder.prepend(Patches::RackBuilder)
+          end
         end
       end
     end
diff --git a/instrumentation/faraday/lib/opentelemetry/instrumentation/faraday/patches/connection.rb b/instrumentation/faraday/lib/opentelemetry/instrumentation/faraday/patches/connection.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..51d8ad0b53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/instrumentation/faraday/lib/opentelemetry/instrumentation/faraday/patches/connection.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+# Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+module OpenTelemetry
+  module Instrumentation
+    module Faraday
+      module Patches
+        # Module to be prepended to force Faraday to use the middleware by
+        # default so the user doesn't have to call `use` for every connection.
+        module Connection
+          # Wraps Faraday::Connection#initialize:
+          # https://github.com/lostisland/faraday/blob/ff9dc1d1219a1bbdba95a9a4cf5d135b97247ee2/lib/faraday/connection.rb#L62-L92
+          def initialize(*args)
+            super.tap do
+              use(:open_telemetry) unless builder.handlers.any? do |handler|
+                handler.klass == Middlewares::TracerMiddleware
+              end
+            end
+          end
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/instrumentation/faraday/test/opentelemetry/instrumentation/faraday/middlewares/tracer_middleware_test.rb b/instrumentation/faraday/test/opentelemetry/instrumentation/faraday/middlewares/tracer_middleware_test.rb
index acedc19d23..8a0def73cc 100644
--- a/instrumentation/faraday/test/opentelemetry/instrumentation/faraday/middlewares/tracer_middleware_test.rb
+++ b/instrumentation/faraday/test/opentelemetry/instrumentation/faraday/middlewares/tracer_middleware_test.rb
@@ -198,5 +198,18 @@
         _(span.status.code).must_equal OpenTelemetry::Trace::Status::ERROR
       end
     end
+
+    describe 'when explicitly adding the tracer middleware' do
+      let(:client) do
+        Faraday.new do |builder|
+          builder.use :open_telemetry
+        end
+      end
+
+      it 'only adds the middleware once' do
+        tracers = client.builder.handlers.count(OpenTelemetry::Instrumentation::Faraday::Middlewares::TracerMiddleware)
+        _(tracers).must_equal 1
+      end
+    end
   end
 end