diff --git a/span.go b/span.go
index 481bebefa..47586f97a 100644
--- a/span.go
+++ b/span.go
@@ -350,6 +350,11 @@ func (s *Span) End() {
 		// manually set the destination.service.resource
 		s.setExitSpanDestinationService()
 	}
+	if s.exit {
+		// The span was created as an exit span, but the user did not
+		// manually set the service.target fields.
+		s.setExitSpanServiceTarget()
+	}
 	if s.Duration < 0 {
 		s.Duration = time.Since(s.timestamp)
 	}
@@ -490,6 +495,40 @@ func (s *Span) setExitSpanDestinationService() {
 	})
 }
 
+func (s *Span) setExitSpanServiceTarget() {
+	fallbackType := s.Subtype
+	if fallbackType == "" {
+		fallbackType = s.Type
+	}
+
+	// Service target fields explicitly provided.
+	if s.Context.setServiceTargetCalled {
+		// if the user calls SetServiceTarget with a non-empty name, but empty type,
+		// we'll use the specified name and infer the type
+		if s.Context.serviceTarget.Type == "" && s.Context.serviceTarget.Name != "" {
+			s.Context.SetServiceTarget(ServiceTargetSpanContext{
+				Type: fallbackType,
+				Name: s.Context.serviceTarget.Name,
+			})
+		}
+		return
+	}
+
+	var fallbackName string
+	if s.Context.database.Type != "" { // database spans
+		fallbackName = s.Context.database.Instance
+	} else if s.Context.message.Queue != nil { // messaging spans
+		fallbackName = s.Context.message.Queue.Name
+	} else if s.Context.http.URL != nil { // http spans
+		fallbackName = s.Context.http.URL.Host
+	}
+
+	s.Context.SetServiceTarget(ServiceTargetSpanContext{
+		Type: fallbackType,
+		Name: fallbackName,
+	})
+}
+
 // IsExitSpan returns true if the span is an exit span.
 func (s *Span) IsExitSpan() bool {
 	if s == nil {
diff --git a/span_test.go b/span_test.go
index 5dcdcf855..a08ba13da 100644
--- a/span_test.go
+++ b/span_test.go
@@ -227,6 +227,10 @@ func TestStartExitSpan(t *testing.T) {
 	// the exit span will assign the value.
 	assert.Equal(t, spans[0].Context.Destination.Service.Resource, "type")
 
+	// When the context's ServiceTarget is not explicitly set, ending
+	// the exit span will assign the value.
+	assert.Equal(t, spans[0].Context.Service.Target.Type, "type")
+
 	tracer := apmtest.NewRecordingTracer()
 	defer tracer.Close()
 
@@ -1122,6 +1126,74 @@ func TestExitSpanDoesNotOverwriteDestinationServiceResource(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, spans[0].Context.Destination.Service.Resource, "my-custom-resource")
 }
 
+func TestExitSpanDoesNotOverwriteServiceTarget(t *testing.T) {
+	_, spans, _ := apmtest.WithTransaction(func(ctx context.Context) {
+		span, _ := apm.StartSpanOptions(ctx, "name", "type", apm.SpanOptions{ExitSpan: true})
+		assert.True(t, span.IsExitSpan())
+		span.Context.SetServiceTarget(apm.ServiceTargetSpanContext{
+			Type: "my-custom-resource",
+			Name: "foo",
+		})
+		span.Duration = 2 * time.Millisecond
+		span.End()
+	})
+	require.Len(t, spans, 1)
+	assert.Equal(t, spans[0].Context.Service.Target.Type, "my-custom-resource")
+	assert.Equal(t, spans[0].Context.Service.Target.Name, "foo")
+}
+
+func TestExitSpanDisableInferTarget(t *testing.T) {
+	_, spans, _ := apmtest.WithTransaction(func(ctx context.Context) {
+		span, _ := apm.StartSpanOptions(ctx, "name", "type", apm.SpanOptions{ExitSpan: true})
+		assert.True(t, span.IsExitSpan())
+		span.Context.SetDatabase(apm.DatabaseSpanContext{
+			Type:     "mysql",
+			Instance: "foo",
+		})
+		span.Context.SetServiceTarget(apm.ServiceTargetSpanContext{})
+		span.Duration = 2 * time.Millisecond
+		span.End()
+	})
+	require.Len(t, spans, 1)
+	assert.Empty(t, spans[0].Context.Service.Target.Type)
+	assert.Empty(t, spans[0].Context.Service.Target.Name)
+}
+
+func TestExitSpanInferTarget(t *testing.T) {
+	_, spans, _ := apmtest.WithTransaction(func(ctx context.Context) {
+		span, _ := apm.StartSpanOptions(ctx, "name", "type", apm.SpanOptions{ExitSpan: true})
+		assert.True(t, span.IsExitSpan())
+		span.Context.SetDatabase(apm.DatabaseSpanContext{
+			Type:     "mysql",
+			Instance: "foo",
+		})
+		span.Duration = 2 * time.Millisecond
+		span.End()
+	})
+	require.Len(t, spans, 1)
+	assert.Equal(t, spans[0].Context.Service.Target.Type, "type")
+	assert.Equal(t, spans[0].Context.Service.Target.Name, "foo")
+}
+
+func TestExitSpanInferTargetWithName(t *testing.T) {
+	_, spans, _ := apmtest.WithTransaction(func(ctx context.Context) {
+		span, _ := apm.StartSpanOptions(ctx, "name", "type", apm.SpanOptions{ExitSpan: true})
+		assert.True(t, span.IsExitSpan())
+		span.Context.SetDatabase(apm.DatabaseSpanContext{
+			Type:     "mysql",
+			Instance: "foo",
+		})
+		span.Context.SetServiceTarget(apm.ServiceTargetSpanContext{
+			Name: "bar",
+		})
+		span.Duration = 2 * time.Millisecond
+		span.End()
+	})
+	require.Len(t, spans, 1)
+	assert.Equal(t, spans[0].Context.Service.Target.Type, "type")
+	assert.Equal(t, spans[0].Context.Service.Target.Name, "bar")
+}
+
 func TestTracerStartSpanIDSpecified(t *testing.T) {
 	spanID := apm.SpanID{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}
 	_, spans, _ := apmtest.WithTransaction(func(ctx context.Context) {
diff --git a/spancontext.go b/spancontext.go
index f162ee040..61d6ad36b 100644
--- a/spancontext.go
+++ b/spancontext.go
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ type SpanContext struct {
 	// If SetDestinationService has been called, we do not auto-set its
 	// resource value on span end.
 	setDestinationServiceCalled bool
+
+	// If SetServiceTarget has been called, we do not auto-set its
+	// values on span end.
+	setServiceTargetCalled bool
 }
 
 // DatabaseSpanContext holds database span context.
@@ -273,6 +277,7 @@ func (c *SpanContext) SetDestinationService(service DestinationServiceSpanContex
 
 // SetServiceTarget sets the service target info in the context.
 func (c *SpanContext) SetServiceTarget(service ServiceTargetSpanContext) {
+	c.setServiceTargetCalled = true
 	c.serviceTarget.Type = truncateString(service.Type)
 	c.serviceTarget.Name = truncateString(service.Name)
 	c.service.Target = &c.serviceTarget