diff --git a/processor/spanmetricsprocessor/processor.go b/processor/spanmetricsprocessor/processor.go
index 747cf0de4e76..3faa6299dc1e 100644
--- a/processor/spanmetricsprocessor/processor.go
+++ b/processor/spanmetricsprocessor/processor.go
@@ -375,7 +375,13 @@ func (p *processorImp) aggregateMetricsForServiceSpans(rspans ptrace.ResourceSpa
 }
 
 func (p *processorImp) aggregateMetricsForSpan(serviceName string, span ptrace.Span, resourceAttr pcommon.Map) {
-	latencyInMilliseconds := float64(span.EndTimestamp()-span.StartTimestamp()) / float64(time.Millisecond.Nanoseconds())
+	// Protect against end timestamps before start timestamps. Assume 0 duration.
+	latencyInMilliseconds := float64(0)
+	startTime := span.StartTimestamp()
+	endTime := span.EndTimestamp()
+	if endTime > startTime {
+		latencyInMilliseconds = float64(endTime-startTime) / float64(time.Millisecond.Nanoseconds())
+	}
 
 	// Binary search to find the latencyInMilliseconds bucket index.
 	index := sort.SearchFloat64s(p.latencyBounds, latencyInMilliseconds)
diff --git a/processor/spanmetricsprocessor/processor_test.go b/processor/spanmetricsprocessor/processor_test.go
index 5d640d88089f..bb88936e3267 100644
--- a/processor/spanmetricsprocessor/processor_test.go
+++ b/processor/spanmetricsprocessor/processor_test.go
@@ -270,6 +270,13 @@ func TestProcessorConsumeTraces(t *testing.T) {
 			verifier:               verifyConsumeMetricsInputDelta,
 			traces:                 []ptrace.Traces{buildSampleTrace(), buildSampleTrace()},
 		},
+		{
+			// Consumptions with improper timestamps
+			name:                   "Test bad consumptions (Delta).",
+			aggregationTemporality: cumulative,
+			verifier:               verifyBadMetricsOkay,
+			traces:                 []ptrace.Traces{buildBadSampleTrace()},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range testcases {
@@ -404,6 +411,10 @@ func verifyConsumeMetricsInputCumulative(t testing.TB, input pmetric.Metrics) bo
 	return verifyConsumeMetricsInput(t, input, pmetric.MetricAggregationTemporalityCumulative, 1)
 }
 
+func verifyBadMetricsOkay(t testing.TB, input pmetric.Metrics) bool {
+	return true // Validating no exception
+}
+
 // verifyConsumeMetricsInputDelta expects one accumulation of metrics, and marked as delta
 func verifyConsumeMetricsInputDelta(t testing.TB, input pmetric.Metrics) bool {
 	return verifyConsumeMetricsInput(t, input, pmetric.MetricAggregationTemporalityDelta, 1)
@@ -539,6 +550,16 @@ func verifyMetricLabels(dp metricDataPoint, t testing.TB, seenMetricIDs map[metr
 	seenMetricIDs[mID] = true
 }
 
+func buildBadSampleTrace() ptrace.Traces {
+	badTrace := buildSampleTrace()
+	span := badTrace.ResourceSpans().At(0).ScopeSpans().At(0).Spans().At(0)
+	now := time.Now()
+	// Flipping timestamp for a bad duration
+	span.SetEndTimestamp(pcommon.NewTimestampFromTime(now))
+	span.SetStartTimestamp(pcommon.NewTimestampFromTime(now.Add(sampleLatencyDuration)))
+	return badTrace
+}
+
 // buildSampleTrace builds the following trace:
 //   service-a/ping (server) ->
 //     service-a/ping (client) ->
diff --git a/unreleased/spanmetrics_7250.yaml b/unreleased/spanmetrics_7250.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..71feaa40d3ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/unreleased/spanmetrics_7250.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# One of 'breaking', 'deprecation', 'new_component', 'enhancement', 'bug_fix'
+change_type: bug_fix
+
+# The name of the component, or a single word describing the area of concern, (e.g. filelogreceiver)
+component: spanmetricsprocessor
+
+# A brief description of the change.  Surround your text with quotes ("") if it needs to start with a backtick (`).
+note: Modifies spanmetrics processor to handle negative durations without crashing. Related to open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js-contrib#1013
+
+
+# One or more tracking issues related to the change
+issues: [7250]
+
+# (Optional) One or more lines of additional information to render under the primary note.
+# These lines will be padded with 2 spaces and then inserted directly into the document.
+# Use pipe (|) for multiline entries.
+subtext: Sets negative durations to count towards the smallest histogram bucket.