diff --git a/api/include/opentelemetry/trace/propagation/http_trace_context.h b/api/include/opentelemetry/trace/propagation/http_trace_context.h
index 91905b794e..9440960be3 100644
--- a/api/include/opentelemetry/trace/propagation/http_trace_context.h
+++ b/api/include/opentelemetry/trace/propagation/http_trace_context.h
@@ -100,7 +100,11 @@ class HttpTraceContext : public opentelemetry::context::propagation::TextMapProp
         nostd::span<char, 2>{&trace_parent[kTraceIdSize + kSpanIdSize + 5], 2});
 
     carrier.Set(kTraceParent, nostd::string_view(trace_parent, sizeof(trace_parent)));
-    carrier.Set(kTraceState, span_context.trace_state()->ToHeader());
+    const auto trace_state = span_context.trace_state()->ToHeader();
+    if (!trace_state.empty())
+    {
+      carrier.Set(kTraceState, trace_state);
+    }
   }
 
   static SpanContext ExtractContextFromTraceHeaders(nostd::string_view trace_parent,