diff --git a/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/src/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/proto/grpc/exporter.py b/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/src/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/proto/grpc/exporter.py
index 1936046297b..b97f7c57991 100644
--- a/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/src/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/proto/grpc/exporter.py
+++ b/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/src/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/proto/grpc/exporter.py
@@ -283,6 +283,19 @@ def _export(
         self, data: Union[TypingSequence[ReadableSpan], MetricsData]
     ) -> ExportResultT:
 
+        # FIXME remove this check if the export type for traces
+        # gets updated to a class that represents the proto
+        # TracesData and use the code below instead.
+        # logger.warning(
+        #     "Transient error %s encountered while exporting %s, retrying in %ss.",
+        #     error.code(),
+        #     data.__class__.__name__,
+        #     delay,
+        # )
+        if isinstance(data, TypingSequence):
+            exporting = "traces"
+        else:
+            exporting = "metrics"
         max_value = 64
         # expo returns a generator that yields delay values which grow
         # exponentially. Once delay is greater than max_value, the yielded
@@ -325,9 +338,12 @@ def _export(
                         )
 
                     logger.warning(
-                        "Transient error %s encountered while exporting %s, retrying in %ss.",
+                        (
+                            "Transient error %s encountered while exporting "
+                            "%s, retrying in %ss."
+                        ),
                         error.code(),
-                        data.__class__.__name__,
+                        exporting,
                         delay,
                     )
                     sleep(delay)
@@ -335,7 +351,7 @@ def _export(
                 else:
                     logger.error(
                         "Failed to export %s, error code: %s",
-                        data.__class__.__name__,
+                        exporting,
                         error.code(),
                     )
 
diff --git a/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/tests/test_otlp_exporter_mixin.py b/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/tests/test_otlp_exporter_mixin.py
index 5533bf2c110..d5dd8f1d467 100644
--- a/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/tests/test_otlp_exporter_mixin.py
+++ b/exporter/opentelemetry-exporter-otlp-proto-grpc/tests/test_otlp_exporter_mixin.py
@@ -84,10 +84,18 @@ def _translate_data(
 
         with self.assertLogs(level=WARNING) as warning:
             # pylint: disable=protected-access
-            otlp_mock_exporter._export(Mock())
+            otlp_mock_exporter._export([])
             self.assertEqual(
                 warning.records[0].message,
-                "Failed to export Mock, error code: None",
+                "Failed to export traces, error code: None",
+            )
+
+        with self.assertLogs(level=WARNING) as warning:
+            # pylint: disable=protected-access
+            otlp_mock_exporter._export(None)
+            self.assertEqual(
+                warning.records[0].message,
+                "Failed to export metrics, error code: None",
             )
 
         def code(self):  # pylint: disable=function-redefined
@@ -101,11 +109,22 @@ def trailing_metadata(self):
 
         with self.assertLogs(level=WARNING) as warning:
             # pylint: disable=protected-access
-            otlp_mock_exporter._export(Mock())
+            otlp_mock_exporter._export([])
+            self.assertEqual(
+                warning.records[0].message,
+                (
+                    "Transient error StatusCode.CANCELLED encountered "
+                    "while exporting traces, retrying in 0s."
+                ),
+            )
+
+        with self.assertLogs(level=WARNING) as warning:
+            # pylint: disable=protected-access
+            otlp_mock_exporter._export(None)
             self.assertEqual(
                 warning.records[0].message,
                 (
                     "Transient error StatusCode.CANCELLED encountered "
-                    "while exporting Mock, retrying in 0s."
+                    "while exporting metrics, retrying in 0s."
                 ),
             )