diff --git a/sqlcon/connector.go b/sqlcon/connector.go
index 92d2a1be..d48ebf13 100644
--- a/sqlcon/connector.go
+++ b/sqlcon/connector.go
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ package sqlcon
 import (
 	"database/sql"
 	"fmt"
-	"github.com/satori/go.uuid"
 
 	"github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql"
 	"github.com/lib/pq"
@@ -212,8 +211,8 @@ func (c *SQLConnection) registerDriver() (string, error) {
 	driverName := c.URL.Scheme
 	if c.UseTracedDriver {
 		driverName = "instrumented-sql-driver"
-		if c.useRandomDriverName {
-			driverName = uuid.NewV4().String()
+		if len(c.options.forcedDriverName) > 0 {
+			driverName = c.options.forcedDriverName
 		}
 
 		tracingOpts := []instrumentedsql.Opt{instrumentedsql.WithTracer(opentracing.NewTracer(c.AllowRoot))}
diff --git a/sqlcon/connector_test.go b/sqlcon/connector_test.go
index 54af4676..136f1f0b 100644
--- a/sqlcon/connector_test.go
+++ b/sqlcon/connector_test.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 package sqlcon
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
@@ -30,6 +31,9 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/opentracing/opentracing-go"
+	"github.com/opentracing/opentracing-go/mocktracer"
+
 	_ "github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql"
 	"github.com/jmoiron/sqlx"
 	_ "github.com/lib/pq"
@@ -69,33 +73,92 @@ func merge(u *url.URL, params map[string]string) *url.URL {
 	return b
 }
 
+func TestDistributedTracing(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, testCase := range []struct {
+		description   string
+		sqlConnection *SQLConnection
+	}{
+		{
+			description: "mysql: when tracing has been configured - spans should be created",
+			sqlConnection: mustSQL(t, mysqlUrl.String(),
+				WithDistributedTracing(),
+				withRandomDriverName(), // this test option is set to ensure a unique driver name is registered
+				WithAllowRoot()),
+		},
+		{
+			description: "postgres: when tracing has been configured - spans should be created",
+			sqlConnection: mustSQL(t, postgresUrl.String(),
+				WithDistributedTracing(),
+				withRandomDriverName(), // this test option is set to ensure a unique driver name is registered
+				WithAllowRoot()),
+		},
+		{
+			description: "mysql: no spans should be created if parent span is missing from context when `WithAllowRoot` has NOT been set",
+			sqlConnection: mustSQL(t, mysqlUrl.String(),
+				WithDistributedTracing(), // Notice that the WithAllowRoot() option has NOT been set
+				withRandomDriverName()),  // this test option is set to ensure a unique driver name is registered
+		},
+		{
+			description: "postgres: no spans should be created if parent span is missing from context when `WithAllowRoot` has NOT been set",
+			sqlConnection: mustSQL(t, postgresUrl.String(),
+				WithDistributedTracing(), // Notice that the WithAllowRoot() option has NOT been set
+				withRandomDriverName()),  // this test option is set to ensure a unique driver name is registered
+		},
+		{
+			description:   "mysql: when tracing has NOT been configured - NO spans should be created",
+			sqlConnection: mustSQL(t, mysqlUrl.String()), // Notice that the WithDistributedTracing() option has NOT been set
+		},
+		{
+			description:   "postgres: when tracing has NOT been configured - NO spans should be created",
+			sqlConnection: mustSQL(t, postgresUrl.String()), // Notice that the WithDistributedTracing() option has NOT been set
+		},
+	} {
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("case=%s", testCase.description), func(t *testing.T) {
+			mockedTracer := mocktracer.New()
+			defer mockedTracer.Reset()
+			opentracing.SetGlobalTracer(mockedTracer)
+
+			db := testCase.sqlConnection.GetDatabase()
+			// Notice how no parent span exists in the provided context!
+			db.QueryRowContext(context.TODO(), "SELECT NOW()")
+
+			spans := mockedTracer.FinishedSpans()
+			if testCase.sqlConnection.UseTracedDriver && testCase.sqlConnection.AllowRoot {
+				assert.NotEmpty(t, spans)
+			} else {
+				assert.Empty(t, spans)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestRegisterDriver(t *testing.T) {
 	unsupportedDSN := "unsupported://unsupported:secret@localhost:1337/mydb"
 	supportedDSN := "mysql://foo@bar:baz@qux/db"
 
 	for _, testCase := range []struct {
-		description string
-		sqlConnection *SQLConnection
+		description        string
+		sqlConnection      *SQLConnection
 		expectedDriverName string
-		shouldError bool
-	} {
+		shouldError        bool
+	}{
 		{
-			description: "should return error if supplied DSN is unsupported for tracing",
-			sqlConnection: mustSQL(t, unsupportedDSN, WithDistributedTracing()),
+			description:        "should return error if supplied DSN is unsupported for tracing",
+			sqlConnection:      mustSQL(t, unsupportedDSN, WithDistributedTracing()),
 			expectedDriverName: "",
-			shouldError: true,
+			shouldError:        true,
 		},
 		{
-			description: "should return registered driver name if supplied DSN is valid for tracing",
-			sqlConnection: mustSQL(t, supportedDSN, WithDistributedTracing()),
+			description:        "should return registered driver name if supplied DSN is valid for tracing",
+			sqlConnection:      mustSQL(t, supportedDSN, WithDistributedTracing()),
 			expectedDriverName: "instrumented-sql-driver",
-			shouldError: false,
+			shouldError:        false,
 		},
 		{
-			description: "should return registered driver name if tracing is NOT configured",
-			sqlConnection: mustSQL(t, supportedDSN),
+			description:        "should return registered driver name if tracing is NOT configured",
+			sqlConnection:      mustSQL(t, supportedDSN),
 			expectedDriverName: "mysql",
-			shouldError: false,
+			shouldError:        false,
 		},
 	} {
 		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("case=%s", testCase.description), func(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/sqlcon/options.go b/sqlcon/options.go
index 38fb5d95..7c9986bf 100644
--- a/sqlcon/options.go
+++ b/sqlcon/options.go
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 package sqlcon
 
+import "github.com/satori/go.uuid"
+
 type options struct {
-	UseTracedDriver     bool
-	OmitArgs            bool
-	AllowRoot           bool
-	useRandomDriverName bool
+	UseTracedDriver  bool
+	OmitArgs         bool
+	AllowRoot        bool
+	forcedDriverName string
 }
 
 type Opt func(*options)
@@ -35,6 +37,6 @@ func WithAllowRoot() Opt {
 // Reason for this option is because you can't register a driver with the same name more than once
 func withRandomDriverName() Opt {
 	return func(o *options) {
-		o.useRandomDriverName = true
+		o.forcedDriverName = uuid.NewV4().String()
 	}
 }