diff --git a/lib/ddtrace/contrib/racecar/patcher.rb b/lib/ddtrace/contrib/racecar/patcher.rb
index 5da2a48953..a26d128501 100644
--- a/lib/ddtrace/contrib/racecar/patcher.rb
+++ b/lib/ddtrace/contrib/racecar/patcher.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 require 'ddtrace/ext/app_types'
+require 'ddtrace/contrib/active_support/notifications/subscriber'
 
 module Datadog
   module Contrib
@@ -6,19 +7,24 @@ module Racecar
       # Provides instrumentation for `racecar` through ActiveSupport instrumentation signals
       module Patcher
         include Base
+        include ActiveSupport::Notifications::Subscriber
+
         NAME_MESSAGE = 'racecar.message'.freeze
         NAME_BATCH = 'racecar.batch'.freeze
         register_as :racecar
         option :tracer, default: Datadog.tracer
         option :service_name, default: 'racecar'
 
+        on_subscribe do
+          subscribe('process_message.racecar', self::NAME_MESSAGE, {}, configuration[:tracer], &method(:process))
+          subscribe('process_batch.racecar', self::NAME_BATCH, {}, configuration[:tracer], &method(:process))
+        end
+
         class << self
           def patch
             return patched? if patched? || !compatible?
 
-            ::ActiveSupport::Notifications.subscribe('process_batch.racecar', self)
-            ::ActiveSupport::Notifications.subscribe('process_message.racecar', self)
-
+            subscribe!
             configuration[:tracer].set_service_info(
               configuration[:service_name],
               'racecar',
@@ -33,28 +39,17 @@ def patched?
             @patched = false
           end
 
-          def start(event, _, payload)
-            ensure_clean_context!
-
-            name = event[/message/] ? NAME_MESSAGE : NAME_BATCH
-            span = configuration[:tracer].trace(name)
+          def process(span, event, _, payload)
             span.service = configuration[:service_name]
             span.resource = payload[:consumer_class]
+
             span.set_tag('kafka.topic', payload[:topic])
             span.set_tag('kafka.consumer', payload[:consumer_class])
             span.set_tag('kafka.partition', payload[:partition])
             span.set_tag('kafka.offset', payload[:offset]) if payload.key?(:offset)
             span.set_tag('kafka.first_offset', payload[:first_offset]) if payload.key?(:first_offset)
             span.set_tag('kafka.message_count', payload[:message_count]) if payload.key?(:message_count)
-          end
-
-          def finish(_, _, payload)
-            current_span = configuration[:tracer].call_context.current_span
-
-            return unless current_span
-
-            current_span.set_error(payload[:exception_object]) if payload[:exception_object]
-            current_span.finish
+            span.set_error(payload[:exception_object]) if payload[:exception_object]
           end
 
           private
@@ -66,12 +61,6 @@ def configuration
           def compatible?
             defined?(::Racecar) && defined?(::ActiveSupport::Notifications)
           end
-
-          def ensure_clean_context!
-            return unless configuration[:tracer].call_context.current_span
-
-            configuration[:tracer].provider.context = Context.new
-          end
         end
       end
     end
diff --git a/spec/ddtrace/contrib/racecar/patcher_spec.rb b/spec/ddtrace/contrib/racecar/patcher_spec.rb
index bba4ca1c5f..7e219836f9 100644
--- a/spec/ddtrace/contrib/racecar/patcher_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/ddtrace/contrib/racecar/patcher_spec.rb
@@ -17,6 +17,14 @@ def all_spans
     Datadog.configure do |c|
       c.use :racecar, tracer: tracer
     end
+
+    # Make sure to update the subscription tracer,
+    # so we aren't writing to a stale tracer.
+    if Datadog::Contrib::Racecar::Patcher.patched?
+      Datadog::Contrib::Racecar::Patcher.subscriptions.each do |subscription|
+        allow(subscription).to receive(:tracer).and_return(tracer)
+      end
+    end
   end
 
   describe 'for single message processing' do