diff --git a/dd-trace-ot/src/main/java/datadog/opentracing/DDTracer.java b/dd-trace-ot/src/main/java/datadog/opentracing/DDTracer.java
index 487f53be66..74bf6129e7 100644
--- a/dd-trace-ot/src/main/java/datadog/opentracing/DDTracer.java
+++ b/dd-trace-ot/src/main/java/datadog/opentracing/DDTracer.java
@@ -619,7 +619,7 @@ public class DDTracer implements io.opentracing.Tracer, Closeable, datadog.trace
       if (parentContext == null && !ignoreScope) {
         // use the Scope as parent unless overridden or ignored.
         final Scope scope = scopeManager.active();
-        if (scope != null && scope.span() != null) {
+        if (scope != null) {
           parentContext = scope.span().context();
         }
       }
diff --git a/dd-trace-ot/src/main/java/datadog/opentracing/scopemanager/ContinuableScope.java b/dd-trace-ot/src/main/java/datadog/opentracing/scopemanager/ContinuableScope.java
index 53a788dd9e..049a14ad77 100644
--- a/dd-trace-ot/src/main/java/datadog/opentracing/scopemanager/ContinuableScope.java
+++ b/dd-trace-ot/src/main/java/datadog/opentracing/scopemanager/ContinuableScope.java
@@ -44,11 +44,12 @@ public class ContinuableScope implements Scope, TraceScope {
       final Continuation continuation,
       final DDSpan spanUnderScope,
       final boolean finishOnClose) {
+    assert spanUnderScope != null : "span must not be null";
     this.scopeManager = scopeManager;
     this.openCount = openCount;
     this.continuation = continuation;
     this.spanUnderScope = spanUnderScope;
-    this.finishOnClose = finishOnClose && spanUnderScope != null;
+    this.finishOnClose = finishOnClose;
     toRestore = scopeManager.tlsScope.get();
     scopeManager.tlsScope.set(this);
     for (final ScopeListener listener : scopeManager.scopeListeners) {
diff --git a/dd-trace-ot/src/main/java/datadog/opentracing/scopemanager/SimpleScope.java b/dd-trace-ot/src/main/java/datadog/opentracing/scopemanager/SimpleScope.java
index d11194a9c9..3f97c8a2d7 100644
--- a/dd-trace-ot/src/main/java/datadog/opentracing/scopemanager/SimpleScope.java
+++ b/dd-trace-ot/src/main/java/datadog/opentracing/scopemanager/SimpleScope.java
@@ -15,9 +15,10 @@ public class SimpleScope implements Scope {
       final ContextualScopeManager scopeManager,
       final Span spanUnderScope,
       final boolean finishOnClose) {
+    assert spanUnderScope != null : "span must not be null";
     this.scopeManager = scopeManager;
     this.spanUnderScope = spanUnderScope;
-    this.finishOnClose = finishOnClose && spanUnderScope != null;
+    this.finishOnClose = finishOnClose;
     toRestore = scopeManager.tlsScope.get();
     scopeManager.tlsScope.set(this);
     for (final ScopeListener listener : scopeManager.scopeListeners) {
diff --git a/dd-trace-ot/src/test/groovy/datadog/opentracing/DDSpanBuilderTest.groovy b/dd-trace-ot/src/test/groovy/datadog/opentracing/DDSpanBuilderTest.groovy
index e7a6da24e2..86452c433d 100644
--- a/dd-trace-ot/src/test/groovy/datadog/opentracing/DDSpanBuilderTest.groovy
+++ b/dd-trace-ot/src/test/groovy/datadog/opentracing/DDSpanBuilderTest.groovy
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import datadog.trace.api.DDTags
 import datadog.trace.api.sampling.PrioritySampling
 import datadog.trace.common.writer.ListWriter
 import io.opentracing.Scope
+import io.opentracing.noop.NoopSpan
 import spock.lang.Specification
 
 import static datadog.opentracing.DDSpanContext.ORIGIN_KEY
@@ -176,12 +177,12 @@ class DDSpanBuilderTest extends Specification {
 
   def "should link to parent span implicitly"() {
     setup:
-    final Scope parent = nullParent ?
-      tracer.scopeManager().activate(null, false) :
+    final Scope parent = noopParent ?
+      tracer.scopeManager().activate(NoopSpan.INSTANCE, false) :
       tracer.buildSpan("parent")
         .startActive(false)
 
-    final String expectedParentId = nullParent ? "0" : parent.span().context().getSpanId()
+    final String expectedParentId = noopParent ? "0" : parent.span().context().getSpanId()
 
     final String expectedName = "fakeName"
 
@@ -198,7 +199,7 @@ class DDSpanBuilderTest extends Specification {
     parent.close()
 
     where:
-    nullParent << [false, true]
+    noopParent << [false, true]
   }
 
   def "should inherit the DD parent attributes"() {
diff --git a/dd-trace-ot/src/test/groovy/datadog/opentracing/scopemanager/ScopeManagerTest.groovy b/dd-trace-ot/src/test/groovy/datadog/opentracing/scopemanager/ScopeManagerTest.groovy
index 54afaade40..80e2eeb879 100644
--- a/dd-trace-ot/src/test/groovy/datadog/opentracing/scopemanager/ScopeManagerTest.groovy
+++ b/dd-trace-ot/src/test/groovy/datadog/opentracing/scopemanager/ScopeManagerTest.groovy
@@ -96,19 +96,19 @@ class ScopeManagerTest extends Specification {
   def "sets parent as current upon close"() {
     setup:
     def parentScope = tracer.buildSpan("parent").startActive(finishSpan)
-    def childScope = nullChild ? tracer.scopeManager().activate(null, finishSpan) : tracer.buildSpan("parent").startActive(finishSpan)
+    def childScope = noopChild ? tracer.scopeManager().activate(NoopSpan.INSTANCE, finishSpan) : tracer.buildSpan("parent").startActive(finishSpan)
 
     expect:
     scopeManager.active() == childScope
-    nullChild || childScope.span().context().parentId == parentScope.span().context().spanId
-    nullChild || childScope.span().context().trace == parentScope.span().context().trace
+    noopChild || childScope.span().context().parentId == parentScope.span().context().spanId
+    noopChild || childScope.span().context().trace == parentScope.span().context().trace
 
     when:
     childScope.close()
 
     then:
     scopeManager.active() == parentScope
-    spanFinished(childScope.span()) == (nullChild ? null : finishSpan)
+    noopChild || spanFinished(childScope.span()) == finishSpan
     !spanFinished(parentScope.span())
     writer == []
 
@@ -116,13 +116,13 @@ class ScopeManagerTest extends Specification {
     parentScope.close()
 
     then:
-    spanFinished(childScope.span()) == (nullChild ? null : finishSpan)
+    noopChild || spanFinished(childScope.span()) == finishSpan
     spanFinished(parentScope.span()) == finishSpan
-    writer == [[parentScope.span(), childScope.span()]] || !finishSpan || nullChild
+    writer == [[parentScope.span(), childScope.span()]] || !finishSpan || noopChild
     scopeManager.active() == null
 
     where:
-    finishSpan | nullChild
+    finishSpan | noopChild
     true       | false
     false      | false
     true       | true
@@ -571,7 +571,7 @@ class ScopeManagerTest extends Specification {
     closedCount.get() == 4
   }
 
-  Boolean spanFinished(Span span) {
+  boolean spanFinished(Span span) {
     return ((DDSpan) span)?.isFinished()
   }