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,
diff --git a/api/test/trace/propagation/http_text_format_test.cc b/api/test/trace/propagation/http_text_format_test.cc
index d42d508860..8fa0e44ed2 100644
--- a/api/test/trace/propagation/http_text_format_test.cc
+++ b/api/test/trace/propagation/http_text_format_test.cc
@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@ TEST(TextMapPropagatorTest, NoSendEmptyTraceState)
   context::Context ctx2 = format.Extract(carrier, ctx1);
   TextMapCarrierTest carrier2;
   format.Inject(carrier2, ctx2);
-  EXPECT_TRUE(carrier.headers_.count("traceparent") > 0);
-  EXPECT_FALSE(carrier.headers_.count("tracestate") > 0);
+  EXPECT_TRUE(carrier2.headers_.count("traceparent") > 0);
+  EXPECT_FALSE(carrier2.headers_.count("tracestate") > 0);
 }
 
 TEST(TextMapPropagatorTest, PropogateTraceState)
@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@ TEST(TextMapPropagatorTest, PropogateTraceState)
   TextMapCarrierTest carrier2;
   format.Inject(carrier2, ctx2);
 
-  EXPECT_TRUE(carrier.headers_.count("traceparent") > 0);
-  EXPECT_TRUE(carrier.headers_.count("tracestate") > 0);
+  EXPECT_TRUE(carrier2.headers_.count("traceparent") > 0);
+  EXPECT_TRUE(carrier2.headers_.count("tracestate") > 0);
   EXPECT_EQ(carrier2.headers_["tracestate"], "congo=t61rcWkgMzE");
 }