diff --git a/micrometer-tracing-bridges/micrometer-tracing-bridge-otel/src/main/java/io/micrometer/tracing/otel/bridge/OtelSpan.java b/micrometer-tracing-bridges/micrometer-tracing-bridge-otel/src/main/java/io/micrometer/tracing/otel/bridge/OtelSpan.java
index b50f95db..0868c99b 100644
--- a/micrometer-tracing-bridges/micrometer-tracing-bridge-otel/src/main/java/io/micrometer/tracing/otel/bridge/OtelSpan.java
+++ b/micrometer-tracing-bridges/micrometer-tracing-bridge-otel/src/main/java/io/micrometer/tracing/otel/bridge/OtelSpan.java
@@ -16,13 +16,14 @@
 
 package io.micrometer.tracing.otel.bridge;
 
+import io.micrometer.tracing.Span;
+import io.opentelemetry.api.trace.StatusCode;
+import io.opentelemetry.context.Context;
+
 import java.util.Objects;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 
-import io.micrometer.tracing.Span;
-import io.opentelemetry.context.Context;
-
 /**
  * OpenTelemetry implementation of a {@link Span}.
  *
@@ -121,6 +122,7 @@ public Span remoteIpAndPort(String ip, int port) {
     @Override
     public Span error(Throwable throwable) {
         this.delegate.recordException(throwable);
+        this.delegate.setStatus(StatusCode.ERROR, throwable.getMessage());
         return new OtelSpan(this.delegate);
     }
 
diff --git a/micrometer-tracing-bridges/micrometer-tracing-bridge-otel/src/test/java/io/micrometer/tracing/otel/bridge/OtelSpanTests.java b/micrometer-tracing-bridges/micrometer-tracing-bridge-otel/src/test/java/io/micrometer/tracing/otel/bridge/OtelSpanTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..878d5763
--- /dev/null
+++ b/micrometer-tracing-bridges/micrometer-tracing-bridge-otel/src/test/java/io/micrometer/tracing/otel/bridge/OtelSpanTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2013-2021 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package io.micrometer.tracing.otel.bridge;
+
+import io.opentelemetry.api.trace.StatusCode;
+import io.opentelemetry.context.propagation.ContextPropagators;
+import io.opentelemetry.extension.trace.propagation.B3Propagator;
+import io.opentelemetry.sdk.OpenTelemetrySdk;
+import io.opentelemetry.sdk.trace.SdkTracerProvider;
+import io.opentelemetry.sdk.trace.data.SpanData;
+import io.opentelemetry.sdk.trace.data.StatusData;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.BDDAssertions.then;
+
+class OtelSpanTests {
+
+    @Test
+    void should_set_status_to_error_when_recording_exception() {
+        ArrayListSpanProcessor arrayListSpanProcessor = new ArrayListSpanProcessor();
+        SdkTracerProvider sdkTracerProvider = SdkTracerProvider.builder()
+                .setSampler(io.opentelemetry.sdk.trace.samplers.Sampler.alwaysOn())
+                .addSpanProcessor(arrayListSpanProcessor).build();
+        OpenTelemetrySdk openTelemetrySdk = OpenTelemetrySdk.builder().setTracerProvider(sdkTracerProvider)
+                .setPropagators(ContextPropagators.create(B3Propagator.injectingSingleHeader())).build();
+        io.opentelemetry.api.trace.Tracer otelTracer = openTelemetrySdk.getTracer("io.micrometer.micrometer-tracing");
+        OtelSpan otelSpan = new OtelSpan(otelTracer.spanBuilder("foo").startSpan());
+
+        otelSpan.error(new RuntimeException("boom!")).end();
+
+        SpanData poll = arrayListSpanProcessor.spans().poll();
+        then(poll.getStatus()).isEqualTo(StatusData.create(StatusCode.ERROR, "boom!"));
+        then(poll.getEvents()).hasSize(1);
+        then(poll.getEvents().get(0).getAttributes().asMap().values()).containsAnyOf("boom!");
+    }
+
+}