diff --git a/changelog/@unreleased/pr-624.v2.yml b/changelog/@unreleased/pr-624.v2.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8cf491d60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/@unreleased/pr-624.v2.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+type: improvement
+improvement:
+  description: Add `Tracer.hasUnobservableTrace()` API to simplify tracing framework
+    implementations.
+  links:
+  - https://github.com/palantir/tracing-java/pull/624
diff --git a/tracing/src/main/java/com/palantir/tracing/Tracer.java b/tracing/src/main/java/com/palantir/tracing/Tracer.java
index 2b33ff1d6..9688f2d63 100644
--- a/tracing/src/main/java/com/palantir/tracing/Tracer.java
+++ b/tracing/src/main/java/com/palantir/tracing/Tracer.java
@@ -627,6 +627,16 @@ public static boolean isTraceObservable() {
         return trace != null && trace.isObservable();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns true if there is an active trace which is not observable. This is equivalent to the result of
+     * {@code Tracer.hasTraceId() && !Tracer.isTraceObservable()}.
+     * This check is used frequently in hot paths to avoid unnecessary overhead in unsampled traces.
+     */
+    public static boolean hasUnobservableTrace() {
+        Trace trace = currentTrace.get();
+        return trace != null && !trace.isObservable();
+    }
+
     /** Returns an independent copy of this thread's {@link Trace}. */
     static Optional<Trace> copyTrace() {
         Trace trace = currentTrace.get();
diff --git a/tracing/src/test/java/com/palantir/tracing/TracerTest.java b/tracing/src/test/java/com/palantir/tracing/TracerTest.java
index e24796ae8..e5ea8f617 100644
--- a/tracing/src/test/java/com/palantir/tracing/TracerTest.java
+++ b/tracing/src/test/java/com/palantir/tracing/TracerTest.java
@@ -157,11 +157,13 @@ public void testCountsSpansWhenTraceIsNotObservable() throws Exception {
         String traceId = Tracers.randomId();
         assertThat(MDC.get(Tracers.TRACE_ID_KEY)).isNull();
         assertThat(Tracer.hasTraceId()).isFalse();
+        assertThat(Tracer.hasUnobservableTrace()).isFalse();
         Tracer.setTrace(Trace.of(false, traceId, Optional.empty()));
         // Unsampled trace should still apply thread state
         assertThat(MDC.get(Tracers.TRACE_ID_KEY)).isEqualTo(traceId);
         assertThat(Tracer.hasTraceId()).isTrue();
         assertThat(Tracer.getTraceId()).isEqualTo(traceId);
+        assertThat(Tracer.hasUnobservableTrace()).isTrue();
         Tracer.fastStartSpan("foo");
         Tracer.fastStartSpan("bar");
 
@@ -175,6 +177,7 @@ public void testCountsSpansWhenTraceIsNotObservable() throws Exception {
         Tracer.fastCompleteSpan();
         assertThat(MDC.get(Tracers.TRACE_ID_KEY)).isNull();
         assertThat(Tracer.hasTraceId()).isFalse();
+        assertThat(Tracer.hasUnobservableTrace()).isFalse();
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -356,6 +359,36 @@ public void testHasTraceId() {
         assertThat(Tracer.hasTraceId()).isFalse();
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testHasUnobservableTrace_observableTrace() {
+        Tracer.setSampler(AlwaysSampler.INSTANCE);
+        assertThat(Tracer.hasTraceId()).isFalse();
+        assertThat(Tracer.hasUnobservableTrace()).isFalse();
+        Tracer.fastStartSpan("test");
+        try {
+            assertThat(Tracer.hasTraceId()).isTrue();
+            assertThat(Tracer.hasUnobservableTrace()).isFalse();
+        } finally {
+            Tracer.fastCompleteSpan();
+        }
+        assertThat(Tracer.hasUnobservableTrace()).isFalse();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testHasUnobservableTrace_unobservableTrace() {
+        Tracer.setSampler(NeverSampler.INSTANCE);
+        assertThat(Tracer.hasTraceId()).isFalse();
+        assertThat(Tracer.hasUnobservableTrace()).isFalse();
+        Tracer.fastStartSpan("test");
+        try {
+            assertThat(Tracer.hasTraceId()).isTrue();
+            assertThat(Tracer.hasUnobservableTrace()).isTrue();
+        } finally {
+            Tracer.fastCompleteSpan();
+        }
+        assertThat(Tracer.hasUnobservableTrace()).isFalse();
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testSimpleDetachedTrace() {
         assertThat(Tracer.hasTraceId()).isFalse();