diff --git a/sdk/ai/azure-ai-projects/azure/ai/projects/telemetry/_responses_instrumentor.py b/sdk/ai/azure-ai-projects/azure/ai/projects/telemetry/_responses_instrumentor.py
index fdb3cc456214..5fb17ab740cd 100644
--- a/sdk/ai/azure-ai-projects/azure/ai/projects/telemetry/_responses_instrumentor.py
+++ b/sdk/ai/azure-ai-projects/azure/ai/projects/telemetry/_responses_instrumentor.py
@@ -557,6 +557,10 @@ def _append_to_message_attribute(
         new_messages: List[Dict[str, Any]],
     ) -> None:
         """Helper to append messages to an existing attribute, combining with previous messages."""
+
+        if not span.span_instance.is_recording():
+            return        
+        
         # Get existing attribute value
         existing_value = span.span_instance.attributes.get(attribute_name) if span.span_instance.attributes else None