diff --git a/cmake/XrplCore.cmake b/cmake/XrplCore.cmake
index c4c9c180a1..c5748016c9 100644
--- a/cmake/XrplCore.cmake
+++ b/cmake/XrplCore.cmake
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ target_link_libraries(xrpl.libxrpl.tx PUBLIC xrpl.libxrpl.ledger)
 add_module(xrpl telemetry)
 target_link_libraries(
     xrpl.libxrpl.telemetry
-    PUBLIC xrpl.libxrpl.basics xrpl.libxrpl.beast
+    PUBLIC xrpl.libxrpl.basics xrpl.libxrpl.beast xrpl.libxrpl.config
 )
 if(telemetry)
     target_link_libraries(
diff --git a/include/xrpl/telemetry/Telemetry.h b/include/xrpl/telemetry/Telemetry.h
index f1144da676..fdc118ed95 100644
--- a/include/xrpl/telemetry/Telemetry.h
+++ b/include/xrpl/telemetry/Telemetry.h
@@ -135,11 +135,11 @@ public:
         std::string serviceName = "xrpld";
 
         /** OTel resource attribute `service.version` (set from BuildInfo). */
-        std::string serviceVersion{};
+        std::string serviceVersion;
 
         /** OTel resource attribute `service.instance.id` (defaults to node
             public key). */
-        std::string serviceInstanceId{};
+        std::string serviceInstanceId;
 
         /** OTLP/HTTP endpoint URL where spans are sent. */
         std::string exporterEndpoint = "http://localhost:4318/v1/traces";
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ public:
         bool useTls = false;
 
         /** Path to a CA certificate bundle for TLS verification. */
-        std::string tlsCertPath{};
+        std::string tlsCertPath;
 
         /** Head-based sampling ratio. Intentionally fixed at 1.0 (sample
             everything) and NOT read from config. A per-node ratio would let
diff --git a/src/libxrpl/telemetry/SpanGuard.cpp b/src/libxrpl/telemetry/SpanGuard.cpp
index 1e7024150b..87739ae7b8 100644
--- a/src/libxrpl/telemetry/SpanGuard.cpp
+++ b/src/libxrpl/telemetry/SpanGuard.cpp
@@ -344,6 +344,14 @@ SpanGuard::discard()
     {
         gTlDiscardCurrentSpan = true;
         impl_->span->End();
+        // Clear here so discard() owns the flag's whole lifetime
+        // (set -> End -> clear) in one scope, rather than relying on
+        // FilteringSpanProcessor::OnEnd() to clear it. Today every valid guard
+        // wraps a recording span (head sampling is 1.0), so OnEnd() always runs
+        // and clearing here is equivalent — but colocating set and clear keeps
+        // the flag leak-proof if a later phase can hand back a non-recording
+        // span (e.g. honoring a non-sampled remote parent during propagation).
+        gTlDiscardCurrentSpan = false;
         impl_->span = nullptr;  // prevent ~Impl from calling End() again
         impl_.reset();
     }
diff --git a/src/libxrpl/telemetry/Telemetry.cpp b/src/libxrpl/telemetry/Telemetry.cpp
index c4425bda84..9e55a40f4e 100644
--- a/src/libxrpl/telemetry/Telemetry.cpp
+++ b/src/libxrpl/telemetry/Telemetry.cpp
@@ -122,8 +122,7 @@ public:
         {
             // SpanGuard::discard() set the flag on this thread just before
             // calling Span::End(), which invokes OnEnd() synchronously.
-            // Clear the flag and drop the span.
-            gTlDiscardCurrentSpan = false;
+            // Drop the span.
             return;
         }
         delegate_->OnEnd(std::move(span));