diff --git a/lib/datadog/tracing/tracer.rb b/lib/datadog/tracing/tracer.rb
index f632e5045f..8a65167c16 100644
--- a/lib/datadog/tracing/tracer.rb
+++ b/lib/datadog/tracing/tracer.rb
@@ -498,7 +498,7 @@ def flush_trace(trace_op)
           trace = @trace_flush.consume!(trace_op)
           if trace && !trace.empty?
             # check if trace is not sampled
-            sample_trace(trace) unless trace.sampled?
+            sample_trace(trace) unless trace.priority_sampled?
             write(trace)
           end
         rescue StandardError => e