diff --git a/instrumentation/elastic-opentelemetry-instrumentation-openai/tests/conftest.py b/instrumentation/elastic-opentelemetry-instrumentation-openai/tests/conftest.py
index 772ad50..7089bdc 100644
--- a/instrumentation/elastic-opentelemetry-instrumentation-openai/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/instrumentation/elastic-opentelemetry-instrumentation-openai/tests/conftest.py
@@ -112,6 +112,20 @@ def capture_message_content_instrument(monkeypatch, clear_exporter):
     instrumentor.uninstrument()
 
 
+@pytest.fixture
+def otel_sdk_disabled_instrument(monkeypatch, clear_exporter):
+    monkeypatch.setenv("OTEL_SDK_DISABLED", "true")
+    instrumentor = OpenAIInstrumentor()
+    instrumentor.instrument(
+        tracer_provider=trace.NoOpTracerProvider(),
+        meter_provider=metrics.NoOpMeterProvider(),
+    )
+
+    yield instrumentor
+
+    instrumentor.uninstrument()
+
+
 @pytest.fixture
 def vcr_cassette_name(request):
     """
diff --git a/instrumentation/elastic-opentelemetry-instrumentation-openai/tests/test_otel_sdk_disabled.py b/instrumentation/elastic-opentelemetry-instrumentation-openai/tests/test_otel_sdk_disabled.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0034f76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/instrumentation/elastic-opentelemetry-instrumentation-openai/tests/test_otel_sdk_disabled.py
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+# Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+# or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+# this work for additional information regarding copyright
+# ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you 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
+#
+#     http://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.
+
+import openai
+import pytest
+
+TEST_CHAT_MODEL = "gpt-4o-mini"
+TEST_CHAT_INPUT = "Answer in up to 3 words: Which ocean contains Bouvet Island?"
+TEST_EMBEDDINGS_MODEL = "text-embedding-3-small"
+TEST_EMBEDDINGS_INPUT = "South Atlantic Ocean."
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def vcr_cassette_name(request):
+    return request.node.name.replace("_with_otel_sdk_disabled", "")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.vcr()
+def test_chat_with_otel_sdk_disabled(default_openai_env, trace_exporter, otel_sdk_disabled_instrument):
+    client = openai.OpenAI()
+
+    response = client.chat.completions.create(
+        model=TEST_CHAT_MODEL,
+        messages=[{"role": "user", "content": TEST_CHAT_INPUT}],
+    )
+
+    assert response.choices[0].message.content == "Atlantic Ocean."
+    assert not trace_exporter.get_finished_spans()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.vcr()
+def test_embeddings_with_otel_sdk_disabled(default_openai_env, trace_exporter, otel_sdk_disabled_instrument):
+    client = openai.OpenAI()
+
+    response = client.embeddings.create(model=TEST_EMBEDDINGS_MODEL, input=[TEST_EMBEDDINGS_INPUT])
+
+    assert len(response.data) == 1
+    assert not trace_exporter.get_finished_spans()