diff --git a/NOTICE.txt b/NOTICE.txt
index d7f5b0d8b14..33eaad14ad7 100644
--- a/NOTICE.txt
+++ b/NOTICE.txt
@@ -13971,11 +13971,11 @@ Contents of probable licence file $GOMODCACHE/github.com/xdg/scram@v0.0.0-201808
 
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Dependency : go.elastic.co/apm
-Version: v1.7.2
+Version: v1.8.1-0.20200902013556-b34fe04da73f
 Licence type (autodetected): Apache-2.0
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-Contents of probable licence file $GOMODCACHE/go.elastic.co/apm@v1.7.2/LICENSE:
+Contents of probable licence file $GOMODCACHE/go.elastic.co/apm@v1.8.1-0.20200902013556-b34fe04da73f/LICENSE:
 
                                  Apache License
                            Version 2.0, January 2004
@@ -37344,11 +37344,11 @@ SOFTWARE.
 
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Dependency : go.elastic.co/fastjson
-Version: v1.0.0
+Version: v1.1.0
 Licence type (autodetected): MIT
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-Contents of probable licence file $GOMODCACHE/go.elastic.co/fastjson@v1.0.0/LICENSE:
+Contents of probable licence file $GOMODCACHE/go.elastic.co/fastjson@v1.1.0/LICENSE:
 
 Copyright 2018 Elasticsearch BV
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index b832a3ac892..dbaf85775f5 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/vmware/govmomi v0.0.0-20170802214208-2cad15190b41
 	github.com/xdg/scram v0.0.0-20180814205039-7eeb5667e42c
 	github.com/yuin/gopher-lua v0.0.0-20170403160031-b402f3114ec7 // indirect
-	go.elastic.co/apm v1.7.2
+	go.elastic.co/apm v1.8.1-0.20200902013556-b34fe04da73f
 	go.elastic.co/apm/module/apmelasticsearch v1.7.2
 	go.elastic.co/apm/module/apmhttp v1.7.2
 	go.elastic.co/ecszap v0.1.1-0.20200424093508-cdd95a104193
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 271434f695a..9fec14d5640 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -699,6 +699,8 @@ github.com/yuin/gopher-lua v0.0.0-20170403160031-b402f3114ec7 h1:0gYLpmzecnaDCoe
 github.com/yuin/gopher-lua v0.0.0-20170403160031-b402f3114ec7/go.mod h1:aEV29XrmTYFr3CiRxZeGHpkvbwq+prZduBqMaascyCU=
 go.elastic.co/apm v1.7.2 h1:0nwzVIPp4PDBXSYYtN19+1W5V+sj+C25UjqxDVoKcA8=
 go.elastic.co/apm v1.7.2/go.mod h1:tCw6CkOJgkWnzEthFN9HUP1uL3Gjc/Ur6m7gRPLaoH0=
+go.elastic.co/apm v1.8.1-0.20200902013556-b34fe04da73f h1:Z5e1eChG4ZcP0+jFtztaE5X2dOYRypQcOJGOUB4WgvA=
+go.elastic.co/apm v1.8.1-0.20200902013556-b34fe04da73f/go.mod h1:qoOSi09pnzJDh5fKnfY7bPmQgl8yl2tULdOu03xhui0=
 go.elastic.co/apm/module/apmelasticsearch v1.7.2 h1:5STGHLZLSeAzxordMc+dFVKiyVtMmxADOV+TgRaXXJg=
 go.elastic.co/apm/module/apmelasticsearch v1.7.2/go.mod h1:ZyNFuyWdt42GBZkz0SogoLzDBrBGj4orxpiUuxYeYq8=
 go.elastic.co/apm/module/apmhttp v1.7.2 h1:2mRh7SwBuEVLmJlX+hsMdcSg9xaielCLElaPn/+i34w=
@@ -707,6 +709,8 @@ go.elastic.co/ecszap v0.1.1-0.20200424093508-cdd95a104193 h1:NjYJ/beChqugXSavTkH
 go.elastic.co/ecszap v0.1.1-0.20200424093508-cdd95a104193/go.mod h1:HTUi+QRmr3EuZMqxPX+5fyOdMNfUu5iPebgfhgsTJYQ=
 go.elastic.co/fastjson v1.0.0 h1:ooXV/ABvf+tBul26jcVViPT3sBir0PvXgibYB1IQQzg=
 go.elastic.co/fastjson v1.0.0/go.mod h1:PmeUOMMtLHQr9ZS9J9owrAVg0FkaZDRZJEFTTGHtchs=
+go.elastic.co/fastjson v1.1.0 h1:3MrGBWWVIxe/xvsbpghtkFoPciPhOCmjsR/HfwEeQR4=
+go.elastic.co/fastjson v1.1.0/go.mod h1:boNGISWMjQsUPy/t6yqt2/1Wx4YNPSe+mZjlyw9vKKI=
 go.elastic.co/go-licence-detector v0.4.0 h1:it5dP+6LPxLsosdhtbAqk/zJQxzS0QSSpdNkKVuwKMs=
 go.elastic.co/go-licence-detector v0.4.0/go.mod h1:fSJQU8au4SAgDK+UQFbgUPsXKYNBDv4E/dwWevrMpXU=
 go.etcd.io/bbolt v1.3.4 h1:hi1bXHMVrlQh6WwxAy+qZCV/SYIlqo+Ushwdpa4tAKg=
diff --git a/libbeat/publisher/pipeline/output.go b/libbeat/publisher/pipeline/output.go
index febccdc7067..00c3fc54281 100644
--- a/libbeat/publisher/pipeline/output.go
+++ b/libbeat/publisher/pipeline/output.go
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ func (w *netClientWorker) run() {
 
 func (w *netClientWorker) publishBatch(batch publisher.Batch) error {
 	ctx := context.Background()
-	if w.tracer != nil {
+	if w.tracer != nil && w.tracer.Recording() {
 		tx := w.tracer.StartTransaction("publish", "output")
 		defer tx.End()
 		tx.Context.SetLabel("worker", "netclient")