diff --git a/contrib/opentelemetry/tracing_interceptor.go b/contrib/opentelemetry/tracing_interceptor.go
index f3d5e5772..3451f9073 100644
--- a/contrib/opentelemetry/tracing_interceptor.go
+++ b/contrib/opentelemetry/tracing_interceptor.go
@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@ type TracerOptions struct {
 	// DisableQueryTracing can be set to disable query tracing.
 	DisableQueryTracing bool
 
+	// AllowInvalidParentSpans will swallow errors interpreting parent
+	// spans from headers. Useful when migrating from one tracing library
+	// to another, while workflows/activities may be in progress.
+	AllowInvalidParentSpans bool
+
 	// TextMapPropagator is the propagator to use for serializing spans. If not
 	// set, this uses DefaultTextMapPropagator, not the OpenTelemetry global one.
 	// To use the OpenTelemetry global one, set this value to the result of the
@@ -125,10 +130,11 @@ func NewTracingInterceptor(options TracerOptions) (interceptor.Interceptor, erro
 
 func (t *tracer) Options() interceptor.TracerOptions {
 	return interceptor.TracerOptions{
-		SpanContextKey:       t.options.SpanContextKey,
-		HeaderKey:            t.options.HeaderKey,
-		DisableSignalTracing: t.options.DisableSignalTracing,
-		DisableQueryTracing:  t.options.DisableQueryTracing,
+		SpanContextKey:          t.options.SpanContextKey,
+		HeaderKey:               t.options.HeaderKey,
+		DisableSignalTracing:    t.options.DisableSignalTracing,
+		DisableQueryTracing:     t.options.DisableQueryTracing,
+		AllowInvalidParentSpans: t.options.AllowInvalidParentSpans,
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/interceptor/tracing_interceptor.go b/interceptor/tracing_interceptor.go
index 3c0a94697..b52e8bb91 100644
--- a/interceptor/tracing_interceptor.go
+++ b/interceptor/tracing_interceptor.go
@@ -112,6 +112,11 @@ type TracerOptions struct {
 
 	// DisableQueryTracing can be set to disable query tracing.
 	DisableQueryTracing bool
+
+	// AllowInvalidParentSpans will swallow errors interpreting parent
+	// spans from headers. Useful when migrating from one tracing library
+	// to another, while workflows/activities may be in progress.
+	AllowInvalidParentSpans bool
 }
 
 // TracerStartSpanOptions are options for Tracer.StartSpan.
@@ -693,7 +698,7 @@ func (t *tracingInterceptor) startSpan(
 
 	// Get parent span from header if not already present and allowed
 	if options.Parent == nil && options.FromHeader {
-		if span, err := t.readSpanFromHeader(header); err != nil {
+		if span, err := t.readSpanFromHeader(header); err != nil && !t.options.AllowInvalidParentSpans {
 			return nil, err
 		} else if span != nil {
 			options.Parent = span