From c56c84380c4569ae465dcfc32064883172f86c66 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Ali Asghar <98263017+alliasgher@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:04:18 +0500
Subject: [PATCH] sdk/trace: propagate SpanExporter.Shutdown error from
 BatchSpanProcessor (#8197)
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Fixes #6878.

`bsp.e.Shutdown(ctx)` was called with `:=` inside an `if` statement,
creating a new variable that shadowed the outer `err`. The error was
handled via `otel.Handle` but never returned to the caller of
`BatchSpanProcessor.Shutdown`.

### Fix

Use a dedicated `exportErr` variable. The goroutine writes it before
closing the `wait` channel; the caller reads it only in the `<-wait`
select case (where the goroutine is guaranteed done). This is race-free
— addressing the concern raised by @seh in #6878.

All existing `TestBatchSpanProcessor*` tests pass.

---------

Signed-off-by: alliasgher <alliasgher123@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Tyler Yahn <MrAlias@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Robert Pająk <pellared@hotmail.com>
---
 CHANGELOG.md                           |  1 +
 sdk/trace/batch_span_processor.go      | 10 ++++++----
 sdk/trace/batch_span_processor_test.go | 20 ++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 27 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ad589817f..446b1643f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.htm
 - Fix gzipped request body replay on redirect in `go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/otlp/otlpmetric/otlpmetrichttp`. (#8135)
 - Fix gzipped request body replay on redirect in `go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/otlp/otlplog/otlploghttp`. (#8152)
 - `go.opentelemetry.io/otel/exporters/prometheus` now uses `Value.String` formatting for label values following the [OpenTelemetry AnyValue representation for non-OTLP protocols](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/otel/common/#anyvalue). (#8170)
+- Propagate errors from the exporter when calling `Shutdown` on `BatchSpanProcessor` in `go.opentelemetry.io/otel/sdk/trace`. (#8197)
 
 <!-- Released section -->
 <!-- Don't change this section unless doing release -->
diff --git a/sdk/trace/batch_span_processor.go b/sdk/trace/batch_span_processor.go
index 32854b14a..f9f2a6c2c 100644
--- a/sdk/trace/batch_span_processor.go
+++ b/sdk/trace/batch_span_processor.go
@@ -163,19 +163,21 @@ func (bsp *batchSpanProcessor) Shutdown(ctx context.Context) error {
 	bsp.stopOnce.Do(func() {
 		bsp.stopped.Store(true)
 		wait := make(chan struct{})
+		// exportErr is written by the goroutine before closing wait.
+		// It is only read in the <-wait case, so there is no race.
+		var exportErr error
 		go func() {
 			close(bsp.stopCh)
 			bsp.stopWait.Wait()
 			if bsp.e != nil {
-				if err := bsp.e.Shutdown(ctx); err != nil {
-					otel.Handle(err)
-				}
+				exportErr = bsp.e.Shutdown(ctx)
 			}
 			close(wait)
 		}()
-		// Wait until the wait group is done or the context is cancelled
+		// Wait until the channel is ready or the context is canceled.
 		select {
 		case <-wait:
+			err = exportErr
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			err = ctx.Err()
 		}
diff --git a/sdk/trace/batch_span_processor_test.go b/sdk/trace/batch_span_processor_test.go
index 217eef1f6..7f45886e2 100644
--- a/sdk/trace/batch_span_processor_test.go
+++ b/sdk/trace/batch_span_processor_test.go
@@ -396,6 +396,26 @@ func TestBatchSpanProcessorShutdown(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, 1, bp.shutdownCount)
 }
 
+// TestBatchSpanProcessorShutdownErrorPropagated verifies that an error
+// returned by SpanExporter.Shutdown is propagated to the caller of
+// BatchSpanProcessor.Shutdown. Regression test for #6878.
+func TestBatchSpanProcessorShutdownErrorPropagated(t *testing.T) {
+	wantErr := errors.New("exporter shutdown failed")
+	exporter := &errorShutdownExporter{err: wantErr}
+	bsp := NewBatchSpanProcessor(exporter)
+
+	err := bsp.Shutdown(t.Context())
+	assert.ErrorIs(t, err, wantErr)
+}
+
+// errorShutdownExporter is a SpanExporter whose Shutdown always returns err.
+type errorShutdownExporter struct {
+	err error
+}
+
+func (*errorShutdownExporter) ExportSpans(context.Context, []ReadOnlySpan) error { return nil }
+func (e *errorShutdownExporter) Shutdown(context.Context) error                  { return e.err }
+
 func TestBatchSpanProcessorPostShutdown(t *testing.T) {
 	tp := basicTracerProvider(t)
 	be := testBatchExporter{}