diff --git a/spring-kafka/src/main/java/org/springframework/kafka/core/KafkaTemplate.java b/spring-kafka/src/main/java/org/springframework/kafka/core/KafkaTemplate.java
index 78a6c315d6..cd38a39a0c 100644
--- a/spring-kafka/src/main/java/org/springframework/kafka/core/KafkaTemplate.java
+++ b/spring-kafka/src/main/java/org/springframework/kafka/core/KafkaTemplate.java
@@ -805,8 +805,8 @@ private CompletableFuture<SendResult<K, V>> observeSend(final ProducerRecord<K,
 				this.observationConvention, DefaultKafkaTemplateObservationConvention.INSTANCE,
 				() -> new KafkaRecordSenderContext(producerRecord, this.beanName, this::clusterId),
 				this.observationRegistry);
+		observation.start();
 		try {
-			observation.start();
 			try (Observation.Scope ignored = observation.openScope()) {
 				return doSend(producerRecord, observation);
 			}