diff --git a/src/workerd/io/trace.c++ b/src/workerd/io/trace.c++
index e12467aae64..2d2400c07e8 100644
--- a/src/workerd/io/trace.c++
+++ b/src/workerd/io/trace.c++
@@ -1469,7 +1469,7 @@ SpanBuilder::SpanBuilder(kj::Maybe<kj::Own<SpanObserver>> observer,
   KJ_IF_SOME(obs, observer) {
     // TODO(o11y): Once we report the user tracing spanOpen event as soon as a span is created, we
     // should be able to fold this virtual call and just get the timestamp directly.
-    span.emplace(kj::mv(operationName), startTime.orDefault(obs->getTime()));
+    span.emplace(kj::mv(operationName), startTime.orDefault([&obs]() { return obs->getTime(); }));
     this->observer = kj::mv(obs);
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/workerd/io/tracer.c++ b/src/workerd/io/tracer.c++
index c001487a0c0..10b5f927d98 100644
--- a/src/workerd/io/tracer.c++
+++ b/src/workerd/io/tracer.c++
@@ -469,22 +469,22 @@ void BaseTracer::adjustSpanTime(CompleteSpan& span) {
       if (context.hasCurrentIncomingRequest()) {
         span.endTime = context.now();
       } else {
-        // We have an IOContext, but there's no current IncomingRequest. Always log a warning here,
-        // this should not be happening. Still report completeTime as a useful timestamp if
-        // available.
-        bool hasCompleteTime = false;
+        // We have an IOContext, but there's no current IncomingRequest. This can happen when a DO
+        // request is aborted, resulting in the pending tasks of its IoContext being deallocated
+        // when the IoContext is still alive but no longer has the IncomingRequest associated with
+        // it (see IncomingRequest::~IoContext_IncomingRequest()). In this case the return time
+        // should already be set, otherwise we log an error.
         if (completeTime != kj::UNIX_EPOCH) {
           span.endTime = completeTime;
-          hasCompleteTime = true;
         } else {
           span.endTime = span.startTime;
-        }
-        if (isPredictableModeForTest()) {
-          KJ_FAIL_ASSERT(
-              "reported span without current request", span.operationName, hasCompleteTime);
-        } else {
-          KJ_LOG(WARNING, "reported span without current request", span.operationName,
-              hasCompleteTime);
+          if (isPredictableModeForTest()) {
+            KJ_FAIL_ASSERT(
+                "reported span without current request or return time", span.operationName);
+          } else {
+            KJ_LOG(
+                ERROR, "reported span without current request or return time", span.operationName);
+          }
         }
       }
     });
@@ -503,7 +503,7 @@ void BaseTracer::adjustSpanTime(CompleteSpan& span) {
         if (isPredictableModeForTest()) {
           KJ_FAIL_ASSERT("reported span after IoContext was deallocated", span.operationName);
         } else {
-          KJ_LOG(WARNING, "reported span after IoContext was deallocated", span.operationName);
+          KJ_LOG(ERROR, "reported span after IoContext was deallocated", span.operationName);
         }
       }
     }