diff --git a/sentry-ruby/lib/sentry/propagation_context.rb b/sentry-ruby/lib/sentry/propagation_context.rb
index 34b314cc6..86c5b3f22 100644
--- a/sentry-ruby/lib/sentry/propagation_context.rb
+++ b/sentry-ruby/lib/sentry/propagation_context.rb
@@ -8,11 +8,9 @@
 module Sentry
   class PropagationContext
     SENTRY_TRACE_REGEXP = Regexp.new(
-      "^[ \t]*" +  # whitespace
-      "([0-9a-f]{32})?" +  # trace_id
+      "\\A([0-9a-f]{32})?" + # trace_id
       "-?([0-9a-f]{16})?" +  # span_id
-      "-?([01])?" +  # sampled
-      "[ \t]*$"  # whitespace
+      "-?([01])?\\z"         # sampled
     )
 
     # An uuid that can be used to identify a trace.
@@ -43,7 +41,10 @@ class PropagationContext
     # @param sentry_trace [String] the sentry-trace header value from the previous transaction.
     # @return [Array, nil]
     def self.extract_sentry_trace(sentry_trace)
-      match = SENTRY_TRACE_REGEXP.match(sentry_trace)
+      value = sentry_trace.to_s.strip
+      return if value.empty?
+
+      match = SENTRY_TRACE_REGEXP.match(value)
       return if match.nil?
 
       trace_id, parent_span_id, sampled_flag = match[1..3]
diff --git a/sentry-ruby/spec/sentry/propagation_context_spec.rb b/sentry-ruby/spec/sentry/propagation_context_spec.rb
index cb2165f02..418360de1 100644
--- a/sentry-ruby/spec/sentry/propagation_context_spec.rb
+++ b/sentry-ruby/spec/sentry/propagation_context_spec.rb
@@ -132,4 +132,41 @@
       expect(subject.get_dynamic_sampling_context).to eq(subject.get_baggage.dynamic_sampling_context)
     end
   end
+
+  describe ".extract_sentry_trace" do
+    it "extracts valid sentry-trace without whitespace" do
+      sentry_trace = "771a43a4192642f0b136d5159a501700-7c51afd529da4a2a-1"
+      result = described_class.extract_sentry_trace(sentry_trace)
+
+      expect(result).to eq(["771a43a4192642f0b136d5159a501700", "7c51afd529da4a2a", true])
+    end
+
+    it "extracts valid sentry-trace with leading and trailing whitespace" do
+      sentry_trace = "  \t771a43a4192642f0b136d5159a501700-7c51afd529da4a2a-1\t  "
+      result = described_class.extract_sentry_trace(sentry_trace)
+
+      expect(result).to eq(["771a43a4192642f0b136d5159a501700", "7c51afd529da4a2a", true])
+    end
+
+    it "extracts sentry-trace without sampled flag" do
+      sentry_trace = "771a43a4192642f0b136d5159a501700-7c51afd529da4a2a"
+      result = described_class.extract_sentry_trace(sentry_trace)
+
+      expect(result).to eq(["771a43a4192642f0b136d5159a501700", "7c51afd529da4a2a", nil])
+    end
+
+    it "returns nil for invalid sentry-trace" do
+      expect(described_class.extract_sentry_trace("invalid")).to be_nil
+      expect(described_class.extract_sentry_trace("000-000-0")).to be_nil
+      expect(described_class.extract_sentry_trace("")).to be_nil
+    end
+
+    it "allows whitespace" do
+      whitespace = " \t \t \t \t "
+      sentry_trace = "#{whitespace}771a43a4192642f0b136d5159a501700-7c51afd529da4a2a-1#{whitespace}"
+      result = described_class.extract_sentry_trace(sentry_trace)
+
+      expect(result).to eq(["771a43a4192642f0b136d5159a501700", "7c51afd529da4a2a", true])
+    end
+  end
 end