diff --git a/packages/core/src/shared-exports.ts b/packages/core/src/shared-exports.ts
index 3f8e74364c5b..97cc2cb40b7d 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/shared-exports.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/shared-exports.ts
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ export {
 } from './utils/request';
 export type { MaxRequestBodySize } from './utils/request';
 export { DEFAULT_ENVIRONMENT, DEV_ENVIRONMENT } from './constants';
-export { SPAN_KIND } from './spanKind';
+export { SPAN_KIND, spanKindToName } from './spanKind';
 export type { SpanKindValue } from './spanKind';
 export { addBreadcrumb } from './breadcrumbs';
 export { functionToStringIntegration } from './integrations/functiontostring';
diff --git a/packages/core/src/spanKind.ts b/packages/core/src/spanKind.ts
index 3127d9205a9b..5a08ebadf572 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/spanKind.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/spanKind.ts
@@ -15,3 +15,22 @@ export const SPAN_KIND = {
 } as const;
 
 export type SpanKindValue = (typeof SPAN_KIND)[keyof typeof SPAN_KIND];
+
+// Reverse of SPAN_KIND (value → name), for the `otel.kind` attribute. The numeric keys come from
+// SPAN_KIND so they stay in sync; `satisfies` ensures every kind has a name.
+const SPAN_KIND_NAME = {
+  [SPAN_KIND.INTERNAL]: 'INTERNAL',
+  [SPAN_KIND.SERVER]: 'SERVER',
+  [SPAN_KIND.CLIENT]: 'CLIENT',
+  [SPAN_KIND.PRODUCER]: 'PRODUCER',
+  [SPAN_KIND.CONSUMER]: 'CONSUMER',
+} as const satisfies Record<SpanKindValue, string>;
+
+/**
+ * Resolve the string name of a span kind value (e.g. `1` → `'SERVER'`), mirroring the reverse
+ * mapping of OpenTelemetry's `SpanKind` enum. Used for the `otel.kind` span attribute, so SDK
+ * code doesn't need to import `@opentelemetry/api` just for that reverse lookup.
+ */
+export function spanKindToName(kind: number): (typeof SPAN_KIND_NAME)[SpanKindValue] | undefined {
+  return SPAN_KIND_NAME[kind as SpanKindValue];
+}
diff --git a/packages/core/test/lib/spanKind.test.ts b/packages/core/test/lib/spanKind.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..918a31488c62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/test/lib/spanKind.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest';
+import { SPAN_KIND, spanKindToName } from '../../src/spanKind';
+
+describe('spanKindToName', () => {
+  it('resolves each span kind value to its name', () => {
+    expect(spanKindToName(SPAN_KIND.INTERNAL)).toBe('INTERNAL');
+    expect(spanKindToName(SPAN_KIND.SERVER)).toBe('SERVER');
+    expect(spanKindToName(SPAN_KIND.CLIENT)).toBe('CLIENT');
+    expect(spanKindToName(SPAN_KIND.PRODUCER)).toBe('PRODUCER');
+    expect(spanKindToName(SPAN_KIND.CONSUMER)).toBe('CONSUMER');
+  });
+
+  it('returns undefined for an unknown kind value', () => {
+    expect(spanKindToName(99)).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry/src/spanProcessor.ts b/packages/opentelemetry/src/spanProcessor.ts
index 712b6ff43e0f..fb33d0daf4c5 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry/src/spanProcessor.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry/src/spanProcessor.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import type { Context } from '@opentelemetry/api';
-import { ROOT_CONTEXT, SpanKind, trace } from '@opentelemetry/api';
+import { ROOT_CONTEXT, trace } from '@opentelemetry/api';
 import type { ReadableSpan, Span, SpanProcessor as SpanProcessorInterface } from '@opentelemetry/sdk-trace-base';
 import type { Client, SpanAttributes, StreamedSpanJSON } from '@sentry/core';
 import {
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ import {
   SEMANTIC_ATTRIBUTE_SENTRY_OP,
   SEMANTIC_ATTRIBUTE_SENTRY_SOURCE,
   setCapturedScopesOnSpan,
+  SPAN_KIND,
+  spanKindToName,
 } from '@sentry/core';
 import { SEMANTIC_ATTRIBUTE_SENTRY_PARENT_IS_REMOTE } from './semanticAttributes';
 import { SentrySpanExporter } from './spanExporter';
@@ -121,7 +123,7 @@ function backfillStreamedSpanDataFromOtel(spanJSON: StreamedSpanJSON, hint?: { s
     return;
   }
 
-  const kind = hint?.spanKind ?? SpanKind.INTERNAL;
+  const kind = hint?.spanKind ?? SPAN_KIND.INTERNAL;
   const { op, description, source, data } = inferSpanData(spanJSON.name, attributes as unknown as SpanAttributes, kind);
 
   spanJSON.name = description;
@@ -132,9 +134,9 @@ function backfillStreamedSpanDataFromOtel(spanJSON: StreamedSpanJSON, hint?: { s
     ...data,
   });
 
-  if (kind !== SpanKind.INTERNAL) {
+  if (kind !== SPAN_KIND.INTERNAL) {
     safeSetSpanJSONAttributes(spanJSON, {
-      'otel.kind': SpanKind[kind],
+      'otel.kind': spanKindToName(kind),
     });
   }
 }