diff --git a/benchmarks/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/benchmarks/app/SleuthBenchmarkingSpringApp.java b/benchmarks/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/benchmarks/app/SleuthBenchmarkingSpringApp.java
index ec6092e19..fbe669cba 100644
--- a/benchmarks/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/benchmarks/app/SleuthBenchmarkingSpringApp.java
+++ b/benchmarks/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/benchmarks/app/SleuthBenchmarkingSpringApp.java
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 import java.util.concurrent.Future;
 import javax.annotation.PreDestroy;
 
+import brave.Span;
+import brave.Tracer;
+import brave.sampler.Sampler;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
@@ -32,13 +35,9 @@ import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
 import org.springframework.boot.web.embedded.tomcat.TomcatServletWebServerFactory;
 import org.springframework.boot.web.servlet.context.ServletWebServerInitializedEvent;
 import org.springframework.boot.web.servlet.server.ServletWebServerFactory;
-import org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.Sampler;
-import org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.Span;
-import org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.Tracer;
 import org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.annotation.ContinueSpan;
 import org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.annotation.NewSpan;
 import org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.annotation.SpanTag;
-import org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.sampler.AlwaysSampler;
 import org.springframework.context.ApplicationListener;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
 import org.springframework.scheduling.annotation.Async;
@@ -110,7 +109,7 @@ public class SleuthBenchmarkingSpringApp implements
 	}
 
  	@Bean Sampler alwaysSampler() {
-		return new AlwaysSampler();
+		return Sampler.ALWAYS_SAMPLE;
 	}
 
 	@Bean AnotherClass anotherClass() {
@@ -139,11 +138,11 @@ class AClass {
 	}
 
 	public String manualSpan() {
-		Span manual = this.tracer.createSpan("span-name");
-		try {
+		Span manual = this.tracer.nextSpan().name("span-name");
+		try (Tracer.SpanInScope ws = this.tracer.withSpanInScope(manual)) {
 			return this.anotherClass.continuedSpan();
 		} finally {
-			this.tracer.close(manual);
+			manual.finish();
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -166,11 +165,11 @@ class AnotherClass {
 	}
 
 	public String continuedSpan() {
-		Span continuedSpan = this.tracer.continueSpan(this.tracer.getCurrentSpan());
-		this.tracer.addTag("foo", "bar");
-		continuedSpan.logEvent("continuedspan.before");
+		Span span = this.tracer.currentSpan();
+		span.tag("foo", "bar");
+		span.annotate("continuedspan.before");
 		String response = "continued";
-		continuedSpan.logEvent("continuedspan.after");
+		span.annotate("continuedspan.after");
 		return response;
 	}
 }
diff --git a/benchmarks/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/benchmarks/jmh/benchmarks/AnnotationBenchmarks.java b/benchmarks/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/benchmarks/jmh/benchmarks/AnnotationBenchmarks.java
index 38c3d8115..a25cc1385 100644
--- a/benchmarks/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/benchmarks/jmh/benchmarks/AnnotationBenchmarks.java
+++ b/benchmarks/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/benchmarks/jmh/benchmarks/AnnotationBenchmarks.java
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Threads;
 import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Warmup;
 import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
 import org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.benchmarks.app.SleuthBenchmarkingSpringApp;
-import org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.util.ExceptionUtils;
 import org.springframework.context.ConfigurableApplicationContext;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.BDDAssertions.then;
@@ -69,13 +68,11 @@ public class AnnotationBenchmarks {
 	public void manuallyCreatedSpans(BenchmarkContext context)
 			throws Exception {
 		then(context.sleuth.manualSpan()).isEqualTo("continued");
-		then(ExceptionUtils.getLastException()).isNull();
 	}
 
 	@Benchmark
 	public void spanCreatedWithAnnotations(BenchmarkContext context)
 			throws Exception {
 		then(context.sleuth.newSpan()).isEqualTo("continued");
-		then(ExceptionUtils.getLastException()).isNull();
 	}
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/instrument/web/TraceRequestAttributes.java b/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/instrument/web/TraceRequestAttributes.java
index d5a336db8..57dd43c4a 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/instrument/web/TraceRequestAttributes.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/instrument/web/TraceRequestAttributes.java
@@ -25,14 +25,14 @@ package org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.instrument.web;
 public final class TraceRequestAttributes {
 
 	/**
-	 * Attribute containing a {@link org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.Span} set on a request when it got handled by a Sleuth component.
+	 * Attribute containing a Span set on a request when it got handled by a Sleuth component.
 	 * If that attribute is set then {@link TraceFilter} will not create a "fallback" server-side span.
 	 */
 	public static final String HANDLED_SPAN_REQUEST_ATTR = TraceRequestAttributes.class.getName()
 			+ ".TRACE_HANDLED";
 
 	/**
-	 * Attribute containing a {@link org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.Span} set on a request when it got handled by a Sleuth component.
+	 * Attribute containing a Span set on a request when it got handled by a Sleuth component.
 	 * If that attribute is set then {@link TraceFilter} will not close a span processed by the Error Controller.
 	 */
 	public static final String ERROR_HANDLED_SPAN_REQUEST_ATTR = TraceRequestAttributes.class.getName()
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ public final class TraceRequestAttributes {
 			+ ".TRACE_HANDLED_NEW_SPAN";
 
 	/**
-	 * Attribute set when the {@link org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.Span} got continued in the {@link TraceFilter}.
+	 * Attribute set when the Span got continued in the {@link TraceFilter}.
 	 * The Sleuth tracing components will most likely continue the current Span instead of creating a new one.
 	 */
 	public static final String SPAN_CONTINUED_REQUEST_ATTR = TraceRequestAttributes.class.getName()