diff --git a/py/packages/genkit/src/genkit/core/trace/realtime_processor.py b/py/packages/genkit/src/genkit/core/trace/realtime_processor.py
index 30cc6b52dc..c8fcf00ea4 100644
--- a/py/packages/genkit/src/genkit/core/trace/realtime_processor.py
+++ b/py/packages/genkit/src/genkit/core/trace/realtime_processor.py
@@ -75,6 +75,9 @@
 from opentelemetry.sdk.trace.export import SpanExporter
 
 from genkit.core._compat import override
+from genkit.core.logging import get_logger
+
+logger = get_logger(__name__)
 
 
 class RealtimeSpanProcessor(SpanProcessor):
@@ -119,9 +122,23 @@ def on_start(self, span: Span, parent_context: Context | None = None) -> None:
             span: The span that was just started.
             parent_context: The parent context (unused).
         """
-        # Export the span immediately (it won't have endTime yet)
-        # We ignore the result - we don't want to block span creation
-        _ = self._exporter.export([span])
+        # Export the span immediately (it won't have endTime yet).
+        # Catch all exceptions so a failing exporter (e.g. Jaeger not
+        # running) never propagates into the application call stack.
+        # Without this guard, a ConnectionError here bubbles through
+        # the OTel gRPC server interceptor and kills the actual RPC.
+        try:
+            self._exporter.export([span])
+        except ConnectionError:
+            logger.debug(
+                'RealtimeSpanProcessor: export failed on_start (collector unreachable)',
+                exc_info=True,
+            )
+        except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001 — must never crash the caller
+            logger.warning(
+                'RealtimeSpanProcessor: unexpected error during export on_start',
+                exc_info=True,
+            )
 
     @override
     def on_end(self, span: ReadableSpan) -> None:
@@ -132,8 +149,18 @@ def on_end(self, span: ReadableSpan) -> None:
         Args:
             span: The span that just ended.
         """
-        # Export the completed span
-        _ = self._exporter.export([span])
+        try:
+            self._exporter.export([span])
+        except ConnectionError:
+            logger.debug(
+                'RealtimeSpanProcessor: export failed on_end (collector unreachable)',
+                exc_info=True,
+            )
+        except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001 — must never crash the caller
+            logger.warning(
+                'RealtimeSpanProcessor: unexpected error during export on_end',
+                exc_info=True,
+            )
 
     @override
     def force_flush(self, timeout_millis: int = 30000) -> bool: