diff --git a/src/common/tracer.h b/src/common/tracer.h
index 4cb1f0f5b54..9d13c78aafc 100644
--- a/src/common/tracer.h
+++ b/src/common/tracer.h
@@ -100,21 +100,8 @@ struct Tracer {
   jspan add_span(std::string_view span_name, const jspan_context& parent_ctx) { return {}; }
   void init(std::string_view service_name) {}
 };
-
-inline void encode(const jspan_context& span_ctx, bufferlist& bl, uint64_t f = 0) {
-  ENCODE_START(1, 1, bl);
-  // jaeger is missing, set "is_valid" to false.
-  bool is_valid = false;
-  encode(is_valid, bl);
-  ENCODE_FINISH(bl);
+  inline void encode(const jspan_context& span, bufferlist& bl, uint64_t f=0) {}
+  inline void decode(jspan_context& span_ctx, ceph::buffer::list::const_iterator& bl) {}
 }
 
-inline void decode(jspan_context& span_ctx, bufferlist::const_iterator& bl) {
-  DECODE_START(254, bl);
-  // jaeger is missing, consume the buffer but do not decode it.
-  DECODE_FINISH(bl);
-}
-
-} // namespace tracing
-
 #endif // !HAVE_JAEGER