diff --git a/src/DDTrace/Integrations/Mysqli/MysqliIntegration.php b/src/DDTrace/Integrations/Mysqli/MysqliIntegration.php
index a6a603b7fe..e1b374e725 100644
--- a/src/DDTrace/Integrations/Mysqli/MysqliIntegration.php
+++ b/src/DDTrace/Integrations/Mysqli/MysqliIntegration.php
@@ -376,7 +376,9 @@ public function trackPotentialError(SpanData $span)
     {
         $errorCode = mysqli_connect_errno();
         if ($errorCode > 0) {
-            $span->exception = new \Exception(mysqli_connect_error());
+            $span->meta[Tag::ERROR_MSG] = mysqli_connect_error();
+            $span->meta[Tag::ERROR_TYPE] = 'mysqli error';
+            $span->meta[Tag::ERROR_STACK] = \DDTrace\get_sanitized_exception_trace(new \Exception, 2);
         }
     }
 }