diff --git a/internal/observation/observation.go b/internal/observation/observation.go
index 2e70d07bd4d..b058313abfb 100644
--- a/internal/observation/observation.go
+++ b/internal/observation/observation.go
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ package observation
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"time"
 
 	otlog "github.com/opentracing/opentracing-go/log"
@@ -80,6 +81,11 @@ import (
 	"github.com/sourcegraph/sourcegraph/lib/log"
 )
 
+// enableTraceLog toggles whether TraceLogger.Log events should be logged at info level.
+// This is useful in dev environments, or in environments where OpenTracing/OpenTelemetry
+// logs/events are supported (i.e. not Datadog).
+var enableTraceLog = os.Getenv("SRC_TRACE_LOG") != "false"
+
 // Context carries context about where to send logs, trace spans, and register
 // metrics. It should be created once on service startup, and passed around to
 // any location that wants to use it for observing operations.
@@ -226,9 +232,11 @@ func (t *traceLogger) Log(fields ...otlog.Field) {
 	if t.trace != nil {
 		t.trace.LogFields(fields...)
 	}
-	t.Logger.
-		AddCallerSkip(1). // Log() -> Logger
-		Info("trace.log", toLogFields(fields)...)
+	if enableTraceLog {
+		t.Logger.
+			AddCallerSkip(1). // Log() -> Logger
+			Info("trace.log", toLogFields(fields)...)
+	}
 }
 
 func (t *traceLogger) Tag(fields ...otlog.Field) {
diff --git a/sg.config.yaml b/sg.config.yaml
index 050f68857bc..dd4ce3667b3 100644
--- a/sg.config.yaml
+++ b/sg.config.yaml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ env:
   SRC_REPOS_DIR: $HOME/.sourcegraph/repos
   SRC_LOG_LEVEL: info
   SRC_LOG_FORMAT: condensed
+  SRC_TRACE_LOG: false
   # Set this to true to show an iTerm link to the file:line where the log message came from
   SRC_LOG_SOURCE_LINK: false
   SRC_GIT_SERVER_1: 127.0.0.1:3178