diff --git a/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/core/CoreTracer.java b/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/core/CoreTracer.java
index 289647c5c74..178042f8669 100644
--- a/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/core/CoreTracer.java
+++ b/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/core/CoreTracer.java
@@ -1310,6 +1310,9 @@ void write(final SpanList trace) {
     spanToSample.forceKeep(forceKeep);
     boolean published = forceKeep || traceCollector.sample(spanToSample);
     if (published) {
+      if (rootSpan != null && writtenTrace.get(0) != rootSpan) {
+        writtenTrace.get(0).spanContext().copyDecisionMakerFrom(rootSpan.spanContext());
+      }
       if (!apmTracingEnabled) {
         // Stamp the billing marker on every span of each exported chunk so the intake does not bill
         // APM host usage.
diff --git a/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/core/DDSpanContext.java b/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/core/DDSpanContext.java
index 6120502ec09..e30647699e6 100644
--- a/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/core/DDSpanContext.java
+++ b/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/core/DDSpanContext.java
@@ -1393,6 +1393,10 @@ public PropagationTags getPropagationTags() {
     return getRootSpanContextOrThis().propagationTags;
   }
 
+  void copyDecisionMakerFrom(DDSpanContext source) {
+    propagationTags.updateAndLockDecisionMaker(source.getPropagationTags());
+  }
+
   /** TraceSegment Implementation */
   @Override
   public void setTagTop(String key, Object value, boolean sanitize) {
diff --git a/dd-trace-core/src/test/java/datadog/trace/core/LateSpanSamplingMechanismSerializationTest.java b/dd-trace-core/src/test/java/datadog/trace/core/LateSpanSamplingMechanismSerializationTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f68ed798494
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dd-trace-core/src/test/java/datadog/trace/core/LateSpanSamplingMechanismSerializationTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+package datadog.trace.core;
+
+import static datadog.trace.api.sampling.PrioritySampling.USER_KEEP;
+import static datadog.trace.api.sampling.SamplingMechanism.REMOTE_ADAPTIVE_RULE;
+import static datadog.trace.common.sampling.RuleBasedTraceSampler.SAMPLING_RULE_RATE;
+import static java.util.Collections.singletonList;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import datadog.communication.serialization.GrowableBuffer;
+import datadog.communication.serialization.msgpack.MsgPackWriter;
+import datadog.trace.common.writer.ListWriter;
+import datadog.trace.common.writer.ddagent.TraceMapperV0_4;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.msgpack.core.MessagePack;
+import org.msgpack.core.MessageUnpacker;
+import org.msgpack.value.MapValue;
+import org.msgpack.value.Value;
+import org.msgpack.value.ValueFactory;
+
+/**
+ * Verifies that trace-level sampling metadata is preserved when a root and a later child are
+ * exported in separate chunks (e.g. during partial sampling).
+ */
+class LateSpanSamplingMechanismSerializationTest extends DDCoreJavaSpecification {
+
+  @Override
+  protected boolean useStrictTraceWrites() {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void rootlessLateChunkRetainsAdaptiveSamplingMechanism()
+      throws InterruptedException, TimeoutException {
+    SerializingWriter writer = new SerializingWriter();
+    CoreTracer tracer =
+        tracerBuilder()
+            .writer(writer)
+            // Keep the partial-flush threshold above the trace size so the pending-trace idle
+            // timeout controls the first write.
+            .partialFlushMinSpans(1000)
+            .build();
+
+    try {
+      DDSpan root = (DDSpan) tracer.buildSpan("test", "root").start();
+      DDSpan lateChild =
+          (DDSpan) tracer.buildSpan("test", "late-child").asChildOf(root.spanContext()).start();
+      PendingTrace trace = (PendingTrace) root.spanContext().getTraceCollector();
+
+      root.setSamplingPriority(USER_KEEP, REMOTE_ADAPTIVE_RULE);
+      root.setMetric(SAMPLING_RULE_RATE, 0.25);
+
+      // Root finishes while the child is still running -> root is buffered, not yet written.
+      root.finish();
+      assertTrue(writer.isEmpty());
+
+      // Write the buffered root as the PendingTraceBuffer worker does after its idle timeout.
+      trace.write();
+      writer.waitForTraces(1);
+
+      // The child finishes after the root was written, so it is exported in a root-less chunk.
+      lateChild.finish();
+      trace.write();
+      writer.waitForTraces(2);
+
+      assertEquals(singletonList(root), writer.get(0));
+      assertEquals(singletonList(lateChild), writer.get(1));
+
+      MapValue rootChunk = writer.serializedSpans.get(0);
+      MapValue lateChunk = writer.serializedSpans.get(1);
+
+      assertEquals(
+          (int) USER_KEEP,
+          numberValue(rootChunk, "metrics", DDSpanContext.PRIORITY_SAMPLING_KEY).intValue());
+      assertEquals("-12", stringValue(rootChunk, "meta", "_dd.p.dm"));
+
+      assertEquals(
+          (int) USER_KEEP,
+          numberValue(lateChunk, "metrics", DDSpanContext.PRIORITY_SAMPLING_KEY).intValue());
+      // The late chunk's decision maker must match its propagated trace-level sampling priority.
+      assertEquals("-12", stringValue(lateChunk, "meta", "_dd.p.dm"));
+    } finally {
+      tracer.close();
+    }
+  }
+
+  private static Number numberValue(MapValue span, String mapName, String key) {
+    Value value = value(span, mapName, key);
+    return value == null ? null : value.asNumberValue().toInt();
+  }
+
+  private static String stringValue(MapValue span, String mapName, String key) {
+    Value value = value(span, mapName, key);
+    return value == null ? null : value.asStringValue().asString();
+  }
+
+  private static Value value(MapValue span, String mapName, String key) {
+    Value map = span.map().get(ValueFactory.newString(mapName));
+    return map.asMapValue().map().get(ValueFactory.newString(key));
+  }
+
+  private static final class SerializingWriter extends ListWriter {
+    private final List<MapValue> serializedSpans = new ArrayList<>();
+
+    @Override
+    public void write(List<DDSpan> trace) {
+      serializedSpans.add(serialize(trace));
+      super.write(trace);
+    }
+
+    private static MapValue serialize(List<DDSpan> trace) {
+      TraceMapperV0_4 mapper = new TraceMapperV0_4();
+      GrowableBuffer buffer = new GrowableBuffer(16 * 1024);
+      MsgPackWriter packer = new MsgPackWriter(buffer);
+      assertTrue(packer.format(trace, mapper));
+
+      try (MessageUnpacker unpacker = MessagePack.newDefaultUnpacker(buffer.slice())) {
+        return unpacker.unpackValue().asArrayValue().get(0).asMapValue();
+      } catch (IOException e) {
+        throw new IllegalStateException("Unable to decode serialized trace chunk", e);
+      } finally {
+        mapper.reset();
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}