diff --git a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-kafka-python/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/kafka/utils.py b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-kafka-python/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/kafka/utils.py
index 00da544325..be740bd8be 100644
--- a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-kafka-python/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/kafka/utils.py
+++ b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-kafka-python/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/kafka/utils.py
@@ -57,14 +57,34 @@ def extract_send_headers(args, kwargs):
 
     @staticmethod
     def extract_send_partition(instance, args, kwargs):
-        """extract partition `send` method arguments, using the `_partition` method in KafkaProducer class"""
+        """Extract partition from `send` method arguments.
+
+        Only returns a partition value when it can be determined deterministically:
+        - When partition is explicitly provided by the caller
+        - When a key is provided (partition is determined by key hash)
+
+        Returns None when partition would be randomly assigned by the
+        DefaultPartitioner, since calling _partition() here would produce a
+        different result than the actual send() call.
+        """
+        partition = KafkaPropertiesExtractor._extract_argument(
+            "partition", 4, None, args, kwargs
+        )
+        # If partition is explicitly set, return it directly
+        if partition is not None:
+            return partition
+
+        key = KafkaPropertiesExtractor.extract_send_key(args, kwargs)
+        # If no key is provided and no explicit partition, the DefaultPartitioner
+        # will randomly select a partition. We cannot predict which one, so
+        # return None to avoid recording an incorrect value.
+        if key is None:
+            return None
+
+        # Key is provided — partition is deterministic (hash-based), safe to compute
         try:
             topic = KafkaPropertiesExtractor.extract_send_topic(args, kwargs)
-            key = KafkaPropertiesExtractor.extract_send_key(args, kwargs)
             value = KafkaPropertiesExtractor.extract_send_value(args, kwargs)
-            partition = KafkaPropertiesExtractor._extract_argument(
-                "partition", 4, None, args, kwargs
-            )
             key_bytes = instance._serialize(
                 instance.config["key_serializer"], topic, key
             )
@@ -131,7 +151,10 @@ def _enrich_span(
     if span.is_recording():
         span.set_attribute(SpanAttributes.MESSAGING_SYSTEM, "kafka")
         span.set_attribute(SpanAttributes.MESSAGING_DESTINATION, topic)
-        span.set_attribute(SpanAttributes.MESSAGING_KAFKA_PARTITION, partition)
+        if partition is not None:
+            span.set_attribute(
+                SpanAttributes.MESSAGING_KAFKA_PARTITION, partition
+            )
         span.set_attribute(
             SpanAttributes.MESSAGING_URL, json.dumps(bootstrap_servers)
         )