diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/an-opentracing-active-record-tracing.yml b/changelogs/unreleased/an-opentracing-active-record-tracing.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..59b480675ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/an-opentracing-active-record-tracing.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+title: Adds tracing support for ActiveRecord notifications
+merge_request: 24604
+author:
+type: other
diff --git a/config/initializers/tracing.rb b/config/initializers/tracing.rb
index 46e8125daf8..d5bef8edb43 100644
--- a/config/initializers/tracing.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/tracing.rb
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ if Gitlab::Tracing.enabled?
     end
   end
 
+  # Instrument Rails
+  Gitlab::Tracing::Rails::ActiveRecordSubscriber.instrument
+
   # In multi-processed clustered architectures (puma, unicorn) don't
   # start tracing until the worker processes are spawned. This works
   # around issues when the opentracing implementation spawns threads
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/tracing/common.rb b/lib/gitlab/tracing/common.rb
index 5e2b12e3f90..3a08ede8138 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/tracing/common.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/tracing/common.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
+require 'opentracing'
+
 module Gitlab
   module Tracing
     module Common
@@ -32,6 +34,14 @@ module Gitlab
         end
       end
 
+      def postnotify_span(operation_name, start_time, end_time, tags: nil, child_of: nil, exception: nil)
+        span = OpenTracing.start_span(operation_name, start_time: start_time, tags: tags, child_of: child_of)
+
+        log_exception_on_span(span, exception) if exception
+
+        span.finish(end_time: end_time)
+      end
+
       def log_exception_on_span(span, exception)
         span.set_tag('error', true)
         span.log_kv(kv_tags_for_exception(exception))
@@ -44,7 +54,7 @@ module Gitlab
             'event':      'error',
             'error.kind': exception.class.to_s,
             'message':    Gitlab::UrlSanitizer.sanitize(exception.message),
-            'stack':      exception.backtrace.join("\n")
+            'stack':      exception.backtrace&.join("\n")
           }
         else
           {
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/tracing/rails/active_record_subscriber.rb b/lib/gitlab/tracing/rails/active_record_subscriber.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..214eac47e14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/gitlab/tracing/rails/active_record_subscriber.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+module Gitlab
+  module Tracing
+    module Rails
+      class ActiveRecordSubscriber
+        include Gitlab::Tracing::Common
+
+        ACTIVE_RECORD_NOTIFICATION_TOPIC = 'sql.active_record'
+        DEFAULT_OPERATION_NAME = "sqlquery"
+
+        def self.instrument
+          subscriber = new
+
+          ActiveSupport::Notifications.subscribe(ACTIVE_RECORD_NOTIFICATION_TOPIC) do |_, start, finish, _, payload|
+            subscriber.notify(start, finish, payload)
+          end
+        end
+
+        # For more information on the payloads: https://guides.rubyonrails.org/active_support_instrumentation.html
+        def notify(start, finish, payload)
+          operation_name = payload[:name].presence || DEFAULT_OPERATION_NAME
+          exception = payload[:exception]
+          tags = {
+            'component' =>        'ActiveRecord',
+            'span.kind' =>        'client',
+            'db.type' =>          'sql',
+            'db.connection_id' => payload[:connection_id],
+            'db.cached' =>        payload[:cached] || false,
+            'db.statement' =>     payload[:sql]
+          }
+
+          postnotify_span("active_record:#{operation_name}", start, finish, tags: tags, exception: exception)
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/tracing/rails/active_record_subscriber_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/tracing/rails/active_record_subscriber_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5eb5c044f84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/tracing/rails/active_record_subscriber_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'fast_spec_helper'
+require 'rspec-parameterized'
+
+describe Gitlab::Tracing::Rails::ActiveRecordSubscriber do
+  using RSpec::Parameterized::TableSyntax
+
+  describe '.instrument' do
+    it 'is unsubscribable' do
+      subscription = described_class.instrument
+
+      expect(subscription).not_to be_nil
+      expect { ActiveSupport::Notifications.unsubscribe(subscription) }.not_to raise_error
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#notify' do
+    subject { described_class.new }
+    let(:start) { Time.now }
+    let(:finish) { Time.now }
+
+    where(:name, :operation_name, :exception, :connection_id, :cached, :cached_response, :sql) do
+      nil         | "active_record:sqlquery"  | nil               | nil | nil   | false | nil
+      ""          | "active_record:sqlquery"  | nil               | nil | nil   | false | nil
+      "User Load" | "active_record:User Load" | nil               | nil | nil   | false | nil
+      "Repo Load" | "active_record:Repo Load" | StandardError.new | nil | nil   | false | nil
+      nil         | "active_record:sqlquery"  | nil               | 123 | nil   | false | nil
+      nil         | "active_record:sqlquery"  | nil               | nil | false | false | nil
+      nil         | "active_record:sqlquery"  | nil               | nil | true  | true  | nil
+      nil         | "active_record:sqlquery"  | nil               | nil | true  | true  | "SELECT * FROM users"
+    end
+
+    with_them do
+      def payload
+        {
+          name: name,
+          exception: exception,
+          connection_id: connection_id,
+          cached: cached,
+          sql: sql
+        }
+      end
+
+      def expected_tags
+        {
+          "component" =>        "ActiveRecord",
+          "span.kind" =>        "client",
+          "db.type" =>          "sql",
+          "db.connection_id" => connection_id,
+          "db.cached" =>        cached_response,
+          "db.statement" =>     sql
+        }
+      end
+
+      it 'should notify the tracer when the hash contains null values' do
+        expect(subject).to receive(:postnotify_span).with(operation_name, start, finish, tags: expected_tags, exception: exception)
+
+        subject.notify(start, finish, payload)
+      end
+
+      it 'should notify the tracer when the payload is missing values' do
+        expect(subject).to receive(:postnotify_span).with(operation_name, start, finish, tags: expected_tags, exception: exception)
+
+        subject.notify(start, finish, payload.compact)
+      end
+
+      it 'should not throw exceptions when with the default tracer' do
+        expect { subject.notify(start, finish, payload) }.not_to raise_error
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end