diff --git a/api/src/api/global-utils.ts b/api/src/api/global-utils.ts
index 87791f2817a..297836e009e 100644
--- a/api/src/api/global-utils.ts
+++ b/api/src/api/global-utils.ts
@@ -65,4 +65,4 @@ export function makeGetter<T>(
  * version. If the global API is not compatible with the API package
  * attempting to get it, a NOOP API implementation will be returned.
  */
-export const API_BACKWARDS_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION = 1;
+export const API_BACKWARDS_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION = 2;
diff --git a/api/src/trace/NoopTracer.ts b/api/src/trace/NoopTracer.ts
index cdc2cbd43d9..f76a73ee548 100644
--- a/api/src/trace/NoopTracer.ts
+++ b/api/src/trace/NoopTracer.ts
@@ -30,11 +30,14 @@ export class NoopTracer implements Tracer {
 
   // startSpan starts a noop span.
   startSpan(name: string, options?: SpanOptions, context?: Context): Span {
-    const parent = options?.parent;
+    const root = Boolean(options?.root);
+    if (root) {
+      return NOOP_SPAN;
+    }
+
     const parentFromContext = context && getActiveSpan(context)?.context();
-    if (isSpanContext(parent) && isSpanContextValid(parent)) {
-      return new NoopSpan(parent);
-    } else if (
+
+    if (
       isSpanContext(parentFromContext) &&
       isSpanContextValid(parentFromContext)
     ) {
diff --git a/api/src/trace/SpanOptions.ts b/api/src/trace/SpanOptions.ts
index e20f243eacc..3c374044ae0 100644
--- a/api/src/trace/SpanOptions.ts
+++ b/api/src/trace/SpanOptions.ts
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@
 import { Attributes } from './attributes';
 import { Link } from './link';
 import { SpanKind } from './span_kind';
-import { Span } from './span';
-import { SpanContext } from './span_context';
 
 /**
  * Options needed for span creation
@@ -36,20 +34,9 @@ export interface SpanOptions {
   /** {@link Link}s span to other spans */
   links?: Link[];
 
-  /**
-   * This option is NOT RECOMMENDED for normal use and should ONLY be used
-   * if your application manages context manually without the global context
-   * manager, or you are trying to override the parent extracted from context.
-   *
-   * A parent `SpanContext` (or `Span`, for convenience) that the newly-started
-   * span will be the child of. This overrides the parent span extracted from
-   * the currently active context.
-   *
-   * A null value here should prevent the SDK from extracting a parent from
-   * the current context, forcing the new span to be a root span.
-   */
-  parent?: Span | SpanContext | null;
-
   /** A manually specified start time for the created `Span` object. */
   startTime?: number;
+
+  /** The new span should be a root span. (Ignore parent from context). */
+  root?: boolean;
 }
diff --git a/api/test/noop-implementations/noop-tracer.test.ts b/api/test/noop-implementations/noop-tracer.test.ts
index 3f68c8a14c9..bfc06b81335 100644
--- a/api/test/noop-implementations/noop-tracer.test.ts
+++ b/api/test/noop-implementations/noop-tracer.test.ts
@@ -60,19 +60,6 @@ describe('NoopTracer', () => {
     return patchedFn();
   });
 
-  it('should propagate valid spanContext on the span (from parent)', () => {
-    const tracer = new NoopTracer();
-    const parent: SpanContext = {
-      traceId: 'd4cda95b652f4a1592b449d5929fda1b',
-      spanId: '6e0c63257de34c92',
-      traceFlags: TraceFlags.NONE,
-    };
-    const span = tracer.startSpan('test-1', { parent });
-    assert(span.context().traceId === parent.traceId);
-    assert(span.context().spanId === parent.spanId);
-    assert(span.context().traceFlags === parent.traceFlags);
-  });
-
   it('should propagate valid spanContext on the span (from context)', () => {
     const tracer = new NoopTracer();
     const parent: SpanContext = {