diff --git a/apps/opentelemetry/src/otel_configuration.erl b/apps/opentelemetry/src/otel_configuration.erl
index 4f59de740..3098b2237 100644
--- a/apps/opentelemetry/src/otel_configuration.erl
+++ b/apps/opentelemetry/src/otel_configuration.erl
@@ -454,7 +454,9 @@ transform(propagator, Value) when Value =:= "b3" ;
 %% TODO: support jager propagator format
 %% transform(propagator, "jaeger") ->
 %%     jaeger;
-transform(propagator, Propagator) ->
+transform(propagator, Propagator) when is_atom(Propagator) ->
+    Propagator;
+ transform(propagator, Propagator) ->
     ?LOG_WARNING("Ignoring unknown propagator ~ts in OS environment variable $OTEL_PROPAGATORS",
                  [Propagator]),
     undefined;