diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 13c76278bc..8ee9f66b6a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ## [Unreleased](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python-contrib/compare/v0.16b1...HEAD)
 
 ### Added
+- `opentelemetry-instrumentation-sqlalchemy` Ensure spans have kind set to "CLIENT"
+  ([#278](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python-contrib/pull/278))
 - `opentelemetry-instrumentation-celery` Add support for Celery version 5.x
   ([#266](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-python-contrib/pull/266))
 - `opentelemetry-instrumentation-urllib` Add urllib instrumentation
diff --git a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-sqlalchemy/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/sqlalchemy/engine.py b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-sqlalchemy/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/sqlalchemy/engine.py
index 07e86d5856..86f52ad724 100644
--- a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-sqlalchemy/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/sqlalchemy/engine.py
+++ b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-sqlalchemy/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/sqlalchemy/engine.py
@@ -74,7 +74,9 @@ def __init__(self, tracer, engine):
 
     # pylint: disable=unused-argument
     def _before_cur_exec(self, conn, cursor, statement, *args):
-        self.current_span = self.tracer.start_span(statement)
+        self.current_span = self.tracer.start_span(
+            statement, kind=trace.SpanKind.CLIENT
+        )
         with self.tracer.use_span(self.current_span, end_on_exit=False):
             if self.current_span.is_recording():
                 self.current_span.set_attribute(_STMT, statement)
diff --git a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-sqlalchemy/tests/test_sqlalchemy.py b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-sqlalchemy/tests/test_sqlalchemy.py
index a0187454ba..dfc6e429a7 100644
--- a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-sqlalchemy/tests/test_sqlalchemy.py
+++ b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-sqlalchemy/tests/test_sqlalchemy.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 from sqlalchemy import create_engine
 
+from opentelemetry import trace
 from opentelemetry.instrumentation.sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemyInstrumentor
 from opentelemetry.test.test_base import TestBase
 
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ def test_trace_integration(self):
 
         self.assertEqual(len(spans), 1)
         self.assertEqual(spans[0].name, "SELECT	1 + 1;")
+        self.assertEqual(spans[0].kind, trace.SpanKind.CLIENT)
 
     def test_not_recording(self):
         mock_tracer = mock.Mock()
@@ -67,3 +69,4 @@ def test_create_engine_wrapper(self):
 
         self.assertEqual(len(spans), 1)
         self.assertEqual(spans[0].name, "SELECT	1 + 1;")
+        self.assertEqual(spans[0].kind, trace.SpanKind.CLIENT)