diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index fbdeff5dc98..581642fdd0c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ release.
 
 - Add `ForceFlush` to `Span Exporter` interface ([#1467](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/1467))
 - Clarify the description for the `TraceIdRatioBased` sampler needs to include the sampler's sampling ratio. ([#1536](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/1536))
+- Define the fallback tracer name for invalid values.
+  ([#1534](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/1534))
 
 ### Metrics
 
diff --git a/specification/trace/api.md b/specification/trace/api.md
index 3c66c0b0642..a50a3ccbc58 100644
--- a/specification/trace/api.md
+++ b/specification/trace/api.md
@@ -109,8 +109,9 @@ This API MUST accept the following parameters:
   In that scenario, the `name` denotes a module name or component name within that library
   or application.
   In case an invalid name (null or empty string) is specified, a working
-  default Tracer implementation as a fallback is returned rather than returning
-  null or throwing an exception.
+  Tracer implementation MUST be returned as a fallback rather than returning
+  null or throwing an exception, its `name` property SHOULD keep the original invalid value,
+  and a message reporting that the specified value is invalid SHOULD be logged.
   A library, implementing the OpenTelemetry API *may* also ignore this name and
   return a default instance for all calls, if it does not support "named"
   functionality (e.g. an implementation which is not even observability-related).