diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a00b111896e..63237296913 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.htm
 - The `Record` type in `go.opentelemetry.io/otel/log` is no longer comparable. (#5847)
 - Performance improvements for the trace SDK `SetAttributes` method in `Span`. (#5864)
 - Reduce memory allocations for the `Event` and `Link` lists in `Span`. (#5858)
+- Performance improvements for the trace SDK `AddEvent`, `AddLink`, `RecordError` and `End` methods in `Span`. (#5874)
 
 ### Deprecated
 
diff --git a/internal/tools/go.mod b/internal/tools/go.mod
index e60c80b7291..09a1ad9c1e4 100644
--- a/internal/tools/go.mod
+++ b/internal/tools/go.mod
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ require (
 	go.opentelemetry.io/build-tools/gotmpl v0.14.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/build-tools/multimod v0.14.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/build-tools/semconvgen v0.14.0
-	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20241004190924-225e2abe05e6
+	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20241009180824-f66d83c29e7c
 	golang.org/x/tools v0.26.0
 	golang.org/x/vuln v1.1.3
 )
diff --git a/internal/tools/go.sum b/internal/tools/go.sum
index 66d5ee5e7ff..c8c0a8af6c0 100644
--- a/internal/tools/go.sum
+++ b/internal/tools/go.sum
@@ -504,8 +504,8 @@ golang.org/x/crypto v0.3.1-0.20221117191849-2c476679df9a/go.mod h1:hebNnKkNXi2Uz
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.7.0/go.mod h1:pYwdfH91IfpZVANVyUOhSIPZaFoJGxTFbZhFTx+dXZU=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.28.0 h1:GBDwsMXVQi34v5CCYUm2jkJvu4cbtru2U4TN2PSyQnw=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.28.0/go.mod h1:rmgy+3RHxRZMyY0jjAJShp2zgEdOqj2AO7U0pYmeQ7U=
-golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20241004190924-225e2abe05e6 h1:1wqE9dj9NpSm04INVsJhhEUzhuDVjbcyKH91sVyPATw=
-golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20241004190924-225e2abe05e6/go.mod h1:NQtJDoLvd6faHhE7m4T/1IY708gDefGGjR/iUW8yQQ8=
+golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20241009180824-f66d83c29e7c h1:7dEasQXItcW1xKJ2+gg5VOiBnqWrJc+rq0DPKyvvdbY=
+golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20241009180824-f66d83c29e7c/go.mod h1:NQtJDoLvd6faHhE7m4T/1IY708gDefGGjR/iUW8yQQ8=
 golang.org/x/exp/typeparams v0.0.0-20220428152302-39d4317da171/go.mod h1:AbB0pIl9nAr9wVwH+Z2ZpaocVmF5I4GyWCDIsVjR0bk=
 golang.org/x/exp/typeparams v0.0.0-20230203172020-98cc5a0785f9/go.mod h1:AbB0pIl9nAr9wVwH+Z2ZpaocVmF5I4GyWCDIsVjR0bk=
 golang.org/x/exp/typeparams v0.0.0-20240314144324-c7f7c6466f7f h1:phY1HzDcf18Aq9A8KkmRtY9WvOFIxN8wgfvy6Zm1DV8=
diff --git a/sdk/trace/span.go b/sdk/trace/span.go
index fc8d10d33b7..730fb85c3ef 100644
--- a/sdk/trace/span.go
+++ b/sdk/trace/span.go
@@ -179,7 +179,8 @@ func (s *recordingSpan) IsRecording() bool {
 
 // isRecording returns if this span is being recorded. If this span has ended
 // this will return false.
-// This is done without acquiring a lock.
+//
+// This method assumes s.mu.Lock is held by the caller.
 func (s *recordingSpan) isRecording() bool {
 	if s == nil {
 		return false
@@ -408,9 +409,10 @@ func (s *recordingSpan) End(options ...trace.SpanEndOption) {
 	// the span's duration in case some operation below takes a while.
 	et := monotonicEndTime(s.startTime)
 
-	// Do relative expensive check now that we have an end time and see if we
-	// need to do any more processing.
-	if !s.IsRecording() {
+	// Lock the span now that we have an end time and see if we need to do any more processing.
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	if !s.isRecording() {
+		s.mu.Unlock()
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -435,10 +437,11 @@ func (s *recordingSpan) End(options ...trace.SpanEndOption) {
 	}
 
 	if s.executionTracerTaskEnd != nil {
+		s.mu.Unlock()
 		s.executionTracerTaskEnd()
+		s.mu.Lock()
 	}
 
-	s.mu.Lock()
 	// Setting endTime to non-zero marks the span as ended and not recording.
 	if config.Timestamp().IsZero() {
 		s.endTime = et
@@ -472,7 +475,13 @@ func monotonicEndTime(start time.Time) time.Time {
 // does not change the Span status. If this span is not being recorded or err is nil
 // than this method does nothing.
 func (s *recordingSpan) RecordError(err error, opts ...trace.EventOption) {
-	if s == nil || err == nil || !s.IsRecording() {
+	if s == nil || err == nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	defer s.mu.Unlock()
+	if !s.isRecording() {
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -508,14 +517,23 @@ func recordStackTrace() string {
 }
 
 // AddEvent adds an event with the provided name and options. If this span is
-// not being recorded than this method does nothing.
+// not being recorded then this method does nothing.
 func (s *recordingSpan) AddEvent(name string, o ...trace.EventOption) {
-	if !s.IsRecording() {
+	if s == nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	defer s.mu.Unlock()
+	if !s.isRecording() {
 		return
 	}
 	s.addEvent(name, o...)
 }
 
+// addEvent adds an event with the provided name and options.
+//
+// This method assumes s.mu.Lock is held by the caller.
 func (s *recordingSpan) addEvent(name string, o ...trace.EventOption) {
 	c := trace.NewEventConfig(o...)
 	e := Event{Name: name, Attributes: c.Attributes(), Time: c.Timestamp()}
@@ -532,9 +550,7 @@ func (s *recordingSpan) addEvent(name string, o ...trace.EventOption) {
 		e.Attributes = e.Attributes[:limit]
 	}
 
-	s.mu.Lock()
 	s.events.add(e)
-	s.mu.Unlock()
 }
 
 // SetName sets the name of this span. If this span is not being recorded than
@@ -682,7 +698,7 @@ func (s *recordingSpan) Resource() *resource.Resource {
 }
 
 func (s *recordingSpan) AddLink(link trace.Link) {
-	if !s.IsRecording() {
+	if s == nil {
 		return
 	}
 	if !link.SpanContext.IsValid() && len(link.Attributes) == 0 &&
@@ -690,6 +706,12 @@ func (s *recordingSpan) AddLink(link trace.Link) {
 		return
 	}
 
+	s.mu.Lock()
+	defer s.mu.Unlock()
+	if !s.isRecording() {
+		return
+	}
+
 	l := Link{SpanContext: link.SpanContext, Attributes: link.Attributes}
 
 	// Discard attributes over limit.
@@ -703,9 +725,7 @@ func (s *recordingSpan) AddLink(link trace.Link) {
 		l.Attributes = l.Attributes[:limit]
 	}
 
-	s.mu.Lock()
 	s.links.add(l)
-	s.mu.Unlock()
 }
 
 // DroppedAttributes returns the number of attributes dropped by the span