diff --git a/internal/assets/manifests/istio-discovery/templates/configmap.yaml b/internal/assets/manifests/istio-discovery/templates/configmap.yaml
index ddcd90c51..08661712d 100644
--- a/internal/assets/manifests/istio-discovery/templates/configmap.yaml
+++ b/internal/assets/manifests/istio-discovery/templates/configmap.yaml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
       image:
         imageType: {{. | quote}}
       {{- end }}
-      {{- if ne .Values.global.proxy.tracer "" }}
+      {{- if and (ne .Values.global.proxy.tracer "") .Values.global.proxy.tracer }}
       tracing:
       {{- if eq .Values.global.proxy.tracer "lightstep" }}
         lightstep:
diff --git a/internal/assets/manifests/istio-discovery/values.yaml b/internal/assets/manifests/istio-discovery/values.yaml
index 861995d67..6760664b5 100644
--- a/internal/assets/manifests/istio-discovery/values.yaml
+++ b/internal/assets/manifests/istio-discovery/values.yaml
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ global:
 
     # Specify which tracer to use. One of: zipkin, lightstep, datadog, stackdriver.
     # If using stackdriver tracer outside GCP, set env GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS to the GCP credential file.
-    tracer: "zipkin"
+    # tracer: "zipkin"
 
     # Controls if sidecar is injected at the front of the container list and blocks the start of the other containers until the proxy is ready
     holdApplicationUntilProxyStarts: false
diff --git a/internal/assets/manifests/istio-discovery/values.yaml.tpl b/internal/assets/manifests/istio-discovery/values.yaml.tpl
index 4286c920b..9a5a8c9b9 100644
--- a/internal/assets/manifests/istio-discovery/values.yaml.tpl
+++ b/internal/assets/manifests/istio-discovery/values.yaml.tpl
@@ -83,9 +83,13 @@ logLevel: {{ .GetSpec.GetProxy.GetLogLevel | toString | lower }}
 {{ valueIf (dict "key" "holdApplicationUntilProxyStarts" "value" .GetSpec.GetProxy.GetHoldApplicationUntilProxyStarts) }}
 {{ toYamlIf (dict "value" .GetSpec.GetProxy.GetResources "key" "resources") }}
 {{ toYamlIf (dict "value" .GetSpec.GetProxy.GetLifecycle "key" "lifecycle") }}
-{{- if (and .GetSpec.GetProxy .GetSpec.GetProxy.Tracer) }}
+{{- if and .GetSpec.GetProxy .GetSpec.GetProxy.Tracer }}
+{{- if ne .GetSpec.GetProxy.GetTracer "" }}
 {{ valueIf (dict "key" "tracer" "value" .GetSpec.GetProxy.Tracer) }}
 {{- end }}
+{{- else }}
+tracer: zipkin
+{{- end }}
 {{- end }}
 
 # template for proxy init values
diff --git a/internal/components/discovery/testdata/icp-expected-values.yaml b/internal/components/discovery/testdata/icp-expected-values.yaml
index f13b3edaa..ba76a522a 100644
--- a/internal/components/discovery/testdata/icp-expected-values.yaml
+++ b/internal/components/discovery/testdata/icp-expected-values.yaml
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ global:
         cpu: 100m
         memory: 128Mi
     includeIPRanges: "*"
+    tracer: "zipkin"
   proxy_init:
     image: proxyv2
     resources:
diff --git a/internal/components/discovery/testdata/icp-passive-expected-values.yaml b/internal/components/discovery/testdata/icp-passive-expected-values.yaml
index 8920c1ce5..b1b575479 100644
--- a/internal/components/discovery/testdata/icp-passive-expected-values.yaml
+++ b/internal/components/discovery/testdata/icp-passive-expected-values.yaml
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ global:
     clusterName: demo-cluster2
   network: network1
   caName: Citadel
+  proxy:
+    tracer: zipkin
 meshConfig:
   connectTimeout: 5s
   rootNamespace: istio-system
diff --git a/internal/components/discovery/testdata/icp-test-cr.yaml b/internal/components/discovery/testdata/icp-test-cr.yaml
index b4a22e252..d39413f6d 100644
--- a/internal/components/discovery/testdata/icp-test-cr.yaml
+++ b/internal/components/discovery/testdata/icp-test-cr.yaml
@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ spec:
     excludeIPRanges: ""
     excludeInboundPorts: ""
     excludeOutboundPorts: ""
+    tracer: "zipkin"
   proxyInit:
     cni:
       enabled: true