diff --git a/changelog/175.bugfix.rst b/changelog/175.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ace3fb38
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/175.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Initialize otel attribute on ConfigProvider
diff --git a/src/seismometer/__init__.py b/src/seismometer/__init__.py
index fe50a36b..9acf5273 100644
--- a/src/seismometer/__init__.py
+++ b/src/seismometer/__init__.py
@@ -73,9 +73,10 @@ def run_startup(
     initialize_otel_config(config)
 
     export_config = config.export_config
-    ExportManager(
-        hostname=export_config.hostname,
-        file_output_paths=export_config.otel_files,
-        export_ports=export_config.otel_ports,
-        dump_to_stdout=export_config.otel_stdout,
-    )
+    if export_config:
+        ExportManager(
+            hostname=export_config.hostname,
+            file_output_paths=export_config.otel_files,
+            export_ports=export_config.otel_ports,
+            dump_to_stdout=export_config.otel_stdout,
+        )
diff --git a/src/seismometer/configuration/config.py b/src/seismometer/configuration/config.py
index cf05476a..b6d29fb8 100644
--- a/src/seismometer/configuration/config.py
+++ b/src/seismometer/configuration/config.py
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ def __init__(
         self._metrics: dict[str, Metric] = None
         self._metric_groups: dict = None
         self._metric_types: dict = None
+        self.export_config: ExportConfig = None
 
         if definitions is not None:
             self._prediction_defs = PredictionDictionary(predictions=definitions.pop("predictions", []))