diff --git a/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/core/datastreams/DefaultPathwayContext.java b/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/core/datastreams/DefaultPathwayContext.java
index 316c0bd83e6..167d6b12bb2 100644
--- a/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/core/datastreams/DefaultPathwayContext.java
+++ b/dd-trace-core/src/main/java/datadog/trace/core/datastreams/DefaultPathwayContext.java
@@ -200,10 +200,10 @@ private static class PathwayContextExtractor implements BiConsumer<String, Strin
 
     @Override
     public void accept(String key, String value) {
-      if (PROPAGATION_KEY_BASE64.equalsIgnoreCase(key)) {
+      if (value != null && PROPAGATION_KEY_BASE64.equalsIgnoreCase(key)) {
         try {
           extractedContext = decode(timeSource, serviceNameOverride, value);
-        } catch (IOException ignored) {
+        } catch (Throwable ignored) {
         }
       }
     }