diff --git a/exporter/otlp-http/lib/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/http/trace_exporter.rb b/exporter/otlp-http/lib/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/http/trace_exporter.rb
index 0ae739df5a..de2b857788 100644
--- a/exporter/otlp-http/lib/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/http/trace_exporter.rb
+++ b/exporter/otlp-http/lib/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/http/trace_exporter.rb
@@ -180,8 +180,9 @@ def send_bytes(bytes, timeout:) # rubocop:disable Metrics/MethodLength
             rescue Net::OpenTimeout, Net::ReadTimeout
               retry if backoff?(retry_count: retry_count += 1, reason: 'timeout')
               return FAILURE
-            rescue OpenSSL::SSL::SSLError
+            rescue OpenSSL::SSL::SSLError => e
               retry if backoff?(retry_count: retry_count += 1, reason: 'openssl_error')
+              OpenTelemetry.handle_error(exception: e, message: 'SSL error in OTLP::Exporter#send_bytes')
               return FAILURE
             rescue SocketError
               retry if backoff?(retry_count: retry_count += 1, reason: 'socket_error')
diff --git a/exporter/otlp/lib/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/exporter.rb b/exporter/otlp/lib/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/exporter.rb
index b017e4a30c..1f32c4bd19 100644
--- a/exporter/otlp/lib/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/exporter.rb
+++ b/exporter/otlp/lib/opentelemetry/exporter/otlp/exporter.rb
@@ -184,8 +184,9 @@ def send_bytes(bytes, timeout:) # rubocop:disable Metrics/CyclomaticComplexity,
           rescue Net::OpenTimeout, Net::ReadTimeout
             retry if backoff?(retry_count: retry_count += 1, reason: 'timeout')
             return FAILURE
-          rescue OpenSSL::SSL::SSLError
+          rescue OpenSSL::SSL::SSLError => e
             retry if backoff?(retry_count: retry_count += 1, reason: 'openssl_error')
+            OpenTelemetry.handle_error(exception: e, message: 'SSL error in OTLP::Exporter#send_bytes')
             return FAILURE
           rescue SocketError
             retry if backoff?(retry_count: retry_count += 1, reason: 'socket_error')