diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3c02834..17e6a8f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ Looking for the containers? [Head over to the Github Container Registry](https:/
       * [PRE_START_PATH](#pre_start_path)
       * [RELOAD](#reload)
       * [RELOAD_SIGINT_TIMEOUT](#reload_sigint_timeout)
+      * [OTEL_ENABLED](#otel_enabled)
    * [Python Versions](#python-versions)
    * [Image Variants](#image-variants)
       * [Full](#full)
@@ -240,6 +241,10 @@ When `RELOAD` is set this value determines how long to wait for the worker to gr
 
 Defaults to 30 seconds.
 
+### `OTEL_ENABLED`
+
+When set to `true` the container will enable OpenTelemetry (OTel) instrumentation for the Celery worker. This is done by installing the `opentelemetry-distro` and `opentelemetry-exporter-otlp` packages at startup and enabling auto-instrumentation. Any additional instrumentation packages (e.g. `opentelemetry-instrumentation-celery`) must be installed separately.
+
 ## Python Versions
 
 This project actively supports these Python versions:
diff --git a/assets/entrypoint.sh b/assets/entrypoint.sh
index 621f064..de31edf 100755
--- a/assets/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/assets/entrypoint.sh
@@ -30,9 +30,15 @@ fi
 # End of tiangolo/gunicorn-uvicorn-docker block
 #
 
+if [[ "$OTEL_ENABLED" == "true" ]]; then
+  OTEL_CMD="opentelemetry-instrument"
+  echo "OpenTelemetry auto-instrumentation enabled"
+else
+  OTEL_CMD=""
+fi
 
 if [[ "$ENABLE_BEAT" == "true" ]]; then
-  COMMAND="python -m celery -A $APP_MODULE beat -s /var/celery/celerybeat-schedule"
+  COMMAND="$OTEL_CMD python -m celery -A $APP_MODULE beat -s /var/celery/celerybeat-schedule"
 else
   POOL=${POOL:-prefork}
   if [[ "$POOL" = "gevent" ]] || [[ "$POOL" = "eventlet" ]] ; then
@@ -40,7 +46,7 @@ else
   else
     CONCURRENCY=${CONCURRENCY:-2}
   fi
-  COMMAND="python -m celery -A $APP_MODULE worker \
+  COMMAND="$OTEL_CMD python -m celery -A $APP_MODULE worker \
     --pool=$POOL \
     --concurrency=$CONCURRENCY \
     --prefetch-multiplier=${PREFETCH_MULTIPLIER:-4}"
diff --git a/dockerfile b/dockerfile
index 6fcde54..c09bd58 100644
--- a/dockerfile
+++ b/dockerfile
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ARG python_version=3.9
 ARG build_target=$python_version
 ARG publish_target=$python_version
+ARG OTEL_ENABLED=false
 
 FROM python:$build_target as Builder
 
@@ -26,6 +27,9 @@ ENV PATH="/root/.cargo/bin:${PATH}"
 RUN bash -c 'if [[ "$TARGETPLATFORM" == "linux/arm/v7" ]] ; then pip install $package==$package_version ; fi'
 RUN bash -c 'if [[ "$TARGETPLATFORM" != "linux/arm/v7" ]] ; then pip install $package==$package_version watchfiles>=0.15 ; fi'
 
+# Install OpenTelemetry packages
+RUN pip install opentelemetry-distro opentelemetry-exporter-otlp && opentelemetry-bootstrap -a install
+
 
 # Build our actual container now.
 FROM python:$publish_target
@@ -36,9 +40,11 @@ ARG python_version
 ARG package
 ARG maintainer=""
 ARG TARGETPLATFORM=""
+ARG OTEL_ENABLED=false
 LABEL python=$python_version
 LABEL package=$package
 LABEL maintainer=$maintainer
+LABEL otel_enabled=$OTEL_ENABLED
 LABEL org.opencontainers.image.description="python:$publish_target $package:$package_version $TARGETPLATFORM"
 
 # Used for Celery Beat.
@@ -48,6 +54,9 @@ RUN mkdir /var/celery
 # Copy all of the python files built in the Builder container into this smaller container.
 COPY --from=Builder /usr/local/lib/python$python_version /usr/local/lib/python$python_version
 
+# Copy binaries (e.g. opentelemetry-instrument) installed by pip in the Builder stage.
+COPY --from=Builder /usr/local/bin /usr/local/bin
+
 # Entrypoint Script
 COPY ./assets/entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh
 RUN chmod +x /entrypoint.sh