diff --git a/ddtrace/span_link.go b/ddtrace/span_link.go
index 22e7013e72..9d6cca604a 100644
--- a/ddtrace/span_link.go
+++ b/ddtrace/span_link.go
@@ -13,13 +13,13 @@ type SpanLink struct {
 	// TraceID represents the low 64 bits of the linked span's trace id. This field is required.
 	TraceID uint64 `msg:"trace_id" json:"trace_id"`
 	// TraceIDHigh represents the high 64 bits of the linked span's trace id. This field is only set if the linked span's trace id is 128 bits.
-	TraceIDHigh uint64 `msg:"trace_id_high,omitempty" json:"trace_id_high"`
+	TraceIDHigh uint64 `msg:"trace_id_high" json:"trace_id_high"`
 	// SpanID represents the linked span's span id.
 	SpanID uint64 `msg:"span_id" json:"span_id"`
 	// Attributes is a mapping of keys to string values. These values are used to add additional context to the span link.
-	Attributes map[string]string `msg:"attributes,omitempty" json:"attributes"`
+	Attributes map[string]string `msg:"attributes" json:"attributes"`
 	// Tracestate is the tracestate of the linked span. This field is optional.
-	Tracestate string `msg:"tracestate,omitempty" json:"tracestate"`
+	Tracestate string `msg:"tracestate" json:"tracestate"`
 	// Flags represents the W3C trace flags of the linked span. This field is optional.
-	Flags uint32 `msg:"flags,omitempty" json:"flags"`
+	Flags uint32 `msg:"flags" json:"flags"`
 }
diff --git a/ddtrace/span_link_msgp.go b/ddtrace/span_link_msgp.go
index 5c2579713d..d3ec8a8fb2 100644
--- a/ddtrace/span_link_msgp.go
+++ b/ddtrace/span_link_msgp.go
@@ -97,114 +97,78 @@ func (z *SpanLink) DecodeMsg(dc *msgp.Reader) (err error) {
 
 // EncodeMsg implements msgp.Encodable
 func (z *SpanLink) EncodeMsg(en *msgp.Writer) (err error) {
-	// check for omitted fields
-	zb0001Len := uint32(6)
-	var zb0001Mask uint8 /* 6 bits */
-	_ = zb0001Mask
-	if z.TraceIDHigh == 0 {
-		zb0001Len--
-		zb0001Mask |= 0x2
-	}
-	if z.Attributes == nil {
-		zb0001Len--
-		zb0001Mask |= 0x8
-	}
-	if z.Tracestate == "" {
-		zb0001Len--
-		zb0001Mask |= 0x10
-	}
-	if z.Flags == 0 {
-		zb0001Len--
-		zb0001Mask |= 0x20
-	}
-	// variable map header, size zb0001Len
-	err = en.Append(0x80 | uint8(zb0001Len))
+	// map header, size 6
+	// write "trace_id"
+	err = en.Append(0x86, 0xa8, 0x74, 0x72, 0x61, 0x63, 0x65, 0x5f, 0x69, 0x64)
 	if err != nil {
 		return
 	}
-
-	// skip if no fields are to be emitted
-	if zb0001Len != 0 {
-		// write "trace_id"
-		err = en.Append(0xa8, 0x74, 0x72, 0x61, 0x63, 0x65, 0x5f, 0x69, 0x64)
-		if err != nil {
-			return
-		}
-		err = en.WriteUint64(z.TraceID)
-		if err != nil {
-			err = msgp.WrapError(err, "TraceID")
-			return
-		}
-		if (zb0001Mask & 0x2) == 0 { // if not omitted
-			// write "trace_id_high"
-			err = en.Append(0xad, 0x74, 0x72, 0x61, 0x63, 0x65, 0x5f, 0x69, 0x64, 0x5f, 0x68, 0x69, 0x67, 0x68)
-			if err != nil {
-				return
-			}
-			err = en.WriteUint64(z.TraceIDHigh)
-			if err != nil {
-				err = msgp.WrapError(err, "TraceIDHigh")
-				return
-			}
-		}
-		// write "span_id"
-		err = en.Append(0xa7, 0x73, 0x70, 0x61, 0x6e, 0x5f, 0x69, 0x64)
+	err = en.WriteUint64(z.TraceID)
+	if err != nil {
+		err = msgp.WrapError(err, "TraceID")
+		return
+	}
+	// write "trace_id_high"
+	err = en.Append(0xad, 0x74, 0x72, 0x61, 0x63, 0x65, 0x5f, 0x69, 0x64, 0x5f, 0x68, 0x69, 0x67, 0x68)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	err = en.WriteUint64(z.TraceIDHigh)
+	if err != nil {
+		err = msgp.WrapError(err, "TraceIDHigh")
+		return
+	}
+	// write "span_id"
+	err = en.Append(0xa7, 0x73, 0x70, 0x61, 0x6e, 0x5f, 0x69, 0x64)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	err = en.WriteUint64(z.SpanID)
+	if err != nil {
+		err = msgp.WrapError(err, "SpanID")
+		return
+	}
+	// write "attributes"
+	err = en.Append(0xaa, 0x61, 0x74, 0x74, 0x72, 0x69, 0x62, 0x75, 0x74, 0x65, 0x73)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	err = en.WriteMapHeader(uint32(len(z.Attributes)))
+	if err != nil {
+		err = msgp.WrapError(err, "Attributes")
+		return
+	}
+	for za0001, za0002 := range z.Attributes {
+		err = en.WriteString(za0001)
 		if err != nil {
+			err = msgp.WrapError(err, "Attributes")
 			return
 		}
-		err = en.WriteUint64(z.SpanID)
+		err = en.WriteString(za0002)
 		if err != nil {
-			err = msgp.WrapError(err, "SpanID")
+			err = msgp.WrapError(err, "Attributes", za0001)
 			return
 		}
-		if (zb0001Mask & 0x8) == 0 { // if not omitted
-			// write "attributes"
-			err = en.Append(0xaa, 0x61, 0x74, 0x74, 0x72, 0x69, 0x62, 0x75, 0x74, 0x65, 0x73)
-			if err != nil {
-				return
-			}
-			err = en.WriteMapHeader(uint32(len(z.Attributes)))
-			if err != nil {
-				err = msgp.WrapError(err, "Attributes")
-				return
-			}
-			for za0001, za0002 := range z.Attributes {
-				err = en.WriteString(za0001)
-				if err != nil {
-					err = msgp.WrapError(err, "Attributes")
-					return
-				}
-				err = en.WriteString(za0002)
-				if err != nil {
-					err = msgp.WrapError(err, "Attributes", za0001)
-					return
-				}
-			}
-		}
-		if (zb0001Mask & 0x10) == 0 { // if not omitted
-			// write "tracestate"
-			err = en.Append(0xaa, 0x74, 0x72, 0x61, 0x63, 0x65, 0x73, 0x74, 0x61, 0x74, 0x65)
-			if err != nil {
-				return
-			}
-			err = en.WriteString(z.Tracestate)
-			if err != nil {
-				err = msgp.WrapError(err, "Tracestate")
-				return
-			}
-		}
-		if (zb0001Mask & 0x20) == 0 { // if not omitted
-			// write "flags"
-			err = en.Append(0xa5, 0x66, 0x6c, 0x61, 0x67, 0x73)
-			if err != nil {
-				return
-			}
-			err = en.WriteUint32(z.Flags)
-			if err != nil {
-				err = msgp.WrapError(err, "Flags")
-				return
-			}
-		}
+	}
+	// write "tracestate"
+	err = en.Append(0xaa, 0x74, 0x72, 0x61, 0x63, 0x65, 0x73, 0x74, 0x61, 0x74, 0x65)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	err = en.WriteString(z.Tracestate)
+	if err != nil {
+		err = msgp.WrapError(err, "Tracestate")
+		return
+	}
+	// write "flags"
+	err = en.Append(0xa5, 0x66, 0x6c, 0x61, 0x67, 0x73)
+	if err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	err = en.WriteUint32(z.Flags)
+	if err != nil {
+		err = msgp.WrapError(err, "Flags")
+		return
 	}
 	return
 }