diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index b8e8d6ef..eb11abb6 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -149,6 +149,12 @@
         <artifactId>parsson</artifactId>
         <version>1.1.7</version>
       </dependency>
+      <dependency>
+        <!-- TODO remove incremental version when released -->
+        <groupId>org.jenkins-ci.plugins.workflow</groupId>
+        <artifactId>workflow-step-api</artifactId>
+        <version>707.v76364b_2b_6818</version>
+      </dependency>
     </dependencies>
   </dependencyManagement>
   <dependencies>
@@ -377,6 +383,10 @@
       <groupId>org.jenkins-ci.plugins.workflow</groupId>
       <artifactId>workflow-multibranch</artifactId>
     </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.jenkins-ci.plugins.workflow</groupId>
+      <artifactId>workflow-step-api</artifactId>
+    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.jenkinsci.plugins</groupId>
       <artifactId>pipeline-model-definition</artifactId>
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/jenkins/plugins/opentelemetry/init/StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializer.java b/src/main/java/io/jenkins/plugins/opentelemetry/init/StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializer.java
index 76581299..df0270a5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/jenkins/plugins/opentelemetry/init/StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/jenkins/plugins/opentelemetry/init/StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializer.java
@@ -6,48 +6,30 @@
 package io.jenkins.plugins.opentelemetry.init;
 
 import hudson.Extension;
-import hudson.util.ClassLoaderSanityThreadFactory;
-import hudson.util.DaemonThreadFactory;
-import hudson.util.NamingThreadFactory;
-import io.jenkins.plugins.opentelemetry.api.OpenTelemetryLifecycleListener;
 import io.opentelemetry.context.Context;
-import io.opentelemetry.sdk.autoconfigure.spi.ConfigProperties;
-import java.lang.reflect.Field;
-import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
-import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
-import javax.annotation.Nonnull;
 import org.jenkinsci.plugins.workflow.steps.SynchronousNonBlockingStepExecution;
 
+/**
+ * Initializes the instrumentation for {@link SynchronousNonBlockingStepExecution} by augmenting the
+ * {@link ExecutorService} to ensure that the OpenTelemetry context is propagated correctly.
+ */
 @Extension
-public class StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializer implements OpenTelemetryLifecycleListener {
+public class StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializer
+        implements SynchronousNonBlockingStepExecution.ExecutorServiceAugmentor {
 
     static final Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializer.class.getName());
 
-    @Override
-    public void afterConfiguration(@Nonnull ConfigProperties configProperties) {
-        try {
-            logger.log(
-                    Level.FINE, () -> "Instrumenting " + SynchronousNonBlockingStepExecution.class.getName() + "...");
-            Class<SynchronousNonBlockingStepExecution> synchronousNonBlockingStepExecutionClass =
-                    SynchronousNonBlockingStepExecution.class;
-            Arrays.stream(synchronousNonBlockingStepExecutionClass.getDeclaredFields())
-                    .forEach(field -> logger.log(Level.FINE, () -> "Field: " + field.getName()));
-            Field executorServiceField = synchronousNonBlockingStepExecutionClass.getDeclaredField("executorService");
-            executorServiceField.setAccessible(true);
-            ExecutorService executorService = (ExecutorService) Optional.ofNullable(executorServiceField.get(null))
-                    .orElseGet(() -> Executors.newCachedThreadPool(new NamingThreadFactory(
-                            new ClassLoaderSanityThreadFactory(new DaemonThreadFactory()),
-                            "org.jenkinsci.plugins.workflow.steps.SynchronousNonBlockingStepExecution")));
-            ExecutorService instrumentedExecutorService = Context.taskWrapping(executorService);
-            executorServiceField.set(null, instrumentedExecutorService);
-
-            // org.jenkinsci.plugins.workflow.cps.CpsThreadGroup.runner
-        } catch (NoSuchFieldException | IllegalAccessException e) {
-            throw new RuntimeException(e);
-        }
+    /**
+     * Augment the provided ExecutorService to wrap it with OpenTelemetry context propagation
+     * @param executorService the ExecutorService to augment
+     * @return the augmented ExecutorService
+     * @see SynchronousNonBlockingStepExecution#getExecutorService()
+     */
+    public ExecutorService augment(ExecutorService executorService) {
+        logger.log(Level.FINE, () -> "Instrumenting " + SynchronousNonBlockingStepExecution.class.getName() + "...");
+        return Context.taskWrapping(executorService);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/jenkins/plugins/opentelemetry/JenkinsOtelPluginNoConfigurationTest.java b/src/test/java/io/jenkins/plugins/opentelemetry/JenkinsOtelPluginNoConfigurationTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1e47aafe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/io/jenkins/plugins/opentelemetry/JenkinsOtelPluginNoConfigurationTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+package io.jenkins.plugins.opentelemetry;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasSize;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.nullValue;
+
+import hudson.model.Result;
+import io.jenkins.plugins.opentelemetry.init.StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializer;
+import io.opentelemetry.sdk.common.CompletableResultCode;
+import io.opentelemetry.sdk.testing.exporter.InMemorySpanExporterProvider;
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import org.jenkinsci.plugins.workflow.cps.CpsFlowDefinition;
+import org.jenkinsci.plugins.workflow.job.WorkflowJob;
+import org.junit.Rule;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.jvnet.hudson.test.BuildWatcher;
+import org.jvnet.hudson.test.JenkinsRule;
+
+public class JenkinsOtelPluginNoConfigurationTest {
+
+    @Rule
+    public JenkinsRule j = new JenkinsRule();
+
+    @Rule
+    public BuildWatcher buildWatcher = new BuildWatcher();
+
+    /**
+     * Test that the StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializer does nothing when configuration is not set.
+     * This test is similar to {@link JenkinsOtelPluginIntegrationTest#testSpanContextPropagationSynchronousNonBlockingTestStep()}
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void testNoOpWhenNotConfigured() throws Exception {
+
+        String pipelineScript =
+                """
+            node() {
+                stage('ze-stage1') {
+                   echo message: 'hello'
+                   spanContextPropagationSynchronousNonBlockingTestStep()
+                }
+            }""";
+        j.createOnlineSlave();
+        final String jobName = "test-SpanContextPropagationSynchronousTestStep";
+        WorkflowJob pipeline = j.createProject(WorkflowJob.class, jobName);
+        pipeline.setDefinition(new CpsFlowDefinition(pipelineScript, true));
+        j.assertBuildStatus(Result.SUCCESS, pipeline.scheduleBuild2(0));
+
+        CompletableResultCode result = JenkinsControllerOpenTelemetry.get()
+                .getOpenTelemetrySdk()
+                .getSdkTracerProvider()
+                .forceFlush();
+        result.join(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+
+        // without specific configuration, no spans should be exported
+        assertThat(InMemorySpanExporterProvider.LAST_CREATED_INSTANCE, nullValue());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Make sure a standard pipeline with synchronous non-blocking steps works with {@link StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializer#augment(ExecutorService)}
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void testStandardPipeline() throws Exception {
+        j.createOnlineSlave();
+        WorkflowJob pipeline = j.createProject(WorkflowJob.class);
+        pipeline.setDefinition(new CpsFlowDefinition(
+                """
+            node {
+                writeFile(file: 'file', text: 'Hello, World!')
+                archiveArtifacts('file')
+            }
+            """,
+                true));
+
+        var build = j.assertBuildStatus(Result.SUCCESS, pipeline.scheduleBuild2(0));
+        assertThat(build.getArtifacts(), hasSize(1));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/jenkins/plugins/opentelemetry/init/StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializerTest.java b/src/test/java/io/jenkins/plugins/opentelemetry/init/StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializerTest.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 2928c745..00000000
--- a/src/test/java/io/jenkins/plugins/opentelemetry/init/StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializerTest.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright The Original Author or Authors
- * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
- */
-
-package io.jenkins.plugins.opentelemetry.init;
-
-import io.opentelemetry.sdk.autoconfigure.spi.internal.DefaultConfigProperties;
-import java.util.Collections;
-import org.junit.Test;
-
-public class StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializerTest {
-
-    @Test
-    public void testAfterConfiguration() {
-        StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializer stepExecutionInstrumentationInitializer =
-                new StepExecutionInstrumentationInitializer();
-        stepExecutionInstrumentationInitializer.afterConfiguration(
-                DefaultConfigProperties.createFromMap(Collections.emptyMap()));
-    }
-}