diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
index cf7744dbe19..ee05fbfdf64 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/app/server.go
@@ -1284,7 +1284,7 @@ func newTracerProvider(s *options.KubeletServer) (oteltrace.TracerProvider, erro
 	}
 	hostname, err := nodeutil.GetHostname(s.HostnameOverride)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not determine hostname for tracer provider: %v", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not determine hostname for tracer provider: %w", err)
 	}
 	resourceOpts := []otelsdkresource.Option{
 		otelsdkresource.WithAttributes(
@@ -1294,7 +1294,7 @@ func newTracerProvider(s *options.KubeletServer) (oteltrace.TracerProvider, erro
 	}
 	tp, err := tracing.NewProvider(context.Background(), s.KubeletConfiguration.Tracing, []otlptracegrpc.Option{}, resourceOpts)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not configure tracer provider: %v", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not configure tracer provider: %w", err)
 	}
 	return tp, nil
 }
diff --git a/hack/local-up-cluster.sh b/hack/local-up-cluster.sh
index 16e8ed9a1cf..da790091911 100755
--- a/hack/local-up-cluster.sh
+++ b/hack/local-up-cluster.sh
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ STORAGE_BACKEND=${STORAGE_BACKEND:-"etcd3"}
 STORAGE_MEDIA_TYPE=${STORAGE_MEDIA_TYPE:-"application/vnd.kubernetes.protobuf"}
 # preserve etcd data. you also need to set ETCD_DIR.
 PRESERVE_ETCD="${PRESERVE_ETCD:-false}"
+ENABLE_TRACING=${ENABLE_TRACING:-false}
 
 # enable Kubernetes-CSI snapshotter
 ENABLE_CSI_SNAPSHOTTER=${ENABLE_CSI_SNAPSHOTTER:-false}
@@ -755,7 +756,7 @@ staticPodPath: "${POD_MANIFEST_PATH}"
 resolvConf: "${KUBELET_RESOLV_CONF}"
 EOF
 
-    if [[ "$FEATURE_GATES" == *KubeletTracing=true* ]]; then
+  if [[ "$ENABLE_TRACING" = true ]]; then
         cat <<EOF >> "${TMP_DIR}"/kubelet.yaml
 tracing:
   endpoint: localhost:4317 # the default value
diff --git a/pkg/features/kube_features.go b/pkg/features/kube_features.go
index 13496837f5b..7f82542e61e 100644
--- a/pkg/features/kube_features.go
+++ b/pkg/features/kube_features.go
@@ -457,6 +457,7 @@ const (
 	// owner: @sallyom
 	// kep: https://kep.k8s.io/2832
 	// alpha: v1.25
+	// beta: v1.27
 	//
 	// Add support for distributed tracing in the kubelet
 	KubeletTracing featuregate.Feature = "KubeletTracing"
@@ -955,7 +956,7 @@ var defaultKubernetesFeatureGates = map[featuregate.Feature]featuregate.FeatureS
 
 	KubeletPodResourcesGetAllocatable: {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
 
-	KubeletTracing: {Default: false, PreRelease: featuregate.Alpha},
+	KubeletTracing: {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.Beta},
 
 	LegacyServiceAccountTokenNoAutoGeneration: {Default: true, PreRelease: featuregate.GA, LockToDefault: true}, // remove in 1.29
 
diff --git a/pkg/generated/openapi/zz_generated.openapi.go b/pkg/generated/openapi/zz_generated.openapi.go
index 3ffd1e40976..84355a88707 100644
--- a/pkg/generated/openapi/zz_generated.openapi.go
+++ b/pkg/generated/openapi/zz_generated.openapi.go
@@ -58020,7 +58020,7 @@ func schema_k8sio_kubelet_config_v1beta1_KubeletConfiguration(ref common.Referen
 					},
 					"tracing": {
 						SchemaProps: spec.SchemaProps{
-							Description: "Tracing specifies the versioned configuration for OpenTelemetry tracing clients. See https://kep.k8s.io/2832 for more details.",
+							Description: "Tracing specifies the versioned configuration for OpenTelemetry tracing clients. See https://kep.k8s.io/2832 for more details. Default: nil",
 							Ref:         ref("k8s.io/component-base/tracing/api/v1.TracingConfiguration"),
 						},
 					},
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubelet/config/v1beta1/types.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubelet/config/v1beta1/types.go
index b979ef81e7a..822c798bad6 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubelet/config/v1beta1/types.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubelet/config/v1beta1/types.go
@@ -789,6 +789,7 @@ type KubeletConfiguration struct {
 	RegisterNode *bool `json:"registerNode,omitempty"`
 	// Tracing specifies the versioned configuration for OpenTelemetry tracing clients.
 	// See https://kep.k8s.io/2832 for more details.
+	// Default: nil
 	// +featureGate=KubeletTracing
 	// +optional
 	Tracing *tracingapi.TracingConfiguration `json:"tracing,omitempty"`