diff --git a/src/phoenix/server/telemetry.py b/src/phoenix/server/telemetry.py
index be464d4348..5465801fb1 100644
--- a/src/phoenix/server/telemetry.py
+++ b/src/phoenix/server/telemetry.py
@@ -1,16 +1,42 @@
 import os
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
-if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from opentelemetry.trace import TracerProvider
-
 from phoenix.config import (
     ENV_PHOENIX_SERVER_INSTRUMENTATION_OTLP_TRACE_COLLECTOR_GRPC_ENDPOINT,
     ENV_PHOENIX_SERVER_INSTRUMENTATION_OTLP_TRACE_COLLECTOR_HTTP_ENDPOINT,
 )
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from opentelemetry.trace import TracerProvider
+from logging import getLogger
+
+logger = getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def normalize_http_collector_endpoint(endpoint: str) -> str:
+    normalized_endpoint = endpoint
+    if not normalized_endpoint.startswith("http://") and not normalized_endpoint.startswith(
+        "https://"
+    ):
+        logger.warning(
+            "HTTP collector endpoint should include the protocol (http:// or https://)."
+            "Assuming http."
+        )
+        # assume http if no protocol is provided
+        normalized_endpoint = f"http://{endpoint}"
+    if normalized_endpoint.endswith("/v1/traces"):
+        logger.warning(
+            "HTTP collector endpoint should not include the /v1/traces path. Removing it."
+        )
+        # remove the /v1/traces path
+        normalized_endpoint = normalized_endpoint[: -len("/v1/traces")]
+    # remove trailing slashes
+    normalized_endpoint = normalized_endpoint.rstrip("/")
+    return normalized_endpoint
+
 
 def initialize_opentelemetry_tracer_provider() -> "TracerProvider":
+    logger.info("Initializing OpenTelemetry tracer provider")
     from opentelemetry.sdk import trace as trace_sdk
     from opentelemetry.sdk.trace.export import BatchSpanProcessor
 
@@ -18,6 +44,8 @@ def initialize_opentelemetry_tracer_provider() -> "TracerProvider":
     if http_endpoint := os.getenv(
         ENV_PHOENIX_SERVER_INSTRUMENTATION_OTLP_TRACE_COLLECTOR_HTTP_ENDPOINT
     ):
+        logger.info(f"Using HTTP collector endpoint: {http_endpoint}")
+        http_endpoint = normalize_http_collector_endpoint(http_endpoint) + "/v1/traces"
         from opentelemetry.exporter.otlp.proto.http.trace_exporter import (
             OTLPSpanExporter as HttpExporter,
         )
@@ -26,9 +54,11 @@ def initialize_opentelemetry_tracer_provider() -> "TracerProvider":
     if grpc_endpoint := os.getenv(
         ENV_PHOENIX_SERVER_INSTRUMENTATION_OTLP_TRACE_COLLECTOR_GRPC_ENDPOINT
     ):
+        logger.info(f"Using gRPC collector endpoint: {grpc_endpoint}")
         from opentelemetry.exporter.otlp.proto.grpc.trace_exporter import (
             OTLPSpanExporter as GrpcExporter,
         )
 
         tracer_provider.add_span_processor(BatchSpanProcessor(GrpcExporter(grpc_endpoint)))
+    logger.info("🔭 OpenTelemetry tracer provider initialized")
     return tracer_provider
diff --git a/tests/server/test_telemetry.py b/tests/server/test_telemetry.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8109cb8008
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/server/test_telemetry.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+from phoenix.server.telemetry import normalize_http_collector_endpoint
+
+
+def test_normalize_http_collector_endpoint():
+    assert normalize_http_collector_endpoint("http://localhost:4317") == "http://localhost:4317"
+    assert normalize_http_collector_endpoint("https://localhost:4317") == "https://localhost:4317"
+    assert normalize_http_collector_endpoint("localhost:4317") == "http://localhost:4317"
+    assert (
+        normalize_http_collector_endpoint("http://localhost:4317/v1/traces")
+        == "http://localhost:4317"
+    )
+    assert (
+        normalize_http_collector_endpoint("https://localhost:4317/v1/traces")
+        == "https://localhost:4317"
+    )
+    assert normalize_http_collector_endpoint("localhost:4317/v1/traces") == "http://localhost:4317"