diff --git a/api/all/build.gradle.kts b/api/all/build.gradle.kts
index 5c003c4ef6b..4c461207911 100644
--- a/api/all/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/api/all/build.gradle.kts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ plugins {
     id("maven-publish")
 
     id("me.champeau.jmh")
+    id("org.unbroken-dome.test-sets")
     id("ru.vyarus.animalsniffer")
 }
 
@@ -10,6 +11,11 @@ description = "OpenTelemetry API"
 extra["moduleName"] = "io.opentelemetry.api"
 base.archivesBaseName = "opentelemetry-api"
 
+testSets {
+    create("testLogsIfSdkFound")
+    create("testDoesNotLogIfSdkFoundAndSuppressed")
+}
+
 dependencies {
     api(project(":context"))
 
@@ -17,4 +23,20 @@ dependencies {
 
     testImplementation("edu.berkeley.cs.jqf:jqf-fuzz")
     testImplementation("com.google.guava:guava-testlib")
+
+    add("testLogsIfSdkFoundImplementation", project(":sdk:all"))
+    add("testDoesNotLogIfSdkFoundAndSuppressedImplementation", project(":sdk:all"))
 }
+
+tasks {
+    val testLogsIfSdkFound by existing(Test::class) {
+    }
+
+    val testDoesNotLogIfSdkFoundAndSuppressed by existing(Test::class) {
+        jvmArgs("-Dotel.sdk.suppress-sdk-initialized-warning=true")
+    }
+
+    named("check") {
+        dependsOn(testLogsIfSdkFound, testDoesNotLogIfSdkFoundAndSuppressed)
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/api/all/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/api/GlobalOpenTelemetry.java b/api/all/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/api/GlobalOpenTelemetry.java
index 9f91cf6a399..f3d8cecd260 100644
--- a/api/all/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/api/GlobalOpenTelemetry.java
+++ b/api/all/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/api/GlobalOpenTelemetry.java
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ public final class GlobalOpenTelemetry {
 
   private static final Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(GlobalOpenTelemetry.class.getName());
 
+  private static final boolean suppressSdkCheck =
+      Boolean.getBoolean("otel.sdk.suppress-sdk-initialized-warning");
+
   private static final Object mutex = new Object();
 
   @Nullable private static volatile ObfuscatedOpenTelemetry globalOpenTelemetry;
@@ -58,6 +61,10 @@ public static OpenTelemetry get() {
             return autoConfigured;
           }
 
+          if (!suppressSdkCheck) {
+            SdkChecker.logIfSdkFound();
+          }
+
           set(OpenTelemetry.noop());
           return OpenTelemetry.noop();
         }
@@ -168,6 +175,39 @@ private static OpenTelemetry maybeAutoConfigure() {
     }
   }
 
+  // Use an inner class that checks and logs in its static initializer to have log-once behavior
+  // using initial classloader lock and no further runtime locks or atomics.
+  private static class SdkChecker {
+    static {
+      boolean hasSdk = false;
+      try {
+        Class.forName("io.opentelemetry.sdk.OpenTelemetrySdk");
+        hasSdk = true;
+      } catch (Throwable t) {
+        // Ignore
+      }
+
+      if (hasSdk) {
+        logger.log(
+            Level.SEVERE,
+            "Attempt to access GlobalOpenTelemetry.get before OpenTelemetrySdk has been "
+                + "initialized. This generally means telemetry will not be recorded for parts of "
+                + "your application. Make sure to initialize OpenTelemetrySdk, using "
+                + "OpenTelemetrySdk.builder()...buildAndRegisterGlobal(), as early as possible in "
+                + "your application. If you do not need to use the OpenTelemetry SDK, either "
+                + "exclude it from your classpath or set the "
+                + "'otel.sdk.suppress-sdk-initialized-warning' system property to true.",
+            // Add stack trace to log to allow user to find the problematic invocation.
+            new Throwable());
+      }
+    }
+
+    // All the logic is in the static initializer, this method is called just to load the class and
+    // that's it. JVM will then optimize it away completely because it's empty so we have no
+    // overhead for a log-once pattern.
+    static void logIfSdkFound() {}
+  }
+
   /**
    * Static global instances are obfuscated when they are returned from the API to prevent users
    * from casting them to their SDK-specific implementation. For example, we do not want users to
diff --git a/api/all/src/testDoesNotLogIfSdkFoundAndSuppressed/java/io/opentelemetry/api/GlobalOpenTelemetryTest.java b/api/all/src/testDoesNotLogIfSdkFoundAndSuppressed/java/io/opentelemetry/api/GlobalOpenTelemetryTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0e8ce156151
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/all/src/testDoesNotLogIfSdkFoundAndSuppressed/java/io/opentelemetry/api/GlobalOpenTelemetryTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+package io.opentelemetry.api;
+
+import io.github.netmikey.logunit.api.LogCapturer;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.RegisterExtension;
+
+public class GlobalOpenTelemetryTest {
+
+  @RegisterExtension
+  LogCapturer logs = LogCapturer.create().captureForType(GlobalOpenTelemetry.class);
+
+  @Test
+  void logIsSuppressed() {
+    GlobalOpenTelemetry.get();
+    logs.assertDoesNotContain(
+        "Attempt to access GlobalOpenTelemetry.get before OpenTelemetrySdk has been "
+            + "initialized.");
+  }
+}
diff --git a/api/all/src/testLogsIfSdkFound/java/io/opentelemetry/api/GlobalOpenTelemetryTest.java b/api/all/src/testLogsIfSdkFound/java/io/opentelemetry/api/GlobalOpenTelemetryTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9e9a1e203f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/all/src/testLogsIfSdkFound/java/io/opentelemetry/api/GlobalOpenTelemetryTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+package io.opentelemetry.api;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+import io.github.netmikey.logunit.api.LogCapturer;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.RegisterExtension;
+import org.slf4j.event.Level;
+import org.slf4j.event.LoggingEvent;
+
+class GlobalOpenTelemetryTest {
+
+  @RegisterExtension
+  LogCapturer logs = LogCapturer.create().captureForType(GlobalOpenTelemetry.class);
+
+  @Test
+  void logsWarningOnAccessWithoutSdk() {
+    GlobalOpenTelemetry.get();
+    LoggingEvent log =
+        logs.assertContains(
+            "Attempt to access GlobalOpenTelemetry.get before OpenTelemetrySdk has been "
+                + "initialized.");
+    assertThat(log.getLevel()).isEqualTo(Level.ERROR);
+  }
+}