diff --git a/ddtrace/contrib/internal/openai/patch.py b/ddtrace/contrib/internal/openai/patch.py
index 77e936ebd7a..483bdcd3d65 100644
--- a/ddtrace/contrib/internal/openai/patch.py
+++ b/ddtrace/contrib/internal/openai/patch.py
@@ -185,11 +185,6 @@ def patched_client_init(openai, pin, func, instance, args, kwargs):
     func(*args, **kwargs)
     integration = openai._datadog_integration
     integration._client = instance
-    api_key = kwargs.get("api_key")
-    if api_key is None:
-        api_key = instance.api_key
-    if api_key is not None:
-        integration.user_api_key = api_key
     return
 
 
diff --git a/ddtrace/llmobs/_integrations/openai.py b/ddtrace/llmobs/_integrations/openai.py
index dcaff1dbfbd..ec387623200 100644
--- a/ddtrace/llmobs/_integrations/openai.py
+++ b/ddtrace/llmobs/_integrations/openai.py
@@ -50,20 +50,7 @@ def __init__(self, integration_config, openai):
         # object that is strongly linked with configuration.
         super().__init__(integration_config)
         self._openai = openai
-        self._user_api_key = None
         self._client = None
-        if self._openai.api_key is not None:
-            self.user_api_key = self._openai.api_key
-
-    @property
-    def user_api_key(self) -> Optional[str]:
-        """Get a representation of the user API key for tagging."""
-        return self._user_api_key
-
-    @user_api_key.setter
-    def user_api_key(self, value: str) -> None:
-        # Match the API key representation that OpenAI uses in their UI.
-        self._user_api_key = "sk-...%s" % value[-4:]
 
     def trace(self, pin: Pin, operation_id: str, submit_to_llmobs: bool = False, **kwargs: Dict[str, Any]) -> Span:
         traced_operations = (
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/fix-openai-remove-api-key-c372e143ca7f00f5.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/fix-openai-remove-api-key-c372e143ca7f00f5.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f52874c36dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/fix-openai-remove-api-key-c372e143ca7f00f5.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+---
+fixes:
+  - |
+    openai: Resolves an issue where instantiating an OpenAI client with a non-string API key resulted in parsing issues.