diff --git a/google/cloud/bigtable/data/_metrics/handlers/opentelemetry.py b/google/cloud/bigtable/data/_metrics/handlers/opentelemetry.py
index 94e0d53aa..ea8283ba4 100644
--- a/google/cloud/bigtable/data/_metrics/handlers/opentelemetry.py
+++ b/google/cloud/bigtable/data/_metrics/handlers/opentelemetry.py
@@ -177,7 +177,9 @@ def on_operation_complete(self, op: CompletedOperationMetric) -> None:
         self.otel.operation_latencies.record(
             op.duration, {"streaming": is_streaming, **labels}
         )
-        self.otel.retry_count.add(len(op.completed_attempts) - 1, labels)
+        # only record completed attempts if there were retries
+        if op.completed_attempts:
+            self.otel.retry_count.add(len(op.completed_attempts) - 1, labels)
 
     def on_attempt_complete(
         self, attempt: CompletedAttemptMetric, op: ActiveOperationMetric
@@ -223,9 +225,9 @@ def on_attempt_complete(
                 attempt.gfe_latency,
                 {"streaming": is_streaming, "status": status, **labels},
             )
-        # gfe headers not attached. Record a connectivity error.
-        # TODO: this should not be recorded as an error when direct path is enabled
-        is_error = attempt.gfe_latency is None
-        self.otel.connectivity_error_count.add(
-            int(is_error), {"status": status, **labels}
-        )
+        else:
+            # gfe headers not attached. Record a connectivity error.
+            # TODO: this should not be recorded as an error when direct path is enabled
+            self.otel.connectivity_error_count.add(
+                1, {"status": status, **labels}
+            )
diff --git a/tests/unit/data/_metrics/handlers/test_handler_opentelemetry.py b/tests/unit/data/_metrics/handlers/test_handler_opentelemetry.py
index e195bde96..ca3e8ce16 100644
--- a/tests/unit/data/_metrics/handlers/test_handler_opentelemetry.py
+++ b/tests/unit/data/_metrics/handlers/test_handler_opentelemetry.py
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ def test_operation_update_labels(self, metric_name, kind, optional_labels):
         op = CompletedOperationMetric(
             op_type=expected_op_type,
             start_time=0,
-            completed_attempts=[],
+            completed_attempts=[object()],
             duration=1,
             final_status=expected_status,
             cluster_id="c",