diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/EventBusImpl.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/EventBusImpl.java
index 7d1d15b48..994a4a1c4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/EventBusImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/EventBusImpl.java
@@ -105,14 +105,14 @@ public class EventBusImpl implements EventBus, MetricsProvider {
 
   @Override
   public EventBus send(String address, Object message, DeliveryOptions options) {
-    MessageImpl msg = createMessage(true, true, address, options.getHeaders(), message, options.getCodecName());
+    MessageImpl msg = createMessage(true, address, options.getHeaders(), message, options.getCodecName());
     sendOrPubInternal(msg, options, null, null);
     return this;
   }
 
   @Override
   public <T> Future<Message<T>> request(String address, Object message, DeliveryOptions options) {
-    MessageImpl msg = createMessage(true, true, address, options.getHeaders(), message, options.getCodecName());
+    MessageImpl msg = createMessage(true, address, options.getHeaders(), message, options.getCodecName());
     ReplyHandler<T> handler = createReplyHandler(msg, true, options);
     sendOrPubInternal(msg, options, handler, null);
     return handler.result.future();
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ public class EventBusImpl implements EventBus, MetricsProvider {
 
   @Override
   public EventBus publish(String address, Object message, DeliveryOptions options) {
-    sendOrPubInternal(createMessage(false, true, address, options.getHeaders(), message, options.getCodecName()), options, null, null);
+    sendOrPubInternal(createMessage(false, address, options.getHeaders(), message, options.getCodecName()), options, null, null);
     return this;
   }
 
@@ -231,11 +231,11 @@ public class EventBusImpl implements EventBus, MetricsProvider {
     return metrics;
   }
 
-  public MessageImpl createMessage(boolean send, boolean src, String address, MultiMap headers, Object body, String codecName) {
+  public MessageImpl createMessage(boolean send, String address, MultiMap headers, Object body, String codecName) {
     Objects.requireNonNull(address, "no null address accepted");
     MessageCodec codec = codecManager.lookupCodec(body, codecName);
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-    MessageImpl msg = new MessageImpl(address, headers, body, codec, send, src, this);
+    MessageImpl msg = new MessageImpl(address, headers, body, codec, send, this);
     return msg;
   }
 
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ public class EventBusImpl implements EventBus, MetricsProvider {
 
   private <T> void deliverToHandler(MessageImpl msg, HandlerHolder<T> holder) {
     // Each handler gets a fresh copy
-    MessageImpl copied = msg.copyBeforeReceive(holder.getHandler().src);
+    MessageImpl copied = msg.copyBeforeReceive();
 
     holder.getContext().runOnContext((v) -> {
       // Need to check handler is still there - the handler might have been removed after the message were sent but
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/MessageImpl.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/MessageImpl.java
index cc9d8c886..df3bc98e8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/MessageImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/MessageImpl.java
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ public class MessageImpl<U, V> implements Message<V> {
 
   protected MessageCodec<U, V> messageCodec;
   protected final EventBusImpl bus;
-  public final boolean src;
   protected String address;
   protected String replyAddress;
   protected MultiMap headers;
@@ -39,29 +38,26 @@ public class MessageImpl<U, V> implements Message<V> {
   protected boolean send;
   protected Object trace;
 
-  public MessageImpl(boolean src, EventBusImpl bus) {
+  public MessageImpl(EventBusImpl bus) {
     this.bus = bus;
-    this.src = src;
   }
 
   public MessageImpl(String address, MultiMap headers, U sentBody,
                      MessageCodec<U, V> messageCodec,
-                     boolean send, boolean src, EventBusImpl bus) {
+                     boolean send, EventBusImpl bus) {
     this.messageCodec = messageCodec;
     this.address = address;
     this.headers = headers;
     this.sentBody = sentBody;
     this.send = send;
     this.bus = bus;
-    this.src = src;
   }
 
-  protected MessageImpl(MessageImpl<U, V> other, boolean src) {
+  protected MessageImpl(MessageImpl<U, V> other) {
     this.bus = other.bus;
     this.address = other.address;
     this.replyAddress = other.replyAddress;
     this.messageCodec = other.messageCodec;
-    this.src = src;
     if (other.headers != null) {
       List<Map.Entry<String, String>> entries = other.headers.entries();
       this.headers = new CaseInsensitiveHeaders();
@@ -76,8 +72,8 @@ public class MessageImpl<U, V> implements Message<V> {
     this.send = other.send;
   }
 
-  public MessageImpl<U, V> copyBeforeReceive(boolean src) {
-    return new MessageImpl<>(this, src);
+  public MessageImpl<U, V> copyBeforeReceive() {
+    return new MessageImpl<>(this);
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -119,7 +115,7 @@ public class MessageImpl<U, V> implements Message<V> {
   public <R> Future<Message<R>> replyAndRequest(Object message, DeliveryOptions options) {
     if (replyAddress != null) {
       MessageImpl reply = createReply(message, options);
-      EventBusImpl.ReplyHandler<R> handler = bus.createReplyHandler(reply, reply.src, options);
+      EventBusImpl.ReplyHandler<R> handler = bus.createReplyHandler(reply, false, options);
       bus.sendReply(reply, options, handler);
       return handler.result.future();
     } else {
@@ -128,7 +124,7 @@ public class MessageImpl<U, V> implements Message<V> {
   }
 
   protected MessageImpl createReply(Object message, DeliveryOptions options) {
-    MessageImpl reply = bus.createMessage(true, src, replyAddress, options.getHeaders(), message, options.getCodecName());
+    MessageImpl reply = bus.createMessage(true, replyAddress, options.getHeaders(), message, options.getCodecName());
     reply.trace = trace;
     return reply;
   }
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/MessageProducerImpl.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/MessageProducerImpl.java
index 3951ba4b3..44ca2ff74 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/MessageProducerImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/MessageProducerImpl.java
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ public class MessageProducerImpl<T> implements MessageProducer<T> {
   }
 
   private void write(T data, Promise<Void> handler) {
-    MessageImpl msg = bus.createMessage(send, true, address, options.getHeaders(), data, options.getCodecName());
+    MessageImpl msg = bus.createMessage(send, address, options.getHeaders(), data, options.getCodecName());
     OutboundDeliveryContext<T> sendCtx = bus.newSendContext(msg, options, null, handler);
     if (send) {
       synchronized (this) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/OutboundDeliveryContext.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/OutboundDeliveryContext.java
index 4bf6b820c..bcb49e22c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/OutboundDeliveryContext.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/OutboundDeliveryContext.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ public class OutboundDeliveryContext<T> implements DeliveryContext<T>, Handler<A
   public final DeliveryOptions options;
   public final EventBusImpl.ReplyHandler<T> replyHandler;
   private final Promise<Void> writePromise;
+  private boolean src;
 
   Iterator<Handler<DeliveryContext>> iter;
   EventBusImpl bus;
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ public class OutboundDeliveryContext<T> implements DeliveryContext<T>, Handler<A
     // Tracing
     VertxTracer tracer = ctx.tracer();
     if (tracer != null) {
-      if (message.src) {
+      if (src) {
         if (replyHandler != null) {
           replyHandler.trace = message.trace;
         } else {
@@ -109,10 +110,11 @@ public class OutboundDeliveryContext<T> implements DeliveryContext<T>, Handler<A
     } else {
       VertxTracer tracer = ctx.tracer();
       if (tracer != null) {
-        if (message.src) {
+        if (message.trace == null) {
+          src = true;
           BiConsumer<String, String> biConsumer = (String key, String val) -> message.headers().set(key, val);
           message.trace = tracer.sendRequest(ctx, message, message.send ? "send" : "publish", biConsumer, MessageTagExtractor.INSTANCE);
-        } else if (message.trace != null) {
+        } else {
           // Handle failure here
           tracer.sendResponse(ctx, null, message.trace, null, TagExtractor.empty());
         }
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/clustered/ClusteredEventBus.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/clustered/ClusteredEventBus.java
index 3ab3f17be..8453448a2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/clustered/ClusteredEventBus.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/clustered/ClusteredEventBus.java
@@ -174,11 +174,11 @@ public class ClusteredEventBus extends EventBusImpl {
   }
 
   @Override
-  public MessageImpl createMessage(boolean send, boolean src, String address, MultiMap headers, Object body, String codecName) {
+  public MessageImpl createMessage(boolean send, String address, MultiMap headers, Object body, String codecName) {
     Objects.requireNonNull(address, "no null address accepted");
     MessageCodec codec = codecManager.lookupCodec(body, codecName);
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-    ClusteredMessage msg = new ClusteredMessage(serverID, address, headers, body, codec, send, src, this);
+    ClusteredMessage msg = new ClusteredMessage(serverID, address, headers, body, codec, send, this);
     return msg;
   }
 
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ public class ClusteredEventBus extends EventBusImpl {
             size = buff.getInt(0);
             parser.fixedSizeMode(size);
           } else {
-            ClusteredMessage received = new ClusteredMessage(false, ClusteredEventBus.this);
+            ClusteredMessage received = new ClusteredMessage(ClusteredEventBus.this);
             received.readFromWire(buff, codecManager);
             if (metrics != null) {
               metrics.messageRead(received.address(), buff.length());
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/clustered/ClusteredMessage.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/clustered/ClusteredMessage.java
index 5d4d07541..880f465f3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/clustered/ClusteredMessage.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/clustered/ClusteredMessage.java
@@ -44,18 +44,18 @@ public class ClusteredMessage<U, V> extends MessageImpl<U, V> {
   private boolean fromWire;
   private boolean toWire;
 
-  public ClusteredMessage(boolean src, EventBusImpl bus) {
-    super(src, bus);
+  public ClusteredMessage(EventBusImpl bus) {
+    super(bus);
   }
 
   public ClusteredMessage(ServerID sender, String address, MultiMap headers, U sentBody,
-                          MessageCodec<U, V> messageCodec, boolean send, boolean src, EventBusImpl bus) {
-    super(address, headers, sentBody, messageCodec, send, src, bus);
+                          MessageCodec<U, V> messageCodec, boolean send, EventBusImpl bus) {
+    super(address, headers, sentBody, messageCodec, send, bus);
     this.sender = sender;
   }
 
-  protected ClusteredMessage(ClusteredMessage<U, V> other, boolean src) {
-    super(other, src);
+  protected ClusteredMessage(ClusteredMessage<U, V> other) {
+    super(other);
     this.sender = other.sender;
     if (other.sentBody == null) {
       this.wireBuffer = other.wireBuffer;
@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@ public class ClusteredMessage<U, V> extends MessageImpl<U, V> {
     return reply;
   }
 
-  public ClusteredMessage<U, V> copyBeforeReceive(boolean src) {
-    return new ClusteredMessage<>(this, src);
+  public ClusteredMessage<U, V> copyBeforeReceive() {
+    return new ClusteredMessage<>(this);
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/clustered/ConnectionHolder.java b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/clustered/ConnectionHolder.java
index 5584cf914..c3fff7dc7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/clustered/ConnectionHolder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/vertx/core/eventbus/impl/clustered/ConnectionHolder.java
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ class ConnectionHolder {
         close();
       });
       ClusteredMessage pingMessage =
-        new ClusteredMessage<>(serverID, PING_ADDRESS, null, null, new PingMessageCodec(), true, true, eventBus);
+        new ClusteredMessage<>(serverID, PING_ADDRESS, null, null, new PingMessageCodec(), true, eventBus);
       Buffer data = pingMessage.encodeToWire();
       socket.write(data);
     });