diff --git a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-sqlalchemy/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/sqlalchemy/engine.py b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-sqlalchemy/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/sqlalchemy/engine.py
index e69c6dbcb4..6adf48cd26 100644
--- a/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-sqlalchemy/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/sqlalchemy/engine.py
+++ b/instrumentation/opentelemetry-instrumentation-sqlalchemy/src/opentelemetry/instrumentation/sqlalchemy/engine.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from threading import local
+# from threading import local
 
 from sqlalchemy.event import listen  # pylint: disable=no-name-in-module
 
@@ -60,19 +60,19 @@ def __init__(self, tracer, engine):
         self.engine = engine
         self.vendor = _normalize_vendor(engine.name)
         self.cursor_mapping = {}
-        self.local = local()
+        # self.local = local()
 
         listen(engine, "before_cursor_execute", self._before_cur_exec)
         listen(engine, "after_cursor_execute", self._after_cur_exec)
         listen(engine, "handle_error", self._handle_error)
 
-    @property
-    def current_thread_span(self):
-        return getattr(self.local, "current_span", None)
+    # @property
+    # def current_thread_span(self):
+    #     return getattr(self.local, "current_span", None)
 
-    @current_thread_span.setter
-    def current_thread_span(self, span):
-        setattr(self.local, "current_span", span)
+    # @current_thread_span.setter
+    # def current_thread_span(self, span):
+    #     setattr(self.local, "current_span", span)
 
     def _operation_name(self, db_name, statement):
         parts = []
@@ -100,7 +100,8 @@ def _before_cur_exec(self, conn, cursor, statement, *args):
             self._operation_name(db_name, statement),
             kind=trace.SpanKind.CLIENT,
         )
-        self.current_thread_span = self.cursor_mapping[cursor] = span
+        # self.current_thread_span =
+        self.cursor_mapping[cursor] = span
         with trace.use_span(span, end_on_exit=False):
             if span.is_recording():
                 span.set_attribute(SpanAttributes.DB_STATEMENT, statement)
@@ -118,7 +119,8 @@ def _after_cur_exec(self, conn, cursor, statement, *args):
         self._cleanup(cursor)
 
     def _handle_error(self, context):
-        span = self.current_thread_span
+        span = self.cursor_mapping[context.cursor]
+        # span = self.current_thread_span
         if span is None:
             return
 
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 08e2f54c0e..23dbae58e9 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ commands =
 
 [testenv:lint]
 basepython: python3.9
-recreate = False 
+recreate = False
 deps =
   -c dev-requirements.txt
   flaky
@@ -405,7 +405,7 @@ deps =
   PyMySQL ~= 0.10.1
   psycopg2 ~= 2.8.4
   aiopg >= 0.13.0, < 1.3.0
-  sqlalchemy ~= 1.3.16
+  sqlalchemy ~= 1.4
   redis ~= 3.3.11
   celery[pytest] >= 4.0, < 6.0
   protobuf>=3.13.0