diff --git a/src/core/ext/filters/client_channel/subchannel_stream_client.cc b/src/core/ext/filters/client_channel/subchannel_stream_client.cc
index a596e044568..1079948bc3a 100644
--- a/src/core/ext/filters/client_channel/subchannel_stream_client.cc
+++ b/src/core/ext/filters/client_channel/subchannel_stream_client.cc
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ SubchannelStreamClient::SubchannelStreamClient(
       call_allocator_(
           ResourceQuotaFromChannelArgs(connected_subchannel_->args())
               ->memory_quota()
-              ->CreateMemoryAllocator(tracer)),
+              ->CreateMemoryAllocator(
+                  (tracer != nullptr) ? tracer : "SubchannelStreamClient")),
       event_handler_(std::move(event_handler)),
       retry_backoff_(
           BackOff::Options()