diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/index.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/index.ts
index c518a33933..d9143bff35 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/index.ts
@@ -103,7 +103,6 @@ export {
   parseEnvironment,
 } from './utils/environment';
 export { merge } from './utils/merge';
-export { TracesSamplerValues } from './utils/sampling';
 export { TimeoutError, callWithTimeout } from './utils/timeout';
 export { isUrlIgnored, urlMatches } from './utils/url';
 export { isWrapped } from './utils/wrap';
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/utils/environment.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/utils/environment.ts
index addb6b18ce..4e7146ea92 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/utils/environment.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/utils/environment.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
  */
 
 import { DiagLogLevel } from '@opentelemetry/api';
-import { TracesSamplerValues } from './sampling';
 
 const DEFAULT_LIST_SEPARATOR = ',';
 
@@ -208,7 +207,7 @@ export const DEFAULT_ENVIRONMENT: Required<ENVIRONMENT> = {
   OTEL_SPAN_ATTRIBUTE_PER_LINK_COUNT_LIMIT:
     DEFAULT_SPAN_ATTRIBUTE_PER_LINK_COUNT_LIMIT,
   OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER: '',
-  OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER: TracesSamplerValues.ParentBasedAlwaysOn,
+  OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER: 'parentbased_always_on',
   OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG: '',
   OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER: '',
   OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_INSECURE: '',
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/utils/sampling.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/utils/sampling.ts
index d18f59b6fc..2ccad8439f 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/utils/sampling.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-core/src/utils/sampling.ts
@@ -14,11 +14,4 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-export enum TracesSamplerValues {
-  AlwaysOff = 'always_off',
-  AlwaysOn = 'always_on',
-  ParentBasedAlwaysOff = 'parentbased_always_off',
-  ParentBasedAlwaysOn = 'parentbased_always_on',
-  ParentBasedTraceIdRatio = 'parentbased_traceidratio',
-  TraceIdRatio = 'traceidratio',
-}
+
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-core/test/utils/environment.test.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-core/test/utils/environment.test.ts
index 708238a059..936a9df274 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-core/test/utils/environment.test.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-core/test/utils/environment.test.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import {
 import * as assert from 'assert';
 import * as sinon from 'sinon';
 import { DiagLogLevel } from '@opentelemetry/api';
-import { TracesSamplerValues } from '../../src';
 
 let lastMock: RAW_ENVIRONMENT = {};
 
@@ -183,15 +182,12 @@ describe('environment', () => {
     it('should remove a mock environment', () => {
       mockEnvironment({
         OTEL_LOG_LEVEL: 'DEBUG',
-        OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER: TracesSamplerValues.AlwaysOff,
+        OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER: 'always_off',
       });
       removeMockEnvironment();
       const env = getEnv();
       assert.strictEqual(env.OTEL_LOG_LEVEL, DiagLogLevel.INFO);
-      assert.strictEqual(
-        env.OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER,
-        TracesSamplerValues.ParentBasedAlwaysOn
-      );
+      assert.strictEqual(env.OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER, 'parentbased_always_on');
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-trace-base/src/config.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-trace-base/src/config.ts
index a53ca6ab67..0756d00dd7 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-trace-base/src/config.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-trace-base/src/config.ts
@@ -15,13 +15,22 @@
  */
 
 import { diag } from '@opentelemetry/api';
-import { getEnv, TracesSamplerValues, ENVIRONMENT } from '@opentelemetry/core';
+import { getEnv, ENVIRONMENT } from '@opentelemetry/core';
 import { Sampler } from './Sampler';
 import { AlwaysOffSampler } from './sampler/AlwaysOffSampler';
 import { AlwaysOnSampler } from './sampler/AlwaysOnSampler';
 import { ParentBasedSampler } from './sampler/ParentBasedSampler';
 import { TraceIdRatioBasedSampler } from './sampler/TraceIdRatioBasedSampler';
 
+const enum TracesSamplerValues {
+  AlwaysOff = 'always_off',
+  AlwaysOn = 'always_on',
+  ParentBasedAlwaysOff = 'parentbased_always_off',
+  ParentBasedAlwaysOn = 'parentbased_always_on',
+  ParentBasedTraceIdRatio = 'parentbased_traceidratio',
+  TraceIdRatio = 'traceidratio',
+}
+
 const FALLBACK_OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER = TracesSamplerValues.AlwaysOn;
 const DEFAULT_RATIO = 1;