diff --git a/api/CHANGELOG.md b/api/CHANGELOG.md
index d88acbd565..22c9fd72b0 100644
--- a/api/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/api/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+### :bug: (Bug Fix)
+
+* Revert "feat(api): add attributes argument to recordException API [#4071](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/4071)"
+  * This feature was an unintentional breaking change introduced with 1.5.0
+
 ## 1.5.0
 
 ### :rocket: (Enhancement)
diff --git a/api/src/trace/NonRecordingSpan.ts b/api/src/trace/NonRecordingSpan.ts
index dc7e3de3d7..a9e5bcaf9b 100644
--- a/api/src/trace/NonRecordingSpan.ts
+++ b/api/src/trace/NonRecordingSpan.ts
@@ -71,9 +71,5 @@ export class NonRecordingSpan implements Span {
   }
 
   // By default does nothing
-  recordException(
-    _exception: Exception,
-    _attributesOrStartTime?: SpanAttributes | TimeInput,
-    _time?: TimeInput
-  ): void {}
+  recordException(_exception: Exception, _time?: TimeInput): void {}
 }
diff --git a/api/src/trace/span.ts b/api/src/trace/span.ts
index 59eb233a85..d80b8c2626 100644
--- a/api/src/trace/span.ts
+++ b/api/src/trace/span.ts
@@ -126,17 +126,4 @@ export interface Span {
    *     use the current time.
    */
   recordException(exception: Exception, time?: TimeInput): void;
-
-  /**
-   * Sets exception as a span event
-   * @param exception the exception the only accepted values are string or Error
-   * @param [attributes] the attributes that will be added to the error event.
-   * @param [time] the time to set as Span's event time. If not provided,
-   *     use the current time.
-   */
-  recordException(
-    exception: Exception,
-    attributes?: SpanAttributes,
-    time?: TimeInput
-  ): void;
 }
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-trace-base/src/Span.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-trace-base/src/Span.ts
index ea3526b29b..31fb1555ac 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-trace-base/src/Span.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-trace-base/src/Span.ts
@@ -272,18 +272,7 @@ export class Span implements APISpan, ReadableSpan {
     return this._ended === false;
   }
 
-  recordException(
-    exception: Exception,
-    attributesOrStartTime?: SpanAttributes | TimeInput,
-    timeStamp?: TimeInput
-  ): void {
-    if (isTimeInput(attributesOrStartTime)) {
-      if (!isTimeInput(timeStamp)) {
-        timeStamp = attributesOrStartTime;
-      }
-      attributesOrStartTime = undefined;
-    }
-
+  recordException(exception: Exception, time?: TimeInput): void {
     const attributes: SpanAttributes = {};
     if (typeof exception === 'string') {
       attributes[SemanticAttributes.EXCEPTION_MESSAGE] = exception;
@@ -301,16 +290,13 @@ export class Span implements APISpan, ReadableSpan {
         attributes[SemanticAttributes.EXCEPTION_STACKTRACE] = exception.stack;
       }
     }
-    if (attributesOrStartTime) {
-      Object.assign(attributes, sanitizeAttributes(attributesOrStartTime));
-    }
 
     // these are minimum requirements from spec
     if (
       attributes[SemanticAttributes.EXCEPTION_TYPE] ||
       attributes[SemanticAttributes.EXCEPTION_MESSAGE]
     ) {
-      this.addEvent(ExceptionEventName, attributes, timeStamp);
+      this.addEvent(ExceptionEventName, attributes, time);
     } else {
       diag.warn(`Failed to record an exception ${exception}`);
     }
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-trace-base/test/common/Span.test.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-trace-base/test/common/Span.test.ts
index 873865a0dc..11a94ffc7c 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-trace-base/test/common/Span.test.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-sdk-trace-base/test/common/Span.test.ts
@@ -1203,77 +1203,6 @@ describe('Span', () => {
         const event = span.events[0];
         assert.deepStrictEqual(event.time, [0, 123]);
       });
-
-      it('should record an exception with provided time as a 3rd arg', () => {
-        const span = new Span(
-          tracer,
-          ROOT_CONTEXT,
-          name,
-          spanContext,
-          SpanKind.CLIENT
-        );
-        // @ts-expect-error writing readonly property. performance time origin is mocked to return ms value of [1,1]
-        span['_performanceOffset'] = 0;
-        assert.strictEqual(span.events.length, 0);
-        span.recordException('boom', undefined, [0, 123]);
-        const event = span.events[0];
-        assert.deepStrictEqual(event.time, [0, 123]);
-      });
-    });
-
-    describe('when attributes are provided', () => {
-      it('should sanitized and merge attributes when provided', () => {
-        const span = new Span(
-          tracer,
-          ROOT_CONTEXT,
-          name,
-          spanContext,
-          SpanKind.CLIENT
-        );
-        // @ts-expect-error writing readonly property. performance time origin is mocked to return ms value of [1,1]
-        span['_performanceOffset'] = 0;
-        assert.strictEqual(span.events.length, 0);
-        const exception = { code: 'Error', message: 'boom', stack: 'bar' };
-        span.recordException(exception, {
-          ...validAttributes,
-          ...invalidAttributes,
-        } as unknown as SpanAttributes);
-        const event = span.events[0];
-        assert.deepStrictEqual(event.attributes, {
-          [SemanticAttributes.EXCEPTION_TYPE]: 'Error',
-          [SemanticAttributes.EXCEPTION_MESSAGE]: 'boom',
-          [SemanticAttributes.EXCEPTION_STACKTRACE]: 'bar',
-          ...validAttributes,
-        });
-      });
-
-      it('should prioritize the provided attributes over generated', () => {
-        const span = new Span(
-          tracer,
-          ROOT_CONTEXT,
-          name,
-          spanContext,
-          SpanKind.CLIENT
-        );
-        // @ts-expect-error writing readonly property. performance time origin is mocked to return ms value of [1,1]
-        span['_performanceOffset'] = 0;
-        assert.strictEqual(span.events.length, 0);
-        const exception = { code: 'Error', message: 'boom', stack: 'bar' };
-        span.recordException(exception, {
-          [SemanticAttributes.EXCEPTION_TYPE]: 'OverrideError',
-          [SemanticAttributes.EXCEPTION_MESSAGE]: 'override-boom',
-          [SemanticAttributes.EXCEPTION_STACKTRACE]: 'override-bar',
-          ...validAttributes,
-          ...invalidAttributes,
-        } as unknown as SpanAttributes);
-        const event = span.events[0];
-        assert.deepStrictEqual(event.attributes, {
-          ...validAttributes,
-          [SemanticAttributes.EXCEPTION_TYPE]: 'OverrideError',
-          [SemanticAttributes.EXCEPTION_MESSAGE]: 'override-boom',
-          [SemanticAttributes.EXCEPTION_STACKTRACE]: 'override-bar',
-        });
-      });
     });
 
     describe('when exception code is numeric', () => {