diff --git a/util/release.go b/util/release.go
index d2d65236f1..726a72dcea 100644
--- a/util/release.go
+++ b/util/release.go
@@ -49,6 +49,10 @@
 //     -interactive
 //         Ask for confirmation before proceeding to each step. When enabled,
 //         the release process for branches runs sequentially rather than in parallel.
+//     -libraries-bom-update-optional
+//         Make the gapic-generator-java-bom and libraries-bom PR checks optional. 
+//         When enabled, the script will skip these PR checks and their dependent 
+//         workflows if the corresponding PRs are not found.
 //
 // Requirements:
 //   - The GitHub CLI (`gh`) must be installed and authenticated. Run `gh auth login`
@@ -72,6 +76,7 @@ import (
 var emailOpt string
 var bootMaxOpt string
 var interactiveOpt bool
+var librariesBomOptionalOpt bool
 
 // main is the entry point of the script. It parses flags, sets up the parallel release process
 // for the specified branches, and handles the sequential README update for the main branch.
@@ -80,6 +85,7 @@ func main() {
 	flag.StringVar(&emailOpt, "email", "", "Email address to send notifications to (requires LOAS/gcert)")
 	flag.StringVar(&bootMaxOpt, "boot-max", "", "Newly supported Spring Boot max version for compatibilityRange (e.g. 4.1.0-M1)")
 	flag.BoolVar(&interactiveOpt, "interactive", false, "Ask for confirmation before proceeding to each step")
+	flag.BoolVar(&librariesBomOptionalOpt, "libraries-bom-update-optional", false, "Make gapic-generator-java-bom PR check optional")
 	flag.Parse()
 
 	branches := strings.Split(*branchesOpt, ",")
@@ -153,13 +159,18 @@ func runReleaseForMain() {
 	fmt.Printf("%s ▶️ STEP %d: Finding gapic-generator-java-bom upgrade PR...\n", prefix, step)
 	gapicPR := findPR(branch, "gapic-generator-java-bom in:title is:open")
 	if gapicPR == "" {
-		fatalError(branch, "Could not find an open gapic-generator-java-bom PR. Exiting.")
+		if librariesBomOptionalOpt {
+			fmt.Printf("%s ℹ️ Skipping gapic-generator-java-bom upgrade PR (optional).\n", prefix)
+		} else {
+			fatalError(branch, "Could not find an open gapic-generator-java-bom PR. Exiting.")
+		}
+	} else {
+		fmt.Printf("%s ✅ Found gapic-generator PR: #%s\n", prefix, gapicPR)
+		approveWorkflowRuns(branch, gapicPR)
+		approvePR(branch, gapicPR)
+		enableAutoMerge(branch, gapicPR)
+		waitForAutoMerge(branch, gapicPR)
 	}
-	fmt.Printf("%s ✅ Found gapic-generator PR: #%s\n", prefix, gapicPR)
-	approveWorkflowRuns(branch, gapicPR)
-	approvePR(branch, gapicPR)
-        enableAutoMerge(branch, gapicPR)
-	waitForAutoMerge(branch, gapicPR)
 	step++
 
 	// Find libraries-bom PR and Trigger Rebase
@@ -167,27 +178,40 @@ func runReleaseForMain() {
 	fmt.Printf("\n%s ▶️ STEP %d: Finding libraries-bom PR and triggering rebase...\n", prefix, step)
 	bomPR := findPR(branch, "libraries-bom in:title is:open")
 	if bomPR == "" {
-		fatalError(branch, "Could not find an open libraries-bom PR.")
+		if librariesBomOptionalOpt {
+			fmt.Printf("%s ℹ️ Skipping libraries-bom upgrade PR (optional).\n", prefix)
+		} else {
+			fatalError(branch, "Could not find an open libraries-bom PR.")
+		}
+	} else {
+		fmt.Printf("%s ✅ Found libraries-bom PR: #%s\n", prefix, bomPR)
+		checkRebaseBox(branch, bomPR)
 	}
-	fmt.Printf("%s ✅ Found libraries-bom PR: #%s\n", prefix, bomPR)
-	checkRebaseBox(branch, bomPR)
 	step++
 
 	// Trigger AutoConfigs Workflow
-	confirmStep(branch, "Trigger Generate Spring Auto-Configurations workflow")
-	fmt.Printf("\n%s ▶️ STEP %d: Triggering Generate Spring Auto-Configurations workflow...\n", prefix, step)
-	triggerAutoConfigs(branch, bomPR)
-	waitForBotCommit(branch, bomPR)
-	verifyBotCommit(branch, bomPR)
+	if bomPR != "" {
+		confirmStep(branch, "Trigger Generate Spring Auto-Configurations workflow")
+		fmt.Printf("\n%s ▶️ STEP %d: Triggering Generate Spring Auto-Configurations workflow...\n", prefix, step)
+		triggerAutoConfigs(branch, bomPR)
+		waitForBotCommit(branch, bomPR)
+		verifyBotCommit(branch, bomPR)
+	} else {
+		fmt.Printf("\n%s ℹ️ Skipping Generate Spring Auto-Configurations (no libraries-bom PR).\n", prefix)
+	}
 	step++
 
 	// Merge the libraries-bom PR
-	confirmStep(branch, "Merge the completed libraries-bom PR")
-	fmt.Printf("\n%s ▶️ STEP %d: Merging the completed libraries-bom PR...\n", prefix, step)
-	approveWorkflowRuns(branch, bomPR)
-	approvePR(branch, bomPR)
-	enableAutoMerge(branch, bomPR)
-	waitForAutoMerge(branch, bomPR)
+	if bomPR != "" {
+		confirmStep(branch, "Merge the completed libraries-bom PR")
+		fmt.Printf("\n%s ▶️ STEP %d: Merging the completed libraries-bom PR...\n", prefix, step)
+		approveWorkflowRuns(branch, bomPR)
+		approvePR(branch, bomPR)
+		enableAutoMerge(branch, bomPR)
+		waitForAutoMerge(branch, bomPR)
+	} else {
+		fmt.Printf("\n%s ℹ️ Skipping Merging libraries-bom PR (no libraries-bom PR).\n", prefix)
+	}
 	step++
 
 	// Wait for and merge Release PR (and Snapshot)
@@ -228,17 +252,21 @@ func runReleaseForBranch(branch string) {
 	prefix := fmt.Sprintf("[%s]", branch)
 	step := 1
 
-	// Merge gapic-generator-java-bom PR
+	// Merge libraries-bom PR
 	confirmStep(branch, "Find and merge libraries-bom upgrade PR")
 	fmt.Printf("%s ▶️ STEP %d: Finding libraries-bom upgrade PR...\n", prefix, step)
 	bomPR := findPR(branch, "libraries-bom in:title is:open")
 	if bomPR == "" {
-		fatalError(branch, "Could not find an open libraries-bom PR. Exiting.")
+		if librariesBomOptionalOpt {
+			fmt.Printf("%s ℹ️ Skipping libraries-bom upgrade PR (optional).\n", prefix)
+		} else {
+			fatalError(branch, "Could not find an open libraries-bom PR. Exiting.")
+		}
+	} else {
+		fmt.Printf("%s ✅ Found libraries-bom PR: #%s\n", prefix, bomPR)
+		approvePR(branch, bomPR)
+		waitForMerge(branch, bomPR)
 	}
-	fmt.Printf("%s ✅ Found libraries-bom PR: #%s\n", prefix, bomPR)
-
-	approvePR(branch, bomPR)
-	waitForMerge(branch, bomPR)
 	step++
 
 	// Merge libraries-bom PR
@@ -728,11 +756,14 @@ func pollForPR(branch, query string, excludeSnapshot bool) string {
 // verifyMavenCentral polls Maven Central until the specified version is available.
 func verifyMavenCentral(branch, version string) {
 	prefix := fmt.Sprintf("[%s]", branch)
-	mavenURL := fmt.Sprintf("https://central.sonatype.com/artifact/com.google.cloud/spring-cloud-gcp/%s", version)
-	overviewURL := "https://central.sonatype.com/artifact/com.google.cloud/spring-cloud-gcp/overview"
+	// We check the actual repository instead of the web UI to avoid false positives from soft 404s.
+	repoURL := fmt.Sprintf("https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/com/google/cloud/spring-cloud-gcp/%s/spring-cloud-gcp-%s.pom", version, version)
+	metadataURL := "https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/com/google/cloud/spring-cloud-gcp/maven-metadata.xml"
+	searchURL := fmt.Sprintf("https://central.sonatype.com/artifact/com.google.cloud/spring-cloud-gcp/%s", version)
 	
-	fmt.Printf("%s 🔗 Version URL: %s\n", prefix, mavenURL)
-	fmt.Printf("%s 🔗 Overview URL: %s\n", prefix, overviewURL)
+	fmt.Printf("%s 🔗 Repository POM: %s\n", prefix, repoURL)
+	fmt.Printf("%s 🔗 Metadata URL: %s\n", prefix, metadataURL)
+	fmt.Printf("%s 🔗 Search Portal: %s\n", prefix, searchURL)
 
 	success := false
 	maxWait := 6 * time.Hour
@@ -740,13 +771,23 @@ func verifyMavenCentral(branch, version string) {
 	
 	for i := 0; i < 72; i++ {
 		elapsed := time.Since(start).Round(time.Second)
-		fmt.Printf("\r%s ⏳ Polling central.sonatype.com up to %v... (Elapsed: %v)", prefix, maxWait, elapsed)
+		fmt.Printf("\r%s ⏳ Polling Maven Central up to %v... (Elapsed: %v)", prefix, maxWait, elapsed)
 
-		resp, err := http.Get(mavenURL)
+		// 1. Check if the specific POM file exists
+		resp, err := http.Get(repoURL)
 		if err == nil && resp.StatusCode == 200 {
-			success = true
 			resp.Body.Close()
-			break
+			
+			// 2. Double check that it's also indexed in the metadata
+			metaResp, metaErr := http.Get(metadataURL)
+			if metaErr == nil && metaResp.StatusCode == 200 {
+				body, _ := io.ReadAll(metaResp.Body)
+				metaResp.Body.Close()
+				if strings.Contains(string(body), "<version>"+version+"</version>") {
+					success = true
+					break
+				}
+			}
 		}
 		if resp != nil {
 			resp.Body.Close()
@@ -758,7 +799,7 @@ func verifyMavenCentral(branch, version string) {
 	if success {
 		fmt.Printf("%s 🎉 SUCCESS! Version %s is now live on Maven Central!\n", prefix, version)
 		if emailOpt != "" {
-			emailBody := fmt.Sprintf("The Spring Cloud GCP release for %s (branch %s) is complete.\n\nMaven Central link: %s", version, branch, mavenURL)
+			emailBody := fmt.Sprintf("The Spring Cloud GCP release for %s (branch %s) is complete.\n\nMaven Central link: %s", version, branch, searchURL)
 			sendEmail(emailOpt, fmt.Sprintf("✅ Spring Cloud GCP Release %s Complete", version), emailBody)
 		}
 	} else {