diff --git a/java-spanner/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/spi/v1/KeyRangeCache.java b/java-spanner/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/spi/v1/KeyRangeCache.java
index 98c26381285d..6a3ee0aaeb7a 100644
--- a/java-spanner/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/spi/v1/KeyRangeCache.java
+++ b/java-spanner/google-cloud-spanner/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/spi/v1/KeyRangeCache.java
@@ -813,43 +813,49 @@ private TabletSnapshot selectTablet(
         List<SkippedTabletDetail> skippedTabletDetails,
         Map<String, ChannelEndpoint> resolvedEndpoints,
         SelectionState selectionStats) {
-      if (!preferLeader || hintBuilder.getOperationUid() > 0L) {
-        TabletSnapshot preferredLeader =
-            preferLeader ? localLeaderForScoreBias(snapshot, hasDirectedReadOptions) : null;
-        return selectScoreAwareTablet(
+      TabletSnapshot preferredLeader =
+          preferLeader ? localLeaderForScoreBias(snapshot, hasDirectedReadOptions) : null;
+      boolean retryAfterInitialRequest = !skippedTabletUids.isEmpty();
+      boolean attemptedLeaderSelection = false;
+
+      if (preferLeader
+          && !retryAfterInitialRequest
+          && preferredLeader != null
+          && preferredLeader.matches(directedReadOptions)) {
+        attemptedLeaderSelection = true;
+        selectionStats.sawMatchingReplica = true;
+        if (!shouldSkip(
             snapshot,
-            preferLeader,
-            directedReadOptions,
+            preferredLeader,
             hintBuilder,
             excludedEndpoints,
             skippedTabletUids,
             skippedTabletDetails,
             resolvedEndpoints,
-            selectionStats,
-            preferredLeader);
+            selectionStats)) {
+          return preferredLeader;
+        }
       }
 
-      boolean checkedLeader = false;
-      if (preferLeader
-          && !hasDirectedReadOptions
-          && snapshot.hasLeader()
-          && snapshot.leader().distance <= MAX_LOCAL_REPLICA_DISTANCE) {
-        checkedLeader = true;
-        selectionStats.sawMatchingReplica = true;
-        if (!shouldSkip(
+      if (!preferLeader
+          || retryAfterInitialRequest
+          || attemptedLeaderSelection
+          || hintBuilder.getOperationUid() > 0L) {
+        return selectScoreAwareTablet(
             snapshot,
-            snapshot.leader(),
+            preferLeader,
+            directedReadOptions,
             hintBuilder,
             excludedEndpoints,
             skippedTabletUids,
             skippedTabletDetails,
             resolvedEndpoints,
-            selectionStats)) {
-          return snapshot.leader();
-        }
+            selectionStats,
+            preferredLeader);
       }
+
       for (int index = 0; index < snapshot.tablets.size(); index++) {
-        if (checkedLeader && index == snapshot.leaderIndex) {
+        if (preferredLeader != null && index == snapshot.leaderIndex) {
           continue;
         }
         TabletSnapshot tablet = snapshot.tablets.get(index);
diff --git a/java-spanner/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/spi/v1/KeyRangeCacheTest.java b/java-spanner/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/spi/v1/KeyRangeCacheTest.java
index b7645f044a13..96c27d9c8e34 100644
--- a/java-spanner/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/spi/v1/KeyRangeCacheTest.java
+++ b/java-spanner/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/spi/v1/KeyRangeCacheTest.java
@@ -693,7 +693,7 @@ public void preferLeaderFalseUsesLowestLatencyReplicaWhenScoresAvailable() {
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void preferLeaderTrueUsesLatencyScoresWhenOperationUidAvailable() {
+  public void preferLeaderTrueWithOperationUidStillPrefersReadyLeaderOnInitialRequest() {
     FakeEndpointCache endpointCache = new FakeEndpointCache();
     KeyRangeCache cache = new KeyRangeCache(endpointCache);
     cache.useDeterministicRandom();
@@ -719,6 +719,70 @@ public void preferLeaderTrueUsesLatencyScoresWhenOperationUidAvailable() {
             DirectedReadOptions.getDefaultInstance(),
             hint);
 
+    assertNotNull(server);
+    assertEquals("server1", server.getAddress());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void preferLeaderTrueFallsBackToScoreAwareSelectionWhenLeaderIsExcluded() {
+    FakeEndpointCache endpointCache = new FakeEndpointCache();
+    KeyRangeCache cache = new KeyRangeCache(endpointCache);
+    cache.useDeterministicRandom();
+    cache.addRanges(threeReplicaUpdate());
+
+    endpointCache.get("server1");
+    endpointCache.get("server2");
+    endpointCache.get("server3");
+
+    EndpointLatencyRegistry.recordLatency(
+        null, TEST_OPERATION_UID, true, "server1", Duration.ofNanos(300_000L));
+    EndpointLatencyRegistry.recordLatency(
+        null, TEST_OPERATION_UID, true, "server2", Duration.ofNanos(200_000L));
+    EndpointLatencyRegistry.recordLatency(
+        null, TEST_OPERATION_UID, true, "server3", Duration.ofNanos(100_000L));
+
+    RoutingHint.Builder hint =
+        RoutingHint.newBuilder().setKey(bytes("a")).setOperationUid(TEST_OPERATION_UID);
+    ChannelEndpoint server =
+        cache.fillRoutingHint(
+            true,
+            KeyRangeCache.RangeMode.COVERING_SPLIT,
+            DirectedReadOptions.getDefaultInstance(),
+            hint,
+            "server1"::equals);
+
+    assertNotNull(server);
+    assertEquals("server3", server.getAddress());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void preferLeaderTrueUsesScoreAwareSelectionOnRetryPath() {
+    FakeEndpointCache endpointCache = new FakeEndpointCache();
+    KeyRangeCache cache = new KeyRangeCache(endpointCache);
+    cache.useDeterministicRandom();
+    cache.addRanges(threeReplicaUpdate());
+
+    endpointCache.get("server1");
+    endpointCache.get("server2");
+    endpointCache.get("server3");
+
+    EndpointLatencyRegistry.recordLatency(
+        null, TEST_OPERATION_UID, true, "server1", Duration.ofNanos(300_000L));
+    EndpointLatencyRegistry.recordLatency(
+        null, TEST_OPERATION_UID, true, "server2", Duration.ofNanos(100_000L));
+    EndpointLatencyRegistry.recordLatency(
+        null, TEST_OPERATION_UID, true, "server3", Duration.ofNanos(200_000L));
+
+    RoutingHint.Builder hint =
+        RoutingHint.newBuilder().setKey(bytes("a")).setOperationUid(TEST_OPERATION_UID);
+    hint.addSkippedTabletUidBuilder().setTabletUid(1).setIncarnation(bytes("1"));
+    ChannelEndpoint server =
+        cache.fillRoutingHint(
+            true,
+            KeyRangeCache.RangeMode.COVERING_SPLIT,
+            DirectedReadOptions.getDefaultInstance(),
+            hint);
+
     assertNotNull(server);
     assertEquals("server2", server.getAddress());
   }