diff --git a/.bumpversion.toml b/.bumpversion.toml
index 2f11c5688..11dc0b6ad 100644
--- a/.bumpversion.toml
+++ b/.bumpversion.toml
@@ -29,10 +29,7 @@ allow_shell_hooks = true
 # Java maven files
 pre_commit_hooks = [
   """
-    NEW_VERSION="${BVHOOK_NEW_MAJOR}.${BVHOOK_NEW_MINOR}.${BVHOOK_NEW_PATCH}"
-    if [ ! -z "$BVHOOK_NEW_PRE_L" ] && [ ! -z "$BVHOOK_NEW_PRE_N" ]; then
-        NEW_VERSION="${NEW_VERSION}-${BVHOOK_NEW_PRE_L}.${BVHOOK_NEW_PRE_N}"
-    fi
+    NEW_VERSION="$BVHOOK_NEW_VERSION"
     echo "Constructed new version: $NEW_VERSION"
     cd java && mvn versions:set -DnewVersion=$NEW_VERSION && mvn versions:commit
 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-scripts.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-scripts.yml
index 9b9124ab2..e814279b7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-scripts.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-scripts.yml
@@ -5,11 +5,13 @@ on:
     branches:
       - main
     paths:
+      - .bumpversion.toml
       - ci/set_lance_version.py
       - ci/tests/**
       - .github/workflows/ci-scripts.yml
   pull_request:
     paths:
+      - .bumpversion.toml
       - ci/set_lance_version.py
       - ci/tests/**
       - .github/workflows/ci-scripts.yml
@@ -26,5 +28,7 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/setup-python@v6
         with:
           python-version: "3.13"
+      - name: Install release tooling
+        run: pip install bump-my-version
       - name: Run tests
         run: python -m unittest discover -s ci/tests -v
diff --git a/.github/workflows/java-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/java-publish.yml
index 094aa552a..777f83a7d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/java-publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/java-publish.yml
@@ -12,6 +12,13 @@
 
 name: Build and publish Java packages
 on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      dry_run:
+        description: Build without publishing to Maven Central
+        type: boolean
+        default: true
+        required: true
   push:
     tags:
       - "v*"
@@ -48,12 +55,25 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           git config --global user.email "dev+gha@lancedb.com"
           git config --global user.name "LanceDB Github Runner"
+      - name: Validate package version
+        run: |
+          python - <<'PYTHON'
+          import tomllib
+          import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
+          from pathlib import Path
+
+          expected = tomllib.loads(Path("../.bumpversion.toml").read_text())["tool"]["bumpversion"]["current_version"]
+          actual = ET.parse("pom.xml").findtext("{http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0}version")
+          if actual != expected:
+              raise ValueError(f"Maven version {actual} differs from release version {expected}")
+          print(f"Validated Maven version {actual}")
+          PYTHON
       - name: Dry run
-        if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
+        if: github.event_name == 'pull_request' || (github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && inputs.dry_run)
         run: |
           ./mvnw --batch-mode -DskipTests package -pl lancedb-core -am
       - name: Publish
-        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
+        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') || (github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && !inputs.dry_run)
         run: |
           echo "use-agent" >> ~/.gnupg/gpg.conf
           echo "pinentry-mode loopback" >> ~/.gnupg/gpg.conf
@@ -68,7 +88,7 @@ jobs:
     name: Report Workflow Failure
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: [publish]
-    if: always() && failure() && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
+    if: always() && failure() && (startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v') || (github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' && !inputs.dry_run))
     permissions:
       contents: read
       issues: write
diff --git a/ci/tests/test_release_version.py b/ci/tests/test_release_version.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c184887d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/tests/test_release_version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright The LanceDB Authors
+
+import os
+import re
+import subprocess
+import tempfile
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+REPO_ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2]
+
+
+class ReleaseVersionTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def check_bump(self, part, expected):
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as directory:
+            root = Path(directory)
+            config = (REPO_ROOT / ".bumpversion.toml").read_text()
+            config = config.split("[[tool.bumpversion.files]]", 1)[0]
+            config = re.sub(
+                r'^current_version = ".*"$',
+                'current_version = "0.40.0-beta.12"',
+                config,
+                flags=re.MULTILINE,
+            )
+            config += '\n[[tool.bumpversion.files]]\nfilename = "version.txt"\n'
+            (root / ".bumpversion.toml").write_text(config)
+            (root / "version.txt").write_text("0.40.0-beta.12\n")
+            (root / "java").mkdir()
+            (root / "java" / "pom.xml").write_text("0.40.0-beta.12\n")
+            (root / "bin").mkdir()
+            maven = root / "bin" / "mvn"
+            # Record the effective Maven version while exercising the real
+            # bump-my-version parser, serialization, hook environment, and git hook.
+            maven.write_text(
+                '#!/bin/sh\nfor arg in "$@"; do\n'
+                '  case "$arg" in\n'
+                '    -DnewVersion=*) printf "%s\\n" "${arg#-DnewVersion=}" > pom.xml;;\n'
+                "  esac\ndone\n"
+            )
+            maven.chmod(0o755)
+            env = dict(
+                os.environ, PATH=f"{root / 'bin'}{os.pathsep}{os.environ['PATH']}"
+            )
+
+            def run(*args):
+                return subprocess.run(
+                    args,
+                    cwd=root,
+                    env=env,
+                    text=True,
+                    stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+                    stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,
+                    check=True,
+                )
+
+            run("git", "init", "-q")
+            run("git", "config", "user.name", "Release Test")
+            run("git", "config", "user.email", "release-test@example.invalid")
+            run("git", "config", "commit.gpgsign", "false")
+            run("git", "add", ".")
+            run("git", "commit", "-qm", "Initial version")
+            run("bump-my-version", "bump", part)
+            self.assertEqual((root / "version.txt").read_text().strip(), expected)
+            self.assertEqual((root / "java" / "pom.xml").read_text().strip(), expected)
+            self.assertEqual(
+                run("git", "describe", "--exact-match").stdout.strip(), f"v{expected}"
+            )
+
+    def test_stable_maven_version_matches_release(self):
+        self.check_bump("pre_l", "0.40.0")
+
+    def test_preview_maven_version_matches_release(self):
+        self.check_bump("pre_n", "0.40.0-beta.13")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()
diff --git a/java/lancedb-core/pom.xml b/java/lancedb-core/pom.xml
index 4a143b027..b60f61f52 100644
--- a/java/lancedb-core/pom.xml
+++ b/java/lancedb-core/pom.xml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
     <parent>
       <groupId>com.lancedb</groupId>
       <artifactId>lancedb-parent</artifactId>
-      <version>0.40.0-final.0</version>
+      <version>0.40.0</version>
       <relativePath>../pom.xml</relativePath>
     </parent>
 
diff --git a/java/pom.xml b/java/pom.xml
index 9ecac71e0..0683e5ec8 100644
--- a/java/pom.xml
+++ b/java/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
     <groupId>com.lancedb</groupId>
     <artifactId>lancedb-parent</artifactId>
-    <version>0.40.0-final.0</version>
+    <version>0.40.0</version>
     <packaging>pom</packaging>
     <name>${project.artifactId}</name>
     <description>LanceDB Java SDK Parent POM</description>