diff --git a/backends-velox/src/main/scala/org/apache/gluten/extension/CudfNodeValidationRule.scala b/backends-velox/src/main/scala/org/apache/gluten/extension/CudfNodeValidationRule.scala
index 14029cf28ff..e3d43baedf4 100644
--- a/backends-velox/src/main/scala/org/apache/gluten/extension/CudfNodeValidationRule.scala
+++ b/backends-velox/src/main/scala/org/apache/gluten/extension/CudfNodeValidationRule.scala
@@ -54,30 +54,58 @@ case class CudfNodeValidationRule(glutenConf: GlutenConfig) extends Rule[SparkPl
 
 object CudfNodeValidationRule {
   def setTagForWholeStageTransformer(transformer: WholeStageTransformer): Unit = {
-    if (!VeloxConfig.get.cudfEnableTableScan) {
-      // Spark3.2 does not have exists
-      val hasLeaf = transformer.find {
-        case _: LeafTransformSupport => true
-        case _ => false
-      }.isDefined
-      if (!hasLeaf && VeloxConfig.get.cudfEnableValidation) {
-        if (
-          VeloxCudfPlanValidatorJniWrapper.validate(
-            transformer.substraitPlan.toProtobuf.toByteArray)
-        ) {
-          transformer.foreach {
-            case _: LeafTransformSupport =>
-            case t: TransformSupport =>
-              t.setTagValue(CudfTag.CudfTag, true)
-            case _ =>
-          }
-          transformer.setTagValue(CudfTag.CudfTag, true)
-        }
-      } else {
-        transformer.setTagValue(CudfTag.CudfTag, !hasLeaf)
+    // Spark 3.2 does not have TreeNode.exists, so use find(...).isDefined.
+    val hasLeaf = transformer.find {
+      case _: LeafTransformSupport => true
+      case _ => false
+    }.isDefined
+
+    val canOffload = decideOffload(
+      hasLeaf,
+      VeloxConfig.get.cudfEnableTableScan,
+      VeloxConfig.get.cudfEnableValidation,
+      () =>
+        VeloxCudfPlanValidatorJniWrapper.validate(
+          transformer.substraitPlan.toProtobuf.toByteArray))
+
+    if (canOffload) {
+      transformer.foreach {
+        case _: LeafTransformSupport =>
+        case t: TransformSupport =>
+          t.setTagValue(CudfTag.CudfTag, true)
+        case _ =>
       }
-    } else {
       transformer.setTagValue(CudfTag.CudfTag, true)
+    } else {
+      transformer.setTagValue(CudfTag.CudfTag, false)
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Decide whether a whole-stage transformer can be offloaded to the cuDF GPU backend.
+   *
+   * Pure (no native calls) so the branching can be unit-tested:
+   *   - a stage that reads a table is offloadable only when GPU table scan is enabled;
+   *   - otherwise, when validation is enabled, the native validator decides (it exempts
+   *     TableScan, so a scan-bearing stage passes only when every other operator is
+   *     cuDF-capable);
+   *   - when validation is disabled, the stage is offloaded optimistically.
+   *
+   * `validate` is invoked only on the validation path, never when a table-reading stage is
+   * rejected up front, so the previous "tag GPU unconditionally when table scan is enabled"
+   * behavior no longer skips validation.
+   */
+  private[extension] def decideOffload(
+      hasLeaf: Boolean,
+      enableTableScan: Boolean,
+      enableValidation: Boolean,
+      validate: () => Boolean): Boolean = {
+    if (hasLeaf && !enableTableScan) {
+      false
+    } else if (!enableValidation) {
+      true
+    } else {
+      validate()
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/backends-velox/src/test/scala/org/apache/gluten/extension/CudfNodeValidationRuleSuite.scala b/backends-velox/src/test/scala/org/apache/gluten/extension/CudfNodeValidationRuleSuite.scala
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a4514f06c8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backends-velox/src/test/scala/org/apache/gluten/extension/CudfNodeValidationRuleSuite.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.gluten.extension
+
+import org.scalatest.funsuite.AnyFunSuite
+
+class CudfNodeValidationRuleSuite extends AnyFunSuite {
+
+  // Records whether the (lazy) native validator was invoked, so we can assert it is NOT
+  // called on paths that must short-circuit before touching the GPU.
+  private class CountingValidator(result: Boolean) extends (() => Boolean) {
+    var called: Boolean = false
+    override def apply(): Boolean = {
+      called = true
+      result
+    }
+  }
+
+  test("table-reading stage is rejected when GPU table scan is disabled, without validating") {
+    val validator = new CountingValidator(true)
+    val decision = CudfNodeValidationRule.decideOffload(
+      hasLeaf = true,
+      enableTableScan = false,
+      enableValidation = true,
+      validator)
+    assert(!decision)
+    assert(!validator.called, "native validator must not be called for a rejected scan stage")
+  }
+
+  test("table-reading stage is validated when GPU table scan is enabled") {
+    // This is the regression guard: previously this path tagged GPU unconditionally and
+    // skipped validation. Now an unsupported stage (validator -> false) must NOT be offloaded.
+    val rejecting = new CountingValidator(false)
+    assert(
+      !CudfNodeValidationRule.decideOffload(
+        hasLeaf = true,
+        enableTableScan = true,
+        enableValidation = true,
+        rejecting))
+    assert(rejecting.called, "native validator must run for a scan stage when table scan is on")
+
+    // A supported scan stage (validator -> true) is still offloaded.
+    assert(
+      CudfNodeValidationRule.decideOffload(
+        hasLeaf = true,
+        enableTableScan = true,
+        enableValidation = true,
+        new CountingValidator(true)))
+  }
+
+  test("non-scan stage is offloaded only when validation passes") {
+    assert(
+      CudfNodeValidationRule.decideOffload(
+        hasLeaf = false,
+        enableTableScan = false,
+        enableValidation = true,
+        new CountingValidator(true)))
+    assert(
+      !CudfNodeValidationRule.decideOffload(
+        hasLeaf = false,
+        enableTableScan = false,
+        enableValidation = true,
+        new CountingValidator(false)))
+  }
+
+  test("validation disabled offloads optimistically without validating") {
+    Seq(true, false).foreach {
+      hasLeaf =>
+        val validator = new CountingValidator(false)
+        assert(
+          CudfNodeValidationRule.decideOffload(
+            hasLeaf = hasLeaf,
+            enableTableScan = true,
+            enableValidation = false,
+            validator))
+        assert(!validator.called, "native validator must not be called when validation is disabled")
+    }
+  }
+}