diff --git a/.kokoro/build.sh b/.kokoro/build.sh
index 92e714cb451e..d5bc2efff86e 100755
--- a/.kokoro/build.sh
+++ b/.kokoro/build.sh
@@ -37,27 +37,27 @@ RETURN_CODE=0
 
 case ${JOB_TYPE} in
   test)
+    MAVEN_GOAL="test"
     if [[ -n "${BUILD_SUBDIR}" ]]
     then
       echo "Compiling and building all modules for ${BUILD_SUBDIR}"
       install_modules "${BUILD_SUBDIR}"
       echo "Running in subdir: ${BUILD_SUBDIR}"
       pushd "${BUILD_SUBDIR}"
-      EXTRA_PROFILE_OPTS=()
     else
-      EXTRA_PROFILE_OPTS=("-PbulkTests")
-      install_modules "sdk-platform-java"
+      # These are pure GAPIC-generated modules with no unit tests to run here; Showcase
+      # integration tests already cover the generated code's behavior, so this pass only
+      # needs to confirm everything compiles.
+      MAVEN_GOAL="compile"
     fi
-    echo "SUREFIRE_JVM_OPT: ${SUREFIRE_JVM_OPT}"
+    echo "MAVEN_GOAL: ${MAVEN_GOAL}"
     retry_with_backoff 3 10 \
-      mvn install \
+      mvn ${MAVEN_GOAL} \
         -B -ntp \
         -Pquick-build \
         -Dorg.slf4j.simpleLogger.showDateTime=true \
         -Dorg.slf4j.simpleLogger.dateTimeFormat=HH:mm:ss:SSS \
-        -Dmaven.wagon.http.retryHandler.count=5 \
-        --also-make \
-        ${SUREFIRE_JVM_OPT} "${EXTRA_PROFILE_OPTS[@]}"
+        -Dmaven.wagon.http.retryHandler.count=5
     RETURN_CODE=$?
 
     if [[ -n "${BUILD_SUBDIR}" ]]
@@ -316,7 +316,6 @@ case ${JOB_TYPE} in
       install_modules "${BUILD_SUBDIR}"
       echo "Running in subdir: ${BUILD_SUBDIR}"
       pushd "${BUILD_SUBDIR}"
-      EXTRA_PROFILE_OPTS=()
     else
       install_modules "sdk-platform-java"
     fi
@@ -349,4 +348,4 @@ if [[ "${ENABLE_FLAKYBOT}" == "true" ]]; then
 fi
 
 echo "exiting with ${RETURN_CODE}"
-exit ${RETURN_CODE}
\ No newline at end of file
+exit ${RETURN_CODE}
diff --git a/.kokoro/common.sh b/.kokoro/common.sh
index a1dad45d963d..aebe7da62230 100644
--- a/.kokoro/common.sh
+++ b/.kokoro/common.sh
@@ -311,6 +311,11 @@ function run_integration_tests() {
   parse_all_submodules "$1"
   printf "Running integration tests for submodules:\n%s\n" "$all_submodules"
 
+  # Skip only unit tests, not ITs: -DskipUnitTests=true for client-library modules (see
+  # google-cloud-jar-parent/pom.xml for how that's wired) and -PbulkTests for the handful of
+  # modules (google-auth-library-java, java-cloud-bom, java-shared-config,
+  # sdk-platform-java) that predate and sit outside that mechanism. Both flags are passed
+  # unconditionally; Maven ignores whichever one a given module doesn't recognize.
   mvn verify -Penable-integration-tests -Pquick-build --projects "$all_submodules" \
     ${INTEGRATION_TEST_ARGS} \
     -B -ntp -fae \
@@ -416,6 +421,7 @@ function install_modules() {
     printf "Installing submodules:\n%s\n" "$all_submodules"
 
     always_install_deps_list=(
+      'grpc-gcp-java'
       'java-monitoring/google-cloud-monitoring'
       'java-monitoring/google-cloud-monitoring-bom'
       'google-auth-library-java/appengine'
diff --git a/google-cloud-jar-parent/pom.xml b/google-cloud-jar-parent/pom.xml
index e824958cf545..18b905200cd6 100644
--- a/google-cloud-jar-parent/pom.xml
+++ b/google-cloud-jar-parent/pom.xml
@@ -19,7 +19,22 @@
     <relativePath>../google-cloud-pom-parent/pom.xml</relativePath>
   </parent>
   <properties>
-    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
+    <!--
+      Defaults to true: most modules under this parent are pure GAPIC-generated clients whose
+      generated tests aren't worth the CI time. Libraries with handwritten tests worth
+      running (java-spanner, java-bigtable, java-storage, ...) override this back to false in
+      their own top-level pom.xml.
+
+      Wired only into surefire's <skip> (below), not Maven's built-in skipTests, so it skips
+      unit tests without also skipping failsafe/ITs.
+    -->
+    <skipUnitTests>true</skipUnitTests>
+    <!--
+      Mirrors skipUnitTests, so test compilation is skipped along with execution. The
+      enable-integration-tests profile overrides this to false so ITs still compile and run
+      when -DskipUnitTests=true is set.
+    -->
+    <maven.test.skip>${skipUnitTests}</maven.test.skip>
     <ignoreNonCompile>true</ignoreNonCompile><!-- maven-dependency-plugin:analyze to skip test scope dependencies -->
   </properties>
 
@@ -171,6 +186,12 @@
         </dependency>
       </dependencies>
     </profile>
+    <profile>
+      <id>enable-integration-tests</id>
+      <properties>
+        <maven.test.skip>false</maven.test.skip>
+      </properties>
+    </profile>
     <profile>
       <id>java17</id>
       <activation>
diff --git a/java-bigquery-jdbc/pom.xml b/java-bigquery-jdbc/pom.xml
index ba78d2094996..1dde1397f5fc 100644
--- a/java-bigquery-jdbc/pom.xml
+++ b/java-bigquery-jdbc/pom.xml
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
     <github.global.server>github</github.global.server>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-bigquery-jdbc</site.installationModule>
     <skipShade>false</skipShade>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <build>
@@ -412,14 +413,6 @@
       </build>
     </profile>
 
-    <!-- skip tests if bulkTests profile is enabled (when testing the rest of the monorepo) -->
-    <profile>
-      <id>bulkTests</id>
-      <properties>
-        <skipTests>true</skipTests>
-      </properties>
-    </profile>
-
     <!-- Profile used inside docker -->
     <profile>
       <id>docker</id>
diff --git a/java-bigquery/pom.xml b/java-bigquery/pom.xml
index c96383dedfac..9de42ad51ef9 100644
--- a/java-bigquery/pom.xml
+++ b/java-bigquery/pom.xml
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
     <github.global.server>github</github.global.server>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-bigquery-parent</site.installationModule>
     <google-api-services-bigquery.version>v2-rev20251012-2.0.0</google-api-services-bigquery.version>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
@@ -162,12 +163,5 @@
         <module>benchmark</module>
       </modules>
     </profile>
-    <!-- skip tests if bulkTests profile is enabled (when testing the rest of the monorepo) -->
-    <profile>
-      <id>bulkTests</id>
-      <properties>
-        <skipTests>true</skipTests>
-      </properties>
-    </profile>
   </profiles>
 </project>
diff --git a/java-bigquerystorage/pom.xml b/java-bigquerystorage/pom.xml
index dabcddd765bd..88655956bb3b 100644
--- a/java-bigquerystorage/pom.xml
+++ b/java-bigquerystorage/pom.xml
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
     <project.protobuf-java.version>3.25.4</project.protobuf-java.version>
     <github.global.server>github</github.global.server>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-bigquerystorage-parent</site.installationModule>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <pluginRepositories>
@@ -207,14 +208,4 @@
     <module>google-cloud-bigquerystorage-bom</module>
   </modules>
 
-  <profiles>
-    <!-- skip tests if bulkTests profile is enabled (when testing the rest of the monorepo) -->
-    <profile>
-      <id>bulkTests</id>
-      <properties>
-        <skipTests>true</skipTests>
-      </properties>
-    </profile>
-  </profiles>
-
 </project>
diff --git a/java-bigtable/pom.xml b/java-bigtable/pom.xml
index bc0bb829a4ef..578bd470c60c 100644
--- a/java-bigtable/pom.xml
+++ b/java-bigtable/pom.xml
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@
         <project.javadoc.protobufBaseURL>https://googleapis.dev/java/google-api-grpc/latest</project.javadoc.protobufBaseURL>
         <errorprone.version>2.48.0</errorprone.version>
         <errorprone.javac.args>-g</errorprone.javac.args>
+        <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
     </properties>
 
     <dependencyManagement>
@@ -342,12 +343,6 @@
                 </plugins>
             </build>
         </profile>
-    <profile>
-      <id>bulkTests</id>
-      <properties>
-        <skipTests>true</skipTests>
-      </properties>
-    </profile>
     <profile>
       <id>errorprone-jdk8</id>
       <activation>
diff --git a/java-common-protos/pom.xml b/java-common-protos/pom.xml
index 824768000f43..269d67d8c3bf 100644
--- a/java-common-protos/pom.xml
+++ b/java-common-protos/pom.xml
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
     <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
     <github.global.server>github</github.global.server>
     <site.installationModule>google-iam-parent</site.installationModule>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
diff --git a/java-datastore/pom.xml b/java-datastore/pom.xml
index 0f179079830b..6b2a30139b96 100644
--- a/java-datastore/pom.xml
+++ b/java-datastore/pom.xml
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@
     <project.javadoc.protobufBaseURL>https://googleapis.dev/java/google-api-grpc/latest</project.javadoc.protobufBaseURL>
     <errorprone.version>2.48.0</errorprone.version>
     <errorprone.javac.args>-g</errorprone.javac.args>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
@@ -236,13 +237,6 @@
   </modules>
 
   <profiles>
-    <!-- skip tests if bulkTests profile is enabled (when testing the rest of the monorepo) -->
-    <profile>
-      <id>bulkTests</id>
-      <properties>
-        <skipTests>true</skipTests>
-      </properties>
-    </profile>
     <profile>
       <id>errorprone-jdk8</id>
       <activation>
diff --git a/java-dns/pom.xml b/java-dns/pom.xml
index daee4d1487d2..abbb9d8637a9 100644
--- a/java-dns/pom.xml
+++ b/java-dns/pom.xml
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
     <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
     <github.global.server>github</github.global.server>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-dns-parent</site.installationModule>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
diff --git a/java-firestore/google-cloud-firestore-admin/pom.xml b/java-firestore/google-cloud-firestore-admin/pom.xml
index 44ececc238f2..6f04310bdee8 100644
--- a/java-firestore/google-cloud-firestore-admin/pom.xml
+++ b/java-firestore/google-cloud-firestore-admin/pom.xml
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@
     <artifactId>google-cloud-firestore-parent</artifactId>
     <version>3.45.0-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-firestore:current} -->
   </parent>
+  <properties>
+    <skipUnitTests>true</skipUnitTests>
+  </properties>
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.google.api.grpc</groupId>
diff --git a/java-firestore/pom.xml b/java-firestore/pom.xml
index 5d45821383a8..56e7affe0a27 100644
--- a/java-firestore/pom.xml
+++ b/java-firestore/pom.xml
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@
     <github.global.server>github</github.global.server>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-firestore-parent</site.installationModule>
     <project.javadoc.protobufBaseURL>https://googleapis.dev/java/google-api-grpc/latest</project.javadoc.protobufBaseURL>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
@@ -247,11 +248,5 @@
         </plugins>
       </build>
     </profile>
-    <profile>
-      <id>bulkTests</id>
-      <properties>
-        <skipTests>true</skipTests>
-      </properties>
-    </profile>
   </profiles>
 </project>
diff --git a/java-iam/pom.xml b/java-iam/pom.xml
index 78b8f9f6fb05..4ae700e81a2b 100644
--- a/java-iam/pom.xml
+++ b/java-iam/pom.xml
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@
     <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
     <github.global.server>github</github.global.server>
     <site.installationModule>google-iam-parent</site.installationModule>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
diff --git a/java-logging-logback/pom.xml b/java-logging-logback/pom.xml
index 1e36cdf89973..1a9c9e057d26 100644
--- a/java-logging-logback/pom.xml
+++ b/java-logging-logback/pom.xml
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
     <logging.version>3.25.0</logging.version>
     <slf4j.version>1.7.36</slf4j.version>
     <google.api-common.version>1.10.1</google.api-common.version>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <parent>
@@ -170,12 +171,5 @@
         <test>!LoggingAppenderTest</test>
       </properties>
     </profile>
-    <!-- skip tests if bulkTests profile is enabled (when testing the rest of the monorepo) -->
-    <profile>
-      <id>bulkTests</id>
-      <properties>
-        <skipTests>true</skipTests>
-      </properties>
-    </profile>
   </profiles>
 </project>
diff --git a/java-logging/pom.xml b/java-logging/pom.xml
index 3fec5ba8f610..507c8f25e42d 100644
--- a/java-logging/pom.xml
+++ b/java-logging/pom.xml
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
     <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
     <github.global.server>github</github.global.server>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-logging-parent</site.installationModule>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
@@ -105,14 +106,4 @@
     <!-- {x-generated-modules-end} -->
     <module>google-cloud-logging-bom</module>
   </modules>
-
-  <profiles>
-    <!-- skip tests if bulkTests profile is enabled (when testing the rest of the monorepo) -->
-    <profile>
-      <id>bulkTests</id>
-      <properties>
-        <skipTests>true</skipTests>
-      </properties>
-    </profile>
-  </profiles>
 </project>
diff --git a/java-notification/pom.xml b/java-notification/pom.xml
index 3a548181a121..d021751302c7 100644
--- a/java-notification/pom.xml
+++ b/java-notification/pom.xml
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
   </parent>
   <properties>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-notification</site.installationModule>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
   <dependencyManagement>
     <dependencies>
diff --git a/java-pubsub/pom.xml b/java-pubsub/pom.xml
index b7d9e4e84bf5..87e13482d504 100644
--- a/java-pubsub/pom.xml
+++ b/java-pubsub/pom.xml
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
     <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
     <github.global.server>github</github.global.server>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-pubsub-parent</site.installationModule>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
@@ -143,13 +144,4 @@
     <!-- {x-generated-modules-end} -->
     <module>google-cloud-pubsub-bom</module>
   </modules>
-
-  <profiles>
-    <profile>
-      <id>bulkTests</id>
-      <properties>
-        <skipTests>true</skipTests>
-      </properties>
-    </profile>
-  </profiles>
 </project>
diff --git a/java-showcase/pom.xml b/java-showcase/pom.xml
index c90fb72c78fb..5cd52fb97aee 100644
--- a/java-showcase/pom.xml
+++ b/java-showcase/pom.xml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
     <maven.deploy.skip>true</maven.deploy.skip>
     <skipNexusStagingDeployMojo>true</skipNexusStagingDeployMojo>
     <mdep.analyze.skip>true</mdep.analyze.skip><!-- The showcase modules are not meant for library customers. -->
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
@@ -259,12 +260,5 @@
         </plugins>
       </build>
     </profile>
-    <!-- skip tests if bulkTests profile is enabled (when testing the rest of the monorepo) -->
-    <profile>
-      <id>bulkTests</id>
-      <properties>
-        <skipTests>true</skipTests>
-      </properties>
-    </profile>
   </profiles>
 </project>
diff --git a/java-spanner-jdbc/pom.xml b/java-spanner-jdbc/pom.xml
index 15e481b89c61..bdb3001a028f 100644
--- a/java-spanner-jdbc/pom.xml
+++ b/java-spanner-jdbc/pom.xml
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
     <truth.version>1.4.5</truth.version>
     <mockito.version>4.11.0</mockito.version>
     <opencensus.version>0.31.1</opencensus.version>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
@@ -345,7 +346,7 @@
                 <argument>${project.basedir}/documentation/connection_properties.md</argument>
               </arguments>
               <classpathScope>test</classpathScope>
-              <skip>false</skip>
+              <skip>${maven.test.skip}</skip>
             </configuration>          </execution>
         </executions>
       </plugin>
diff --git a/java-spanner/pom.xml b/java-spanner/pom.xml
index 871688a20e5b..3060f3b002b6 100644
--- a/java-spanner/pom.xml
+++ b/java-spanner/pom.xml
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
     <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
     <github.global.server>github</github.global.server>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-spanner-parent</site.installationModule>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
@@ -158,14 +159,4 @@
     </plugins>
   </build>
 
-  <profiles>
-    <!-- skip tests if bulkTests profile is enabled (when testing the rest of the monorepo) -->
-    <profile>
-      <id>bulkTests</id>
-      <properties>
-        <skipTests>true</skipTests>
-      </properties>
-    </profile>
-  </profiles>
-
 </project>
diff --git a/java-storage-nio/pom.xml b/java-storage-nio/pom.xml
index 90ad0b962a0b..1f01bf612357 100644
--- a/java-storage-nio/pom.xml
+++ b/java-storage-nio/pom.xml
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@
     <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
     <github.global.server>github</github.global.server>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-storage-nio-parent</site.installationModule>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
diff --git a/java-storage/gapic-google-cloud-storage-v2/pom.xml b/java-storage/gapic-google-cloud-storage-v2/pom.xml
index 0c50aeeaa9e9..bef6755705bd 100644
--- a/java-storage/gapic-google-cloud-storage-v2/pom.xml
+++ b/java-storage/gapic-google-cloud-storage-v2/pom.xml
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@
     <artifactId>google-cloud-storage-parent</artifactId>
     <version>2.71.0-SNAPSHOT</version><!-- {x-version-update:google-cloud-storage:current} -->
   </parent>
+  <properties>
+    <skipUnitTests>true</skipUnitTests>
+  </properties>
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>io.grpc</groupId>
diff --git a/java-storage/pom.xml b/java-storage/pom.xml
index 28c08b83144d..074c0156b80f 100644
--- a/java-storage/pom.xml
+++ b/java-storage/pom.xml
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
     <github.global.server>github</github.global.server>
     <site.installationModule>google-cloud-storage-parent</site.installationModule>
     <google.cloud.shared-dependencies.version>3.31.0</google.cloud.shared-dependencies.version>
+    <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
   </properties>
 
   <dependencyManagement>
@@ -187,12 +188,6 @@
         <module>storage-shared-benchmarking</module>
       </modules>
     </profile>
-    <profile>
-      <id>bulkTests</id>
-      <properties>
-        <skipTests>true</skipTests>
-      </properties>
-    </profile>
     <profile>
       <!--
         Logback 1.5.x requires Java 11+. To support running tests on Java 8,
diff --git a/sdk-platform-java/gapic-generator-java-pom-parent/pom.xml b/sdk-platform-java/gapic-generator-java-pom-parent/pom.xml
index 76fff743425f..64467207784f 100644
--- a/sdk-platform-java/gapic-generator-java-pom-parent/pom.xml
+++ b/sdk-platform-java/gapic-generator-java-pom-parent/pom.xml
@@ -20,6 +20,16 @@
   </parent>
 
   <properties>
+    <!--
+      Defaults to false: unlike google-cloud-jar-parent's GAPIC-generated clients, the
+      modules here (gax-java, gapic-generator-java, java-core, ...) have handwritten tests
+      worth running by default.
+
+      Wired only into surefire's <skip> below, not maven.test.skip, so -DskipUnitTests=true
+      skips unit test execution but never compilation: google-cloud-core's test-jar is a
+      test-scope dependency of several client libraries in the same root reactor, and
+      skipping its compilation would break their dependency resolution.
+    -->
     <skipUnitTests>false</skipUnitTests>
     <checkstyle.header.file>java.header</checkstyle.header.file>
     <maven.compiler.release>8</maven.compiler.release>
@@ -46,6 +56,18 @@
     <ignoreNonCompile>true</ignoreNonCompile><!-- maven-dependency-plugin:analyze to skip test scope dependencies -->
   </properties>
 
+  <build>
+    <plugins>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
+        <configuration>
+          <skip>${skipUnitTests}</skip>
+        </configuration>
+      </plugin>
+    </plugins>
+  </build>
+
   <developers>
     <developer>
       <id>suztomo</id>
@@ -223,7 +245,11 @@
         </plugins>
       </build>
     </profile>
-    <!-- skip tests if bulkTests profile is enabled (when testing the rest of the monorepo) -->
+    <!--
+      skip tests if bulkTests profile is enabled (when testing the rest of the monorepo).
+      Uses skipTests rather than skipUnitTests since both surefire and failsafe honor it,
+      skipping ITs along with unit tests.
+    -->
     <profile>
       <id>bulkTests</id>
       <properties>