diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-python.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-python.yml
index b6a0fb9f81dc..71c0c31a9b53 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-python.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-python.yml
@@ -263,6 +263,44 @@ jobs:
               -k 'TIMESTAMP or temporal'
           done
 
+  # Released bindings lack Rust main features, so only native planning is forced here.
+  rust-release-plan:
+    name: Native CI / pypaimon-rust ${{ matrix.pypaimon-rust }}
+    timeout-minutes: 90
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    container: "python:3.11-slim"
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        pypaimon-rust: [ '0.4.0' ]
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+
+      - name: Install system dependencies
+        run: |
+          apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+            build-essential git curl cmake pkg-config libssl-dev libclang-dev tzdata \
+            && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+      - name: Install Python test dependencies
+        run: |
+          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
+          python -m pip install torch --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu
+          python -m pip install -e ./paimon-python --group ./paimon-python/pyproject.toml:dev \
+            'pypaimon-rust==${{ matrix.pypaimon-rust }}'
+          python -m pip check
+          python -c "from importlib.metadata import version; print('pypaimon-rust', version('pypaimon-rust'))"
+
+      - name: Run Python tests with native planning
+        shell: bash
+        env:
+          PYPAIMON_TEST_NATIVE_PLAN: '1'
+          # Tests marked native_plan need Rust main.
+          PYTEST_ADDOPTS: "-m 'not native_plan'"
+        run: |
+          bash paimon-python/dev/lint-python.sh -i pytest
+
   torch:
     name: PyTorch / Python 3.10
     timeout-minutes: 60
diff --git a/paimon-python/pypaimon/read/native_plan.py b/paimon-python/pypaimon/read/native_plan.py
index f968f8515492..2ce38bd28441 100644
--- a/paimon-python/pypaimon/read/native_plan.py
+++ b/paimon-python/pypaimon/read/native_plan.py
@@ -577,4 +577,6 @@ def _from_native_plan(table, rust_plan) -> Plan:
         # Older bindings cannot distinguish an empty committed snapshot from a
         # table without snapshots. Let the Python scanner recover the metadata.
         raise RuntimeError("Native runtime cannot report an empty plan's snapshot")
-    return Plan(splits, snapshot_id=snapshot_id, _native_stats=rust_plan.stats())
+    # Bindings before Plan.stats() plan natively but report no counters.
+    stats = getattr(rust_plan, 'stats', None)
+    return Plan(splits, snapshot_id=snapshot_id, _native_stats=stats() if callable(stats) else None)
diff --git a/paimon-python/pypaimon/tests/native_plan_test.py b/paimon-python/pypaimon/tests/native_plan_test.py
index 5e1adde4ad47..3a7916bcef5f 100644
--- a/paimon-python/pypaimon/tests/native_plan_test.py
+++ b/paimon-python/pypaimon/tests/native_plan_test.py
@@ -125,6 +125,15 @@ def test_native_final_statistics_preserve_work_and_saturate_unknown_sizes(self):
         with patch.object(ScanStats, 'from_native', return_value=ScanStats.empty_native()):
             self.assertEqual(zero.stats().planning_counters['limit'], 0)
 
+    def test_bindings_without_plan_stats_still_plan_natively(self):
+        from pypaimon.read.native_plan import _from_native_plan
+        table = Mock(table_schema=SimpleNamespace(fields=[], partition_keys=[]),
+                     trimmed_primary_keys_fields=[])
+        table.options.native_read_enabled.return_value = False
+        plan = _from_native_plan(table, SimpleNamespace(splits=lambda: [], snapshot_id=lambda: 7))
+        self.assertEqual(plan.snapshot_id, 7)
+        self.assertIsNone(plan.stats())
+
     def test_variant_read_type_matches_java_interop_fixture(self):
         actual = _variant_read_type_json(
             [DataField(7, 'payload', AtomicType('VARIANT'))],