diff --git a/Spanner/src/SpannerClient.php b/Spanner/src/SpannerClient.php
index 822e87b23a79..ed289bed9976 100644
--- a/Spanner/src/SpannerClient.php
+++ b/Spanner/src/SpannerClient.php
@@ -1057,7 +1057,6 @@ private function configureMetrics(array $options): void
     {
         $metricsClient = $this->pluck('metricServiceClient', $options, false);
         $timeoutMillis = $this->pluck('metricsTimeoutMillis', $options, false) ?? 100;
-        $location = $this->getLocation();
 
         if (!$this->pluck('enableBuiltInMetrics', $options, false)) {
             return;
@@ -1087,6 +1086,7 @@ private function configureMetrics(array $options): void
             throw new ValidationException('The "metricServiceClient" option must be a MetricServiceClient instance.');
         }
 
+        $location = $this->getLocation();
         $metricsClientId = RUUID::uuid4()->toString() . '-' . getmypid();
         $exporter = new MetricsExporter($metricsClient, $this->projectId, $metricsClientId, $timeoutMillis);
         $reader = new ExportingReader($exporter);
diff --git a/Spanner/tests/System/PartitionedDmlTest.php b/Spanner/tests/System/PartitionedDmlTest.php
index ecf4b3fb6f1a..a12b2d6a3f53 100644
--- a/Spanner/tests/System/PartitionedDmlTest.php
+++ b/Spanner/tests/System/PartitionedDmlTest.php
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ private function seedTable()
     private function executeInsert(array $rows)
     {
         self::$database->runTransaction(function ($t) use ($rows) {
-            $t->insertBatch(self::PDML_TABLE, $rows);
+            $t->insertOrUpdateBatch(self::PDML_TABLE, $rows);
 
             $t->commit();
         });
diff --git a/Spanner/tests/System/PgPartitionedDmlTest.php b/Spanner/tests/System/PgPartitionedDmlTest.php
index 48bce3dbf0e2..b72c3d0d537a 100644
--- a/Spanner/tests/System/PgPartitionedDmlTest.php
+++ b/Spanner/tests/System/PgPartitionedDmlTest.php
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ public function testPdml()
 
         $db = self::$database;
 
-        $db->updateDdl('CREATE TABLE ' . self::PDML_TABLE . '(
+        $db->updateDdl('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS ' . self::PDML_TABLE . '(
             id bigint NOT NULL,
             stringField varchar(1024),
             boolField BOOL,
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ private function seedTable()
     private function executeInsert(array $rows)
     {
         self::$database->runTransaction(function ($t) use ($rows) {
-            $t->insertBatch(self::PDML_TABLE, $rows);
+            $t->insertOrUpdateBatch(self::PDML_TABLE, $rows);
 
             $t->commit();
         });
diff --git a/Spanner/tests/System/PgTransactionTest.php b/Spanner/tests/System/PgTransactionTest.php
index e0718a5f07d7..a76b716505cf 100644
--- a/Spanner/tests/System/PgTransactionTest.php
+++ b/Spanner/tests/System/PgTransactionTest.php
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ public static function setUpTestFixtures(): void
         self::$tableName = 'transactions_test';
 
         self::$database->updateDdlBatch([
-            'CREATE TABLE ' . self::$tableName . ' (
+            'CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS ' . self::$tableName . ' (
                     id bigint NOT NULL,
                     number bigint NOT NULL,
                     PRIMARY KEY (id)
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ public function testRunTransaction()
 
         $db->runTransaction(function ($t) {
             $id = rand(1, 346464);
-            $t->insert(self::TEST_TABLE_NAME, [
+            $t->insertOrUpdate(self::TEST_TABLE_NAME, [
                 'id' => $id,
                 'name' => uniqid(self::TESTING_PREFIX),
                 'birthday' => new Date(new \DateTime('2000-01-01'))
@@ -142,15 +142,16 @@ public function testRunTransactionWithDbRole($db, $values, $expected)
         $this->skipEmulatorTests();
 
         $error = null;
+        $newName = uniqid('Doug');
         $row = $this->getRow();
-        $row['name'] = 'Doug';
+        $row['name'] = $newName;
 
         $db->runTransaction(function ($t) use ($row) {
             $t->update(self::TEST_TABLE_NAME, $row);
             $t->commit();
         });
         $row = $this->getRow();
-        $this->assertEquals('Doug', $row['name']);
+        $this->assertEquals($newName, $row['name']);
 
         try {
             $db->runTransaction(function ($t) use ($values) {
diff --git a/Spanner/tests/System/TransactionTest.php b/Spanner/tests/System/TransactionTest.php
index 40af04f895bb..74d7f7649b1a 100644
--- a/Spanner/tests/System/TransactionTest.php
+++ b/Spanner/tests/System/TransactionTest.php
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ public function testRunTransaction()
         $cols = array_keys($row);
 
         $db->runTransaction(function ($t) use ($row) {
-            $t->insert(self::TEST_TABLE_NAME, $row);
+            $t->insertOrUpdate(self::TEST_TABLE_NAME, $row);
             $t->commit();
         });
 
@@ -272,15 +272,16 @@ public function testRunTransactionWithDbRole($db, $values, $expected)
         $this->skipEmulatorTests();
 
         $error = null;
+        $newName = uniqid('Doug');
         $row = $this->getRow();
-        $row['name'] = 'Doug';
+        $row['name'] = $newName;
 
         $db->runTransaction(function ($t) use ($row) {
             $t->update(self::TEST_TABLE_NAME, $row);
             $t->commit();
         });
         $row = $this->getRow();
-        $this->assertEquals('Doug', $row['name']);
+        $this->assertEquals($newName, $row['name']);
 
         try {
             $db->runTransaction(function ($t) use ($values) {
diff --git a/Spanner/tests/Unit/SpannerClientTest.php b/Spanner/tests/Unit/SpannerClientTest.php
index 75dcbec33665..00e464028f6a 100644
--- a/Spanner/tests/Unit/SpannerClientTest.php
+++ b/Spanner/tests/Unit/SpannerClientTest.php
@@ -900,4 +900,24 @@ public function testBuiltinMetricsCanBeEnabled()
             'enableBuiltInMetrics' => true,
         ]);
     }
+
+    /**
+     * @runInSeparateProcess
+     */
+    public function testSpannerClientInstantiatesWithoutDelayWhenMetricsDisabled()
+    {
+        // This test ensures that the SpannerClient does not hit the GCE metadata server
+        // when enableBuiltInMetrics is false, which prevents a 1.5 second delay.
+        // It's run in a separate process to ensure the GCE static cache is empty.
+        $start = microtime(true);
+        new SpannerClient([
+            'projectId' => self::PROJECT,
+            'credentials' => Fixtures::KEYFILE_STUB_FIXTURE()
+        ]);
+        $end = microtime(true);
+        
+        // Assert that the client instantiated quickly.
+        // If it probed the GCE metadata server without a mock, it would take ~1.5s to time out.
+        $this->assertLessThan(1.0, $end - $start);
+    }
 }