diff --git a/.github/workflows/hermetic_library_generation.yaml b/.github/workflows/hermetic_library_generation.yaml
index f7dfb896e6..51a087f8e5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/hermetic_library_generation.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/hermetic_library_generation.yaml
@@ -19,11 +19,11 @@ on:
 
 env:
   HEAD_REF: ${{ github.head_ref }}
+  REPO_FULL_NAME: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
+  GITHUB_REPOSITORY: ${{ github.repository }}
 
 jobs:
   library_generation:
-    # skip pull requests come from a forked repository
-    if: github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ jobs:
       shell: bash
       run: |
         set -ex
+        if [[ "${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}" != "${REPO_FULL_NAME}" ]]; then
+          echo "This PR comes from a fork. Generation will be skipped"
+          exit 0
+        fi
         [ -z "$(git config user.email)" ] && git config --global user.email "cloud-java-bot@google.com"
         [ -z "$(git config user.name)" ] && git config --global user.name "cloud-java-bot"
         bash .github/scripts/hermetic_library_generation.sh \
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 645ea12695..85a00dc9b9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -57,13 +57,13 @@ implementation 'com.google.cloud:google-cloud-bigtable'
 If you are using Gradle without BOM, add this to your dependencies:
 
 ```Groovy
-implementation 'com.google.cloud:google-cloud-bigtable:2.42.0'
+implementation 'com.google.cloud:google-cloud-bigtable:2.43.0'
 ```
 
 If you are using SBT, add this to your dependencies:
 
 ```Scala
-libraryDependencies += "com.google.cloud" % "google-cloud-bigtable" % "2.42.0"
+libraryDependencies += "com.google.cloud" % "google-cloud-bigtable" % "2.43.0"
 ```
 <!-- {x-version-update-end} -->
 
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@ Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
 [kokoro-badge-link-5]: http://storage.googleapis.com/cloud-devrel-public/java/badges/java-bigtable/java11.html
 [stability-image]: https://img.shields.io/badge/stability-stable-green
 [maven-version-image]: https://img.shields.io/maven-central/v/com.google.cloud/google-cloud-bigtable.svg
-[maven-version-link]: https://central.sonatype.com/artifact/com.google.cloud/google-cloud-bigtable/2.42.0
+[maven-version-link]: https://central.sonatype.com/artifact/com.google.cloud/google-cloud-bigtable/2.43.0
 [authentication]: https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-java#authentication
 [auth-scopes]: https://developers.google.com/identity/protocols/oauth2/scopes
 [predefined-iam-roles]: https://cloud.google.com/iam/docs/understanding-roles#predefined_roles