diff --git a/crates/lance-csr/src/datafusion_planner/builder/count_ops.rs b/crates/lance-csr/src/datafusion_planner/builder/count_ops.rs
index f86a90c..8f23bad 100644
--- a/crates/lance-csr/src/datafusion_planner/builder/count_ops.rs
+++ b/crates/lance-csr/src/datafusion_planner/builder/count_ops.rs
@@ -273,8 +273,48 @@ impl DataFusionPlanner {
             conjuncts(predicate, &mut predicates);
             op = input;
         }
-        let Some((second, op)) = Hop::of(op) else {
-            return Ok(None);
+        // `OPTIONAL MATCH (m)-[r2]-(y)` after the first hop: the second hop, planned from
+        // the distinct `m`, and its own `WHERE`, which applies before rows are null-extended.
+        let mut optional_filters = None;
+        let (second, op) = match op {
+            LogicalOperator::OptionalMatch {
+                input,
+                optional,
+                keys,
+            } if predicates.is_empty() => {
+                let mut own = Vec::new();
+                let mut op = optional.as_ref();
+                while let LogicalOperator::Filter { input, predicate } = op {
+                    conjuncts(predicate, &mut own);
+                    op = input;
+                }
+                let Some((second, seed)) = Hop::of(op) else {
+                    return Ok(None);
+                };
+                let LogicalOperator::Distinct { input: seed } = seed else {
+                    return Ok(None);
+                };
+                let distinct_middle = matches!(seed.as_ref(), LogicalOperator::Project { projections, .. }
+                    if matches!(projections.as_slice(), [ProjectionItem {
+                        expression: ValueExpression::Variable(v), ..
+                    }] if v == second.source));
+                if !distinct_middle || keys.len() != 1 {
+                    return Ok(None);
+                }
+                optional_filters = Some(own);
+                let mut op = input.as_ref();
+                while let LogicalOperator::Filter { input, predicate } = op {
+                    conjuncts(predicate, &mut predicates);
+                    op = input;
+                }
+                (second, op)
+            }
+            op => {
+                let Some((second, op)) = Hop::of(op) else {
+                    return Ok(None);
+                };
+                (second, op)
+            }
         };
         let Some((first, op)) = Hop::of(op) else {
             return Ok(None);
@@ -363,6 +403,18 @@ impl DataFusionPlanner {
             }
             read.extend(names);
         }
+        // The optional hop's own conditions filter its edges, `m` included: a middle node
+        // they reject keeps its rows, null-extended.
+        for predicate in optional_filters.iter().flatten() {
+            let mut names = HashSet::new();
+            if referenced(predicate, &mut names).is_none()
+                || !names.iter().all(|n| second_vars.contains(n.as_str()))
+            {
+                return Ok(None);
+            }
+            second_filter.push((*predicate).clone());
+            read.extend(names);
+        }
         // The distinct-edges predicate became the self-loop correction above, so edge
         // identity is needed only by a filter on the relationship; an unread one is left
         // unbound, and the CSR does not fetch its edge rows.
@@ -474,17 +526,22 @@ impl DataFusionPlanner {
         let first_plan = per_middle(first_plan, &first_other, 1)?;
         let second_plan = per_middle(second_plan, &second_other, 2)?;
 
-        let mut paths = column("__n1") * column("__n2");
+        // A middle node without an optional match still has one row per first-hop edge,
+        // with nulls that `count` of an optional variable skips.
+        let (join, second_count) = match optional_filters {
+            None => (JoinType::Inner, column("__n2")),
+            Some(_) => {
+                let skips_nulls = counted != middle && second_vars.contains(counted);
+                let unmatched = lit(if skips_nulls { 0_i64 } else { 1_i64 });
+                (JoinType::Left, coalesce(vec![column("__n2"), unmatched]))
+            }
+        };
+        let mut paths = column("__n1") * second_count;
         if self_loops {
             paths = paths - column("__s1") * column("__s2");
         }
         let plan = LogicalPlanBuilder::from(first_plan)
-            .join(
-                second_plan,
-                JoinType::Inner,
-                (vec!["__m1"], vec!["__m2"]),
-                None,
-            )?
+            .join(second_plan, join, (vec!["__m1"], vec!["__m2"]), None)?
             .aggregate(Vec::<Expr>::new(), vec![sum(paths).alias("__paths")])?
             .project(vec![
                 coalesce(vec![column("__paths"), lit(0_i64)]).alias(output)
@@ -1092,6 +1149,41 @@ mod tests {
             .contains(&"2,4".to_string()));
     }
 
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn optional_second_hop() {
+        // Counts beyond the engine's dense block, which `count` checks against the join plan.
+        async fn extra(follows: &[(i64, i64)], likes: &[(i64, i64)], query: &str) -> i64 {
+            count(follows, likes, query).await - count(&[], &[], query).await
+        }
+        let base =
+            "MATCH (a:Person)-[:FOLLOWS]->(b:Person) OPTIONAL MATCH (b)-[:LIKES]->(c:Person)";
+        // 1 and 3 follow 2, which likes 3 and 1; 1 follows 4, which likes no one.
+        let (follows, likes) = ([(1, 2), (3, 2), (1, 4)], [(2, 3), (2, 1)]);
+        for (rest, n) in [
+            // 2 · 2 at 2, and 4's one row with nulls.
+            ("RETURN count(*)", 5),
+            ("RETURN count(a)", 5),
+            // Counting the optional variable skips the null row.
+            ("RETURN count(c)", 4),
+            // The optional hop's own WHERE filters its edges; 2 keeps one, 4 its null row.
+            ("WHERE c.age > 50 RETURN count(*)", 3),
+            // Rejecting 2 itself leaves it a null row per follower.
+            ("WHERE b.age > 35 RETURN count(*)", 3),
+            ("WHERE b.age > 35 RETURN count(c)", 0),
+        ] {
+            let query = format!("{base} {rest}");
+            assert_eq!(extra(&follows, &likes, &query).await, n, "{query}");
+        }
+        // The first clause's WHERE drops 4 before the optional match.
+        let query = base.replace(" OPTIONAL", " WHERE b.age < 35 OPTIONAL") + " RETURN count(*)";
+        assert_eq!(extra(&follows, &likes, &query).await, 4);
+        // A separate clause may walk the first hop's edge again: 2's self-loop pairs with
+        // itself.
+        let query = "MATCH (a:Person)-[:FOLLOWS]->(b:Person) \
+                     OPTIONAL MATCH (b)-[:FOLLOWS]->(c:Person) RETURN count(*)";
+        assert_eq!(extra(&[(1, 2), (2, 2)], &[], query).await, 2);
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn other_queries_keep_the_join_plan() {
         let engine = engine(&[(1, 2), (2, 3)], &[], false).await;
diff --git a/docs/csr.md b/docs/csr.md
index e96511b..53bbace 100644
--- a/docs/csr.md
+++ b/docs/csr.md
@@ -489,7 +489,8 @@ node's neighbours without emitting a row per edge, and the planner uses that whe
   incoming times its outgoing neighbours, less the paths that would use one self-loop twice. Two hops of one
   type that share an end, `(a)-->(b)<--(c)`, or that are undirected, `(a)--(b)--(c)`, are counted from edges
   too, though not in place: the paths where `a` and `c` are the same node would use one edge twice, and finding
-  them takes grouping by both ends.
+  them takes grouping by both ends. The second hop can be an `OPTIONAL MATCH` from `b`, where a `b` with no
+  match counts once per incoming edge.
 - `RETURN m.name, count(x)` over `(x)-[:R]->(m)...` (in either direction, or undirected), when nothing else
   reads `x` or the relationship, counts
   each `m`'s `x` neighbours once and plans the rest of the pattern from `m`.
diff --git a/docs/internals/optimizer.md b/docs/internals/optimizer.md
index 7e4bf37..3e11c26 100644
--- a/docs/internals/optimizer.md
+++ b/docs/internals/optimizer.md
@@ -146,6 +146,13 @@ edges between `b` and `x` exclude `k²` pairs, as on the join path. These hops a
 far end, and then by `b`, which gives `n1(b)`, `n2(b)` and the excluded pairs `Σ k1(b, x) × k2(b, x)` in one pass
 over the edges; they don't count in place. An undirected hop's mean fan-out is the sum of both directions'.
 
+The second hop can also be an `OPTIONAL MATCH (b)-[:S]->(c)` from the first hop's `b`. It is grouped per `b` the
+same way and left-joined, and a `b` without a match contributes `n1(b)` rows, one per first-hop edge, with `c` null:
+the count is `Σ n1(b) × coalesce(n2(b), 1)`, or `coalesce(n2(b), 0)` for `count(c)`, which skips nulls. The
+optional clause's own `WHERE` filters the second hop's edges, including conditions on `b` alone, since a `b` it
+rejects still keeps its null row. The two clauses don't share the rule that a path uses each edge once, so no pairs
+are subtracted.
+
 The rewrite applies when every `WHERE` condition reads one hop's variables, and the hops' mean fan-outs at `b` (from
 the [join statistics](#join-statistics-for-graph-workloads)) say there are at least twice as many paths as edges.