diff --git a/.github/release-please.yml b/.github/release-please.yml
index e9a4f00851..5cbce734a8 100644
--- a/.github/release-please.yml
+++ b/.github/release-please.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ manifest: true
 # NOTE: this section is generated by synthtool.languages.python
 # See https://github.com/googleapis/synthtool/blob/master/synthtool/languages/python.py
 branches:
+- branch: v1.54
+  handleGHRelease: true
+  releaseType: python
 - branch: v0
   handleGHRelease: true
   releaseType: python
diff --git a/google/cloud/aiplatform/telemetry.py b/google/cloud/aiplatform/telemetry.py
index efe37b4649..f0125f85d5 100644
--- a/google/cloud/aiplatform/telemetry.py
+++ b/google/cloud/aiplatform/telemetry.py
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def tool_context_manager(tool_name: str) -> None:
 
 
 def _append_tool_name(tool_name: str) -> None:
-    if _tool_names_to_append[-1] != tool_name:
+    if not _tool_names_to_append or _tool_names_to_append[-1] != tool_name:
         _tool_names_to_append.append(tool_name)