diff --git a/lib/mayaUsd/render/MaterialXGenOgsXml/LobePruner.cpp b/lib/mayaUsd/render/MaterialXGenOgsXml/LobePruner.cpp
index dc1e5aef7..927d704a7 100644
--- a/lib/mayaUsd/render/MaterialXGenOgsXml/LobePruner.cpp
+++ b/lib/mayaUsd/render/MaterialXGenOgsXml/LobePruner.cpp
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ class LobePrunerImpl
     LobePrunerImpl(LobePrunerImpl&&) = delete;
     LobePrunerImpl& operator=(LobePrunerImpl&&) = delete;
 
-    bool getOptimizedNodeDef(const mx::Node& node, mx::NodeDefPtr& nodeDef);
+    mx::NodeDefPtr getOptimizedNodeDef(const mx::Node& node);
 
     mx::StringVec getOptimizedAttributeNames(const mx::NodeDefPtr& nodeDef) const;
 
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ class LobePrunerImpl
         const mx::NodeGraphPtr& ng,
         const mx::NodeDefPtr&   nd);
     mx::NodeDefPtr
-         ensureLibraryHasOptimizedShader(const PXR_NS::TfToken& nodeDefName, const std::string& flags);
+         getOrAddOptimizedNodeDef(const PXR_NS::TfToken& nodeDefName, const std::string& flags);
     void optimizeZeroValue(
         mx::NodeGraphPtr&          optimizedNodeGraph,
         const OptimizableValueMap& optimizationMap,
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ void LobePrunerImpl::optimizeLibrary(const MaterialX::DocumentPtr& library)
             }
 
             if (canOptimize) {
-                const auto optimizedNodeDef = ensureLibraryHasOptimizedShader(ndName, flags);
+                const auto optimizedNodeDef = getOrAddOptimizedNodeDef(ndName, flags);
                 // Replace the node with an optimized one:
                 const auto nsPrefix = optimizedNodeDef->hasNamespace()
                     ? optimizedNodeDef->getNamespace() + ":"
@@ -331,17 +331,17 @@ void LobePrunerImpl::addOptimizableValue(
     valueMap.find(value)->second.push_back(PXR_NS::TfToken(input->getParent()->getName()));
 }
 
-bool LobePrunerImpl::getOptimizedNodeDef(const mx::Node& node, mx::NodeDefPtr& nodeDef)
+mx::NodeDefPtr LobePrunerImpl::getOptimizedNodeDef(const mx::Node& node)
 {
     const auto& nd = node.getNodeDef();
     if (!nd) {
-        return false;
+        return {};
     }
 
     const auto ndName = PXR_NS::TfToken(nd->getName());
     const auto ndIt = _prunerData.find(ndName);
     if (ndIt == _prunerData.end()) {
-        return false;
+        return {};
     }
 
     std::string flags(ndIt->second._attributeData.size(), 'x');
@@ -377,11 +377,10 @@ bool LobePrunerImpl::getOptimizedNodeDef(const mx::Node& node, mx::NodeDefPtr& n
     }
 
     if (canOptimize) {
-        nodeDef = ensureLibraryHasOptimizedShader(ndName, flags);
-        return true;
+        return getOrAddOptimizedNodeDef(ndName, flags);
     }
 
-    return false;
+    return {};
 }
 
 mx::StringVec LobePrunerImpl::getOptimizedAttributeNames(const mx::NodeDefPtr& nodeDef) const
@@ -444,7 +443,7 @@ PXR_NS::TfToken LobePrunerImpl::getOptimizedNodeId(const PXR_NS::HdMaterialNode2
     }
 
     if (canOptimize) {
-        return PXR_NS::TfToken(ensureLibraryHasOptimizedShader(node.nodeTypeId, flags)->getName());
+        return PXR_NS::TfToken(getOrAddOptimizedNodeDef(node.nodeTypeId, flags)->getName());
     }
 
     return retVal;
@@ -455,7 +454,7 @@ bool LobePrunerImpl::isOptimizedNodeId(const PXR_NS::TfToken& nodeId)
     return _optimizedNodeIds.count(nodeId) != 0;
 }
 
-mx::NodeDefPtr LobePrunerImpl::ensureLibraryHasOptimizedShader(
+mx::NodeDefPtr LobePrunerImpl::getOrAddOptimizedNodeDef(
     const PXR_NS::TfToken& nodeDefName,
     const std::string&     flags)
 {
@@ -671,9 +670,9 @@ void LobePruner::optimizeLibrary(const MaterialX::DocumentPtr& library)
     }
 }
 
-bool LobePruner::getOptimizedNodeDef(const mx::Node& node, mx::NodeDefPtr& nodeDef)
+mx::NodeDefPtr LobePruner::getOptimizedNodeDef(const mx::Node& node)
 {
-    return _impl ? _impl->getOptimizedNodeDef(node, nodeDef) : false;
+    return _impl ? _impl->getOptimizedNodeDef(node) : mx::NodeDefPtr {};
 }
 
 mx::StringVec LobePruner::getOptimizedAttributeNames(const mx::NodeDefPtr& nodeDef) const
diff --git a/lib/mayaUsd/render/MaterialXGenOgsXml/LobePruner.h b/lib/mayaUsd/render/MaterialXGenOgsXml/LobePruner.h
index 777777855..418fbd33c 100644
--- a/lib/mayaUsd/render/MaterialXGenOgsXml/LobePruner.h
+++ b/lib/mayaUsd/render/MaterialXGenOgsXml/LobePruner.h
@@ -63,10 +63,9 @@ class MAYAUSD_CORE_PUBLIC LobePruner
     /*! Checks if a node is optimizable and if this is the case, create the optimized NodeDef and
      * NodeGraph in the library and return the optimized NodeDef.
      * @param[in] node is a node we want to optimize. All nodes are welcome.
-     * @param[out] nodeDef is the NodeDef of the optimized node.
-     *  \return true if an optimization was found
+     *  \return the optimized NodeDef if one was found, nullptr otherwise
      */
-    bool getOptimizedNodeDef(const mx::Node& node, mx::NodeDefPtr& nodeDef);
+    mx::NodeDefPtr getOptimizedNodeDef(const mx::Node& node);
 
     /*! Get the list of attribute names that are optimization targets for a specific NodeDef.
      * @param[in] nodeDef is preferably node definition that has previously been optimized, but all
diff --git a/lib/mayaUsd/render/MaterialXGenOgsXml/ShaderGenUtil.cpp b/lib/mayaUsd/render/MaterialXGenOgsXml/ShaderGenUtil.cpp
index 2a8ff3880..a01141321 100644
--- a/lib/mayaUsd/render/MaterialXGenOgsXml/ShaderGenUtil.cpp
+++ b/lib/mayaUsd/render/MaterialXGenOgsXml/ShaderGenUtil.cpp
@@ -233,8 +233,9 @@ mx::NodePtr TopoNeutralGraph::cloneNode(const mx::Node& node, mx::GraphElement&
     if (!nodeDef) {
         throw mx::Exception("Ambiguous node is not fully resolvable");
     }
-    mx::NodeDefPtr optimizedNodeDef;
-    if (_lobePruner && _lobePruner->getOptimizedNodeDef(node, optimizedNodeDef)) {
+    auto optimizedNodeDef
+        = _lobePruner ? _lobePruner->getOptimizedNodeDef(node) : mx::NodeDefPtr {};
+    if (optimizedNodeDef) {
         const auto nsPrefix = optimizedNodeDef->hasNamespace()
             ? optimizedNodeDef->getNamespace() + ":"
             : std::string {};
diff --git a/test/lib/mayaUsd/utils/test_ShaderGenUtils.cpp b/test/lib/mayaUsd/utils/test_ShaderGenUtils.cpp
index c60799cd0..d6929363b 100644
--- a/test/lib/mayaUsd/utils/test_ShaderGenUtils.cpp
+++ b/test/lib/mayaUsd/utils/test_ShaderGenUtils.cpp
@@ -179,15 +179,16 @@ TEST(ShaderGenUtils, lobePruner)
 
     const auto node = doc->addNode("standard_surface", "bob", "surfaceshader");
 
-    mx::NodeDefPtr optimizedNodeDef;
-    ASSERT_TRUE(lobePruner->getOptimizedNodeDef(*node, optimizedNodeDef));
+    auto optimizedNodeDef = lobePruner->getOptimizedNodeDef(*node);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(optimizedNodeDef);
     // An x means can not optimize on that attribute
     // A 0 means we optimized due to this value being zero
     ASSERT_EQ(optimizedNodeDef->getNodeString(), "standard_surface_x0000x00x000");
 
     auto input = node->addInputFromNodeDef("subsurface");
     input->setValueString("1.0");
-    ASSERT_TRUE(lobePruner->getOptimizedNodeDef(*node, optimizedNodeDef));
+    optimizedNodeDef = lobePruner->getOptimizedNodeDef(*node);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(optimizedNodeDef);
     // Now have a 1 for subsurface since we can also optimize the 1 value for mix nodes.
     ASSERT_EQ(optimizedNodeDef->getNodeString(), "standard_surface_x0000x00x010");