diff --git a/docs/docs/how-tos/graph-api.ipynb b/docs/docs/how-tos/graph-api.ipynb
index 5c0ea0e43..85aab4b7e 100644
--- a/docs/docs/how-tos/graph-api.ipynb
+++ b/docs/docs/how-tos/graph-api.ipynb
@@ -1785,18 +1785,19 @@
   },
   {
    "cell_type": "markdown",
-   "id": "205ff836-0f97-4ee8-9830-6bd8368e48c9",
+   "id": "48731230",
    "metadata": {},
    "source": [
-    "<details class=\"example\"><summary>Extended example: unequal length branches</summary>\n",
+    "### Defer node execution\n",
     "\n",
-    "The above example showed how to fan-out and fan-in when each path was only one step. But what if one path had more than one step? Let's add a node <code>b_2</code> in the \"b\" branch:\n",
-    "<br>"
+    "Deferring node execution is useful when you want to delay the execution of a node until all other pending tasks are completed. This is particularly relevant when branches have different lengths, which is common in workflows like map-reduce flows.\n",
+    "\n",
+    "The above example showed how to fan-out and fan-in when each path was only one step. But what if one branch had more than one step? Let's add a node `\"b_2\"` in the `\"b\"` branch:"
    ]
   },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
-   "execution_count": 1,
+   "execution_count": 26,
    "id": "3890af2f-fb14-4569-b48d-a91db2d3f026",
    "metadata": {},
    "outputs": [],
@@ -1844,13 +1845,14 @@
     "builder.add_node(b)\n",
     "builder.add_node(b_2)\n",
     "builder.add_node(c)\n",
-    "builder.add_node(d)\n",
+    "# highlight-next-line\n",
+    "builder.add_node(d, defer=True)\n",
     "builder.add_edge(START, \"a\")\n",
     "builder.add_edge(\"a\", \"b\")\n",
     "builder.add_edge(\"a\", \"c\")\n",
     "builder.add_edge(\"b\", \"b_2\")\n",
-    "# highlight-next-line\n",
-    "builder.add_edge([\"b_2\", \"c\"], \"d\")\n",
+    "builder.add_edge(\"b_2\", \"d\")\n",
+    "builder.add_edge(\"c\", \"d\")\n",
     "builder.add_edge(\"d\", END)\n",
     "graph = builder.compile()"
    ]
@@ -1912,23 +1914,10 @@
   },
   {
    "cell_type": "markdown",
-   "id": "903f0da5-8c2c-4a7e-96fb-0b16b4756eff",
+   "id": "70e67ced",
    "metadata": {},
    "source": [
-    "<div class=\"admonition note\">\n",
-    "    <p class=\"admonition-title\">Note</p>\n",
-    "<p>In the above example, nodes <code>\"b\"</code> and <code>\"c\"</code> are executed concurrently in the same [superstep](../../concepts/low_level/#graphs). What happens in the next step?</p>\n",
-    "    <p>We use <code>add_edge([\"b_2\", \"c\"], \"d\")</code> here to force node <code>\"d\"</code> to only run when both nodes <code>\"b_2\"</code> and <code>\"c\"</code> have finished execution. If we added two separate edges,\n",
-    "    node <code>\"d\"</code> would run twice: after node <code>b2</code> finishes and once again after node <code>c</code> (in whichever order those nodes finish).</p>\n",
-    "</div>"
-   ]
-  },
-  {
-   "cell_type": "markdown",
-   "id": "c1653341-3215-4ca0-b0e7-9be22f0adaa1",
-   "metadata": {},
-   "source": [
-    "</details>"
+    "In the above example, nodes `\"b\"` and `\"c\"` are executed concurrently in the same superstep. We set `defer=True` on node `d` so it will not execute until all pending tasks are finished. In this case, this means that `\"d\"` waits to execute until the entire `\"b\"` branch is finished."
    ]
   },
   {
diff --git a/libs/langgraph/langgraph/graph/state.py b/libs/langgraph/langgraph/graph/state.py
index f6a29198b..2a2390b75 100644
--- a/libs/langgraph/langgraph/graph/state.py
+++ b/libs/langgraph/langgraph/graph/state.py
@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@ class StateGraph(Graph):
                 If a string is provided, it will be used as the node name, and action will be used as the function or runnable.
             action: The action associated with the node. (default: None)
                 Will be used as the node function or runnable if `node` is a string (node name).
+            defer: Whether to defer the execution of the node until the run is about to end.
             metadata: The metadata associated with the node. (default: None)
             input: The input schema for the node. (default: the graph's input schema)
             retry: The policy for retrying the node. (default: None)