diff --git a/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/lamb.py b/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/lamb.py
index d3f9abbd75..b166657251 100644
--- a/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/lamb.py
+++ b/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/lamb.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 76 minutes](https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.00962).
 """
 
-import re
 import warnings
 
 from typing import Optional, Union, Callable, List
@@ -26,6 +25,7 @@
 
 import tensorflow as tf
 from tensorflow_addons.utils.types import FloatTensorLike
+from tensorflow_addons.optimizers.utils import is_variable_matched_by_regexes
 
 
 @tf.keras.utils.register_keras_serializable(package="Addons")
@@ -163,12 +163,11 @@ def _resource_apply_dense(self, grad, var, apply_state=None):
         v_sqrt = tf.sqrt(v_t_hat)
         update = m_t_hat / (v_sqrt + coefficients["epsilon"])
 
-        var_name = self._get_variable_name(var.name)
-        if self._do_use_weight_decay(var_name):
+        if self._do_use_weight_decay(var):
             update += coefficients["weight_decay"] * var
 
         ratio = 1.0
-        if self._do_layer_adaptation(var_name):
+        if self._do_layer_adaptation(var):
             w_norm = tf.norm(var, ord=2)
             g_norm = tf.norm(update, ord=2)
             ratio = tf.where(
@@ -206,12 +205,11 @@ def _resource_apply_sparse(self, grad, var, indices, apply_state=None):
         v_sqrt = tf.sqrt(v_t_hat)
         update = m_t_hat / (v_sqrt + coefficients["epsilon"])
 
-        var_name = self._get_variable_name(var.name)
-        if self._do_use_weight_decay(var_name):
+        if self._do_use_weight_decay(var):
             update += coefficients["weight_decay"] * var
 
         ratio = 1.0
-        if self._do_layer_adaptation(var_name):
+        if self._do_layer_adaptation(var):
             w_norm = tf.norm(var, ord=2)
             g_norm = tf.norm(update, ord=2)
             ratio = tf.where(
@@ -241,26 +239,15 @@ def get_config(self):
         )
         return config
 
-    def _do_use_weight_decay(self, param_name):
+    def _do_use_weight_decay(self, variable):
         """Whether to use L2 weight decay for `param_name`."""
-        if self.exclude_from_weight_decay:
-            for r in self.exclude_from_weight_decay:
-                if re.search(r, param_name) is not None:
-                    return False
-        return True
+        return not is_variable_matched_by_regexes(
+            variable, self.exclude_from_weight_decay
+        )
 
-    def _do_layer_adaptation(self, param_name):
+    def _do_layer_adaptation(self, variable):
         """Whether to do layer-wise learning rate adaptation for
         `param_name`."""
-        if self.exclude_from_layer_adaptation:
-            for r in self.exclude_from_layer_adaptation:
-                if re.search(r, param_name) is not None:
-                    return False
-        return True
-
-    def _get_variable_name(self, param_name):
-        """Get the variable name from the tensor name."""
-        m = re.match("^(.*):\\d+$", param_name)
-        if m is not None:
-            param_name = m.group(1)
-        return param_name
+        return not is_variable_matched_by_regexes(
+            variable, self.exclude_from_layer_adaptation
+        )
diff --git a/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/tests/lamb_test.py b/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/tests/lamb_test.py
index 631aed99a5..e80f7e4ae6 100644
--- a/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/tests/lamb_test.py
+++ b/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/tests/lamb_test.py
@@ -335,20 +335,22 @@ def test_get_config():
 
 def test_exclude_weight_decay():
     opt = lamb.LAMB(0.01, weight_decay=0.01, exclude_from_weight_decay=["var1"])
-    assert opt._do_use_weight_decay("var0")
-    assert not opt._do_use_weight_decay("var1")
-    assert not opt._do_use_weight_decay("var1_weight")
+    assert opt._do_use_weight_decay(tf.Variable([], name="var0"))
+    assert not opt._do_use_weight_decay(tf.Variable([], name="var1"))
+    assert not opt._do_use_weight_decay(tf.Variable([], name="var1_weight"))
 
 
 def test_exclude_layer_adaptation():
     opt = lamb.LAMB(0.01, exclude_from_layer_adaptation=["var1"])
-    assert opt._do_layer_adaptation("var0")
-    assert not opt._do_layer_adaptation("var1")
-    assert not opt._do_layer_adaptation("var1_weight")
+    assert opt._do_layer_adaptation(tf.Variable([], name="var0"))
+    assert not opt._do_layer_adaptation(tf.Variable([], name="var1"))
+    assert not opt._do_layer_adaptation(tf.Variable([], name="var1_weight"))
 
 
 def test_serialization():
-    optimizer = lamb.LAMB(1e-4)
+    optimizer = lamb.LAMB(
+        1e-4, weight_decay_rate=0.01, exclude_from_weight_decay=["var1"]
+    )
     config = tf.keras.optimizers.serialize(optimizer)
     new_optimizer = tf.keras.optimizers.deserialize(config)
     assert new_optimizer.get_config() == optimizer.get_config()
diff --git a/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/tests/weight_decay_optimizers_test.py b/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/tests/weight_decay_optimizers_test.py
index 6a832585c7..d9ac1fe0f1 100644
--- a/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/tests/weight_decay_optimizers_test.py
+++ b/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/tests/weight_decay_optimizers_test.py
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ def do_test(
     opt = optimizer(**optimizer_kwargs)
     # Create the update op.
     # Run 3 steps of the optimizer
+    optimizer_kwargs.pop("exclude_from_weight_decay", None)
     for _ in range(3):
         if do_decay_var_list:
             opt.apply_gradients(
@@ -241,6 +242,31 @@ def test_basic_decay_var_list_adamw(dtype):
     )
 
 
+def test_exclude_weight_decay_adamw():
+    optimizer = weight_decay_optimizers.AdamW(
+        learning_rate=1e-4, weight_decay=1e-4, exclude_from_weight_decay=["var1"]
+    )
+    assert optimizer._do_use_weight_decay(tf.Variable([], name="var0"))
+    assert not optimizer._do_use_weight_decay(tf.Variable([], name="var1"))
+    assert not optimizer._do_use_weight_decay(tf.Variable([], name="var1_weight"))
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("dtype", [(tf.half, 0), (tf.float32, 1), (tf.float64, 2)])
+def test_var_list_with_exclude_list_adamw(dtype):
+    do_test(
+        dtype,
+        weight_decay_optimizers.AdamW,
+        adamw_update_numpy,
+        do_decay_var_list=True,
+        learning_rate=0.001,
+        beta_1=0.9,
+        beta_2=0.999,
+        epsilon=1e-8,
+        weight_decay=WEIGHT_DECAY,
+        exclude_from_weight_decay=["var0_*", "var1_*"],
+    )
+
+
 def test_keras_fit():
     """Check if calling model.fit works."""
     model = tf.keras.models.Sequential([tf.keras.layers.Dense(2)])
@@ -341,6 +367,30 @@ def test_basic_decay_var_list_sgdw(dtype):
     )
 
 
+def test_exclude_weight_decay_sgdw():
+    optimizer = weight_decay_optimizers.SGDW(
+        learning_rate=0.01, weight_decay=1e-4, exclude_from_weight_decay=["var1"]
+    )
+    assert optimizer._do_use_weight_decay(tf.Variable([], name="var0"))
+    assert not optimizer._do_use_weight_decay(tf.Variable([], name="var1"))
+    assert not optimizer._do_use_weight_decay(tf.Variable([], name="var1_weight"))
+
+
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures("maybe_run_functions_eagerly")
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("dtype", [(tf.half, 0), (tf.float32, 1), (tf.float64, 2)])
+def test_var_list_with_exclude_list_sgdw(dtype):
+    do_test(
+        dtype,
+        weight_decay_optimizers.SGDW,
+        sgdw_update_numpy,
+        do_decay_var_list=True,
+        learning_rate=0.001,
+        momentum=0.9,
+        weight_decay=WEIGHT_DECAY,
+        exclude_from_weight_decay=["var0_*", "var1_*"],
+    )
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "optimizer",
     [
@@ -379,7 +429,9 @@ def test_optimizer_sparse(dtype, optimizer):
 
 
 def test_serialization():
-    optimizer = weight_decay_optimizers.AdamW(learning_rate=1e-4, weight_decay=1e-4)
+    optimizer = weight_decay_optimizers.AdamW(
+        learning_rate=1e-4, weight_decay=1e-4, exclude_from_weight_decay=["var1"]
+    )
     config = tf.keras.optimizers.serialize(optimizer)
     new_optimizer = tf.keras.optimizers.deserialize(config)
     assert new_optimizer.get_config() == optimizer.get_config()
diff --git a/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/utils.py b/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/utils.py
index af365edbff..91d0d92b1e 100644
--- a/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/utils.py
+++ b/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/utils.py
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@
 # ==============================================================================
 """Additional Utilities used for tfa.optimizers."""
 
+import re
 import tensorflow as tf
+from typing import List
 
 
 def fit_bn(model, *args, **kwargs):
@@ -51,3 +53,23 @@ def fit_bn(model, *args, **kwargs):
 
     model.trainable = _trainable
     model._metrics = _metrics
+
+
+def get_variable_name(variable) -> str:
+    """Get the variable name from the variable tensor."""
+    param_name = variable.name
+    m = re.match("^(.*):\\d+$", param_name)
+    if m is not None:
+        param_name = m.group(1)
+    return param_name
+
+
+def is_variable_matched_by_regexes(variable, regexes: List[str]) -> bool:
+    """Whether variable is matched in regexes list by its name."""
+    if regexes:
+        # var_name = get_variable_name(variable)
+        var_name = variable.name
+        for r in regexes:
+            if re.search(r, var_name):
+                return True
+    return False
diff --git a/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/weight_decay_optimizers.py b/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/weight_decay_optimizers.py
index bf26d03bfd..3d882b0169 100644
--- a/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/weight_decay_optimizers.py
+++ b/tensorflow_addons/optimizers/weight_decay_optimizers.py
@@ -16,9 +16,10 @@
 
 import tensorflow as tf
 from tensorflow_addons.utils.types import FloatTensorLike
+from tensorflow_addons.optimizers.utils import is_variable_matched_by_regexes
 
 from typeguard import typechecked
-from typing import Union, Callable, Type
+from typing import Union, Callable, Type, Optional, List
 
 
 class DecoupledWeightDecayExtension:
@@ -71,13 +72,23 @@ def __init__(self, weight_decay, *args, **kwargs):
     """
 
     @typechecked
-    def __init__(self, weight_decay: Union[FloatTensorLike, Callable], **kwargs):
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        weight_decay: Union[FloatTensorLike, Callable],
+        exclude_from_weight_decay: Optional[List[str]] = None,
+        **kwargs,
+    ):
         """Extension class that adds weight decay to an optimizer.
 
         Args:
             weight_decay: A `Tensor`, a floating point value, or a schedule
                 that is a `tf.keras.optimizers.schedules.LearningRateSchedule`
                 to decay the variable by, in the update step.
+            exclude_from_weight_decay: List of regex patterns of
+              variables excluded from weight decay. Variables whose name
+              contain a substring matching the pattern will be excluded.
+              Note `decay_var_list` in `minimize` or `apply_gradients` takes
+              priority over `exclude_from_weight_decay` if specified.
             **kwargs: Optional list or tuple or set of `Variable` objects to
                 decay.
         """
@@ -85,10 +96,16 @@ def __init__(self, weight_decay: Union[FloatTensorLike, Callable], **kwargs):
         super().__init__(**kwargs)
         self._decay_var_list = None  # is set in minimize or apply_gradients
         self._set_hyper("weight_decay", wd)
+        self.exclude_from_weight_decay = exclude_from_weight_decay
 
     def get_config(self):
         config = super().get_config()
-        config.update({"weight_decay": self._serialize_hyperparameter("weight_decay")})
+        config.update(
+            {
+                "weight_decay": self._serialize_hyperparameter("weight_decay"),
+                "exclude_from_weight_decay": self.exclude_from_weight_decay,
+            }
+        )
         return config
 
     @classmethod
@@ -130,7 +147,8 @@ def minimize(
             grad_loss: Optional. A `Tensor` holding the gradient computed for
                 `loss`.
             decay_var_list: Optional list of variables to be decayed. Defaults
-                to all variables in var_list.
+                to all variables in var_list. Note `decay_var_list` takes
+                priority over `exclude_from_weight_decay` if specified.
             name: Optional name for the returned operation.
             tape: (Optional) `tf.GradientTape`. If `loss` is provided as a
                 `Tensor`, the tape that computed the `loss` must be provided.
@@ -154,10 +172,11 @@ def apply_gradients(self, grads_and_vars, name=None, decay_var_list=None, **kwar
 
         Args:
             grads_and_vars: List of (gradient, variable) pairs.
-            name: Optional name for the returned operation.  Default to the
+            name: Optional name for the returned operation. Default to the
                 name passed to the `Optimizer` constructor.
             decay_var_list: Optional list of variables to be decayed. Defaults
-                to all variables in var_list.
+                to all variables in var_list. Note `decay_var_list` takes
+                priority over `exclude_from_weight_decay` if specified.
             **kwargs: Additional arguments to pass to the base optimizer's
                 apply_gradient method, e.g., TF2.2 added an argument
                 `experimental_aggregate_gradients`.
@@ -173,7 +192,7 @@ def apply_gradients(self, grads_and_vars, name=None, decay_var_list=None, **kwar
         return super().apply_gradients(grads_and_vars, name=name, **kwargs)
 
     def _decay_weights_op(self, var, apply_state=None):
-        if not self._decay_var_list or var.ref() in self._decay_var_list:
+        if self._do_use_weight_decay(var):
             var_device, var_dtype = var.device, var.dtype.base_dtype
             coefficients = (apply_state or {}).get(
                 (var_device, var_dtype)
@@ -183,7 +202,7 @@ def _decay_weights_op(self, var, apply_state=None):
         return tf.no_op()
 
     def _decay_weights_sparse_op(self, var, indices, apply_state=None):
-        if not self._decay_var_list or var.ref() in self._decay_var_list:
+        if self._do_use_weight_decay(var):
             var_device, var_dtype = var.device, var.dtype.base_dtype
             coefficients = (apply_state or {}).get(
                 (var_device, var_dtype)
@@ -226,6 +245,12 @@ def _resource_apply_sparse(self, grad, var, indices, apply_state=None):
                 grad, var, indices, apply_state=apply_state
             )
 
+    def _do_use_weight_decay(self, var):
+        """Whether to use L2 weight decay for `var`."""
+        if self._decay_var_list and var.ref() in self._decay_var_list:
+            return True
+        return not is_variable_matched_by_regexes(var, self.exclude_from_weight_decay)
+
 
 @typechecked
 def extend_with_decoupled_weight_decay(
@@ -243,9 +268,13 @@ def extend_with_decoupled_weight_decay(
     The API of the new optimizer class slightly differs from the API of the
     base optimizer:
     - The first argument to the constructor is the weight decay rate.
+    - Optional keyword argument `exclude_from_weight_decay` accepts list of
+      regex patterns of variables excluded from weight decay. Variables whose
+      name contain a substring matching the pattern will be excluded.
     - `minimize` and `apply_gradients` accept the optional keyword argument
       `decay_var_list`, which specifies the variables that should be decayed.
-      If `None`, all variables that are optimized are decayed.
+      Note this takes priority over `exclude_from_weight_decay` if specified.
+      If both `None`, all variables that are optimized are decayed.
 
     Usage example:
     ```python
@@ -376,12 +405,14 @@ def __init__(
             nesterov: boolean. Whether to apply Nesterov momentum.
             name: Optional name prefix for the operations created when applying
                 gradients.  Defaults to 'SGD'.
-            **kwargs: keyword arguments. Allowed to be {`clipnorm`,
-                `clipvalue`, `lr`, `decay`}. `clipnorm` is clip gradients by
-                norm; `clipvalue` is clip gradients by value, `decay` is
-                included for backward compatibility to allow time inverse decay
-                of learning rate. `lr` is included for backward compatibility,
-                recommended to use `learning_rate` instead.
+            **kwargs: keyword arguments. Allowed to be {`clipnorm`, `clipvalue`,
+                `lr`, `decay`, `exclude_from_weight_decay`}. `clipnorm` is clip
+                gradients by norm; `clipvalue` is clip gradients by value.
+                `decay` is included for backward compatibility to allow time
+                inverse decay of learning rate. `lr` is included for backward
+                compatibility, recommended to use `learning_rate` instead.
+                `exclude_from_weight_decay` accepts list of regex patterns of
+                variables excluded from weight decay.
         """
         super().__init__(
             weight_decay,
@@ -466,12 +497,14 @@ def __init__(
                 beyond".
             name: Optional name for the operations created when applying
                 gradients. Defaults to "AdamW".
-            **kwargs: keyword arguments. Allowed to be {`clipnorm`,
-                `clipvalue`, `lr`, `decay`}. `clipnorm` is clip gradients by
-                norm; `clipvalue` is clip gradients by value, `decay` is
-                included for backward compatibility to allow time inverse decay
-                of learning rate. `lr` is included for backward compatibility,
-                recommended to use `learning_rate` instead.
+            **kwargs: keyword arguments. Allowed to be {`clipnorm`, `clipvalue`,
+                `lr`, `decay`, `exclude_from_weight_decay`}. `clipnorm` is clip
+                gradients by norm; `clipvalue` is clip gradients by value.
+                `decay` is included for backward compatibility to allow time
+                inverse decay of learning rate. `lr` is included for backward
+                compatibility, recommended to use `learning_rate` instead.
+                `exclude_from_weight_decay` accepts list of regex patterns of
+                variables excluded from weight decay.
         """
         super().__init__(
             weight_decay,