diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/jdbc/JdbcCatalog.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/jdbc/JdbcCatalog.java
index 1cce0e2ce77e..311cabf82f1c 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/jdbc/JdbcCatalog.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/jdbc/JdbcCatalog.java
@@ -162,8 +162,8 @@ private void initializeCatalogTables() {
             DatabaseMetaData dbMeta = conn.getMetaData();
             ResultSet tableExists =
                 dbMeta.getTables(
-                    null /* catalog name */,
-                    null /* schemaPattern */,
+                    conn.getCatalog() /* catalog name */,
+                    escape(conn.getSchema(), dbMeta.getSearchStringEscape()) /* schemaPattern */,
                     JdbcUtil.CATALOG_TABLE_VIEW_NAME /* tableNamePattern */,
                     null /* types */);
             if (tableExists.next()) {
@@ -181,8 +181,8 @@ private void initializeCatalogTables() {
             DatabaseMetaData dbMeta = conn.getMetaData();
             ResultSet tableExists =
                 dbMeta.getTables(
-                    null /* catalog name */,
-                    null /* schemaPattern */,
+                    conn.getCatalog() /* catalog name */,
+                    escape(conn.getSchema(), dbMeta.getSearchStringEscape()) /* schemaPattern */,
                     JdbcUtil.NAMESPACE_PROPERTIES_TABLE_NAME /* tableNamePattern */,
                     null /* types */);
 
@@ -208,6 +208,10 @@ private void initializeCatalogTables() {
     }
   }
 
+  private static String escape(String name, String escape) {
+    return name.replace("_", escape + "_").replace("%", escape + "%");
+  }
+
   private void updateSchemaIfRequired() {
     try {
       connections.run(