diff --git a/internal/metadata/repository.go b/internal/metadata/repository.go
index 2d31796a8..8a0e460a2 100644
--- a/internal/metadata/repository.go
+++ b/internal/metadata/repository.go
@@ -630,8 +630,9 @@ func (r *Repository) AddTable(ctx context.Context, tx *sql.Tx, table *Table) err
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (r *Repository) UpdateTable(ctx context.Context, tx *sql.Tx, table *Table) error {
-	metadata, err := json.Marshal(table.metadata)
+func (r *Repository) UpdateTable(ctx context.Context, tx *sql.Tx, table *Table, metadata map[string]interface{}) error {
+	marshalledMetadata, err := json.Marshal(metadata)
+
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -640,7 +641,7 @@ func (r *Repository) UpdateTable(ctx context.Context, tx *sql.Tx, table *Table)
 		sql.Named("id", table.ID),
 		sql.Named("projectID", table.ProjectID),
 		sql.Named("datasetID", table.DatasetID),
-		sql.Named("metadata", string(metadata)),
+		sql.Named("metadata", string(marshalledMetadata)),
 	); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/internal/metadata/table.go b/internal/metadata/table.go
index 49bce89f8..cbe38f2cb 100644
--- a/internal/metadata/table.go
+++ b/internal/metadata/table.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"database/sql"
 	"fmt"
+	"maps"
 
 	"github.com/goccy/go-json"
 	bigqueryv2 "google.golang.org/api/bigquery/v2"
@@ -18,7 +19,17 @@ type Table struct {
 }
 
 func (t *Table) Update(ctx context.Context, tx *sql.Tx, metadata map[string]interface{}) error {
-	return t.repo.UpdateTable(ctx, tx, t)
+	mergedMetadata := map[string]interface{}{}
+	maps.Copy(mergedMetadata, t.metadata)
+	for key, value := range metadata {
+		mergedMetadata[key] = value
+	}
+
+	err := t.repo.UpdateTable(ctx, tx, t, mergedMetadata)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.metadata = mergedMetadata
+	}
+	return err
 }
 
 func (t *Table) Insert(ctx context.Context, tx *sql.Tx) error {
diff --git a/server/handler.go b/server/handler.go
index 866b6600a..003c5b033 100644
--- a/server/handler.go
+++ b/server/handler.go
@@ -2689,43 +2689,42 @@ func (h *tablesPatchHandler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	project := projectFromContext(ctx)
 	dataset := datasetFromContext(ctx)
 	table := tableFromContext(ctx)
-	var newTable bigqueryv2.Table
+	var newTable map[string]interface{}
 	if err := json.NewDecoder(r.Body).Decode(&newTable); err != nil {
 		errorResponse(ctx, w, errInvalid(err.Error()))
 		return
 	}
+
+	if _, found := newTable["schema"]; found {
+		errorResponse(ctx, w, errInvalid("schema updates unsupported"))
+		return
+	}
+
 	res, err := h.Handle(ctx, &tablesPatchRequest{
-		server:   server,
-		project:  project,
-		dataset:  dataset,
-		table:    table,
-		newTable: &newTable,
+		server:           server,
+		project:          project,
+		dataset:          dataset,
+		table:            table,
+		newTableMetadata: newTable,
 	})
+
 	if err != nil {
 		errorResponse(ctx, w, errInternalError(err.Error()))
 		return
 	}
 	encodeResponse(ctx, w, res)
+
 }
 
 type tablesPatchRequest struct {
-	server   *Server
-	project  *metadata.Project
-	dataset  *metadata.Dataset
-	table    *metadata.Table
-	newTable *bigqueryv2.Table
+	server           *Server
+	project          *metadata.Project
+	dataset          *metadata.Dataset
+	table            *metadata.Table
+	newTableMetadata map[string]interface{}
 }
 
 func (h *tablesPatchHandler) Handle(ctx context.Context, r *tablesPatchRequest) (*bigqueryv2.Table, error) {
-	encodedTableData, err := json.Marshal(r.newTable)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	var tableMetadata map[string]interface{}
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(encodedTableData, &tableMetadata); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
 	conn, err := r.server.connMgr.Connection(ctx, r.project.ID, r.dataset.ID)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -2735,13 +2734,17 @@ func (h *tablesPatchHandler) Handle(ctx context.Context, r *tablesPatchRequest)
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	defer tx.RollbackIfNotCommitted()
-	if err := r.table.Update(ctx, tx.Tx(), tableMetadata); err != nil {
+	if err := r.table.Update(ctx, tx.Tx(), r.newTableMetadata); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	if err := tx.Commit(); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	return r.newTable, nil
+	table, err := r.table.Content()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return table, nil
 }
 
 func (h *tablesSetIamPolicyHandler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
diff --git a/server/server_test.go b/server/server_test.go
index 8eeaa4c2c..934dc1eaa 100644
--- a/server/server_test.go
+++ b/server/server_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"net/url"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -2581,3 +2582,66 @@ func TestInformationSchema(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 
 }
+
+func TestPatchTable(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+
+	const (
+		projectName = "test"
+	)
+
+	bqServer, err := server.New(server.TempStorage)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := bqServer.SetProject(projectName); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if err := bqServer.Load(server.YAMLSource(filepath.Join("testdata", "data.yaml"))); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	testServer := bqServer.TestServer()
+	defer func() {
+		testServer.Close()
+		bqServer.Stop(ctx)
+	}()
+
+	client, err := bigquery.NewClient(
+		ctx,
+		projectName,
+		option.WithEndpoint(testServer.URL),
+		option.WithoutAuthentication(),
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer client.Close()
+	description := "new description!"
+	metadata, err := client.Dataset("dataset1").Table("table_a").Update(
+		ctx,
+		bigquery.TableMetadataToUpdate{
+			Description: description,
+		},
+		"",
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	if metadata.Description != description {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected updated description; got [%s]", metadata.Description)
+	}
+
+	metadata, err = client.Dataset("dataset1").Table("table_a").Update(
+		ctx,
+		bigquery.TableMetadataToUpdate{
+			Schema: bigquery.Schema{
+				{Name: "test_col", Type: bigquery.StringFieldType},
+			},
+		},
+		"",
+	)
+	if err == nil || !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "schema updates unsupported") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected unsupported schema update error; got [%s]", err)
+	}
+}