diff --git a/flow/connectors/snowflake/snowflake.go b/flow/connectors/snowflake/snowflake.go
index 929b840c29..846e649888 100644
--- a/flow/connectors/snowflake/snowflake.go
+++ b/flow/connectors/snowflake/snowflake.go
@@ -272,6 +272,10 @@ func (c *SnowflakeConnector) getTableSchemaForTable(tableName string) (*protos.T
 		columnTypes = append(columnTypes, string(genericColType))
 	}
 
+	if len(columnNames) == 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot load schema: table %s does not exist", tableName)
+	}
+
 	return &protos.TableSchema{
 		TableIdentifier: tableName,
 		ColumnNames:     columnNames,