diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestTableUpdatePartitionSpec.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestTableUpdatePartitionSpec.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1530701f1006
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestTableUpdatePartitionSpec.java
@@ -0,0 +1,184 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.iceberg;
+
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.junit.runners.Parameterized;
+
+import static org.apache.iceberg.expressions.Expressions.bucket;
+import static org.apache.iceberg.expressions.Expressions.truncate;
+
+@RunWith(Parameterized.class)
+public class TestTableUpdatePartitionSpec extends TableTestBase {
+
+  @Parameterized.Parameters
+  public static Object[][] parameters() {
+    return new Object[][] {
+        new Object[] { 1 },
+        new Object[] { 2 },
+    };
+  }
+
+  public TestTableUpdatePartitionSpec(int formatVersion) {
+    super(formatVersion);
+  }
+
+  @Before
+  public void verifyInitialSpec() {
+    PartitionSpec initialSpec = PartitionSpec.builderFor(table.schema()).bucket("data", 16).build();
+    Assert.assertEquals("Should use the expected initial spec", initialSpec, table.spec());
+    Assert.assertEquals(1000, table.spec().lastAssignedFieldId());
+    Assert.assertEquals(0, table.spec().specId());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testCommitUpdatedSpec() {
+    table.updateSpec()
+        .addField(bucket("id", 8))
+        .commit();
+
+    PartitionSpec evolvedSpec = PartitionSpec.builderFor(table.schema())
+        .withSpecId(1)
+        .bucket("data", 16)
+        .bucket("id", 8, "id_bucket_8")
+        .build();
+    Assert.assertEquals("Should append a partition field to the spec", evolvedSpec, table.spec());
+    Assert.assertEquals(1001, table.spec().lastAssignedFieldId());
+
+    table.updateSpec()
+        .removeField("id_bucket_8")
+        .removeField("data_bucket")
+        .addField(truncate("data", 8))
+        .commit();
+
+    V1Assert.assertEquals("Should soft delete id and data buckets", PartitionSpec.builderFor(table.schema())
+        .withSpecId(2)
+        .alwaysNull("data", "data_bucket")
+        .alwaysNull("id", "id_bucket_8")
+        .truncate("data", 8, "data_trunc_8")
+        .build(), table.spec());
+
+    V2Assert.assertEquals("Should hard delete id and data buckets", PartitionSpec.builderFor(table.schema())
+        .withSpecId(2)
+        .add(2, 1002, "data_trunc_8", "truncate[8]")
+        .build(), table.spec());
+
+    Assert.assertEquals(1002, table.spec().lastAssignedFieldId());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testNoopCommit() {
+    TableMetadata current = table.ops().current();
+    int currentVersion = TestTables.metadataVersion("test");
+
+    // no-op commit due to no-op
+    table.updateSpec().commit();
+    TableMetadata updated = table.ops().current();
+    Integer updatedVersion = TestTables.metadataVersion("test");
+    Assert.assertEquals(current, updated);
+    currentVersion += 1;
+    Assert.assertEquals(currentVersion, updatedVersion.intValue());
+
+    // no-op commit due to no-op rename
+    table.updateSpec()
+        .renameField("data_bucket", "data_bucket")
+        .commit();
+    updated = table.ops().current();
+    updatedVersion = TestTables.metadataVersion("test");
+    Assert.assertEquals(current, updated);
+    currentVersion += 1;
+    Assert.assertEquals(currentVersion, updatedVersion.intValue());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testRenameField() {
+    table.updateSpec()
+        .renameField("data_bucket", "data_partition")
+        .addField(bucket("id", 8))
+        .commit();
+
+    PartitionSpec evolvedSpec = PartitionSpec.builderFor(table.schema())
+        .withSpecId(1)
+        .bucket("data", 16, "data_partition")
+        .bucket("id", 8, "id_bucket_8")
+        .build();
+
+    Assert.assertEquals("should match evolved spec", evolvedSpec, table.spec());
+    Assert.assertEquals(1001, table.spec().lastAssignedFieldId());
+
+    table.updateSpec()
+        .addField(truncate("id", 4))
+        .renameField("data_partition", "data_bucket")
+        .commit();
+
+    evolvedSpec = PartitionSpec.builderFor(table.schema())
+        .withSpecId(2)
+        .bucket("data", 16, "data_bucket")
+        .bucket("id", 8, "id_bucket_8")
+        .truncate("id", 4, "id_trunc_4")
+        .build();
+
+    Assert.assertEquals("should match evolved spec", evolvedSpec, table.spec());
+    Assert.assertEquals(1002, table.spec().lastAssignedFieldId());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testRemoveAndAddField() {
+    table.updateSpec()
+        .removeField("data_bucket")
+        .addField(bucket("id", 8))
+        .commit();
+
+    V1Assert.assertEquals("Should soft delete data bucket", PartitionSpec.builderFor(table.schema())
+        .withSpecId(1)
+        .alwaysNull("data", "data_bucket")
+        .bucket("id", 8, "id_bucket_8")
+        .build(), table.spec());
+
+    V2Assert.assertEquals("Should hard delete data bucket", PartitionSpec.builderFor(table.schema())
+        .withSpecId(1)
+        .add(1, 1001, "id_bucket_8", "bucket[8]")
+        .build(), table.spec());
+
+    Assert.assertEquals(1001, table.spec().lastAssignedFieldId());
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testAddAndRemoveField() {
+    table.updateSpec()
+        .addField(bucket("data", 6))
+        .removeField("data_bucket")
+        .commit();
+
+    V1Assert.assertEquals("Should remove and then add a bucket field", PartitionSpec.builderFor(table.schema())
+        .withSpecId(1)
+        .alwaysNull("data", "data_bucket")
+        .bucket("data", 6, "data_bucket_6")
+        .build(), table.spec());
+    V2Assert.assertEquals("Should remove and then add a bucket field", PartitionSpec.builderFor(table.schema())
+        .withSpecId(1)
+        .add(2, 1001, "data_bucket_6", "bucket[6]")
+        .build(), table.spec());
+    Assert.assertEquals(1001, table.spec().lastAssignedFieldId());
+  }
+}