diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/BaseFile.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/BaseFile.java
index 05104b4092cb..5101819dae80 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/BaseFile.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/BaseFile.java
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 import java.io.Serializable;
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -434,7 +433,7 @@ private static <K, V> Map<K, V> copy(Map<K, V> map) {
     if (map != null) {
       Map<K, V> copy = Maps.newHashMapWithExpectedSize(map.size());
       copy.putAll(map);
-      return Collections.unmodifiableMap(copy);
+      return copy;
     }
     return null;
   }