diff --git a/aws/src/integration/java/org/apache/iceberg/aws/dynamodb/DynamoDbCatalogTest.java b/aws/src/integration/java/org/apache/iceberg/aws/dynamodb/DynamoDbCatalogTest.java
index 8d4273c1625f..9074d289b4c7 100644
--- a/aws/src/integration/java/org/apache/iceberg/aws/dynamodb/DynamoDbCatalogTest.java
+++ b/aws/src/integration/java/org/apache/iceberg/aws/dynamodb/DynamoDbCatalogTest.java
@@ -283,6 +283,18 @@ public void testConcurrentCommits() throws Exception {
     Assert.assertEquals(2, table.schema().columns().size());
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testDropNamespace() {
+    Namespace namespace = Namespace.of(genRandomName());
+    catalog.createNamespace(namespace);
+    catalog.dropNamespace(namespace);
+    GetItemResponse response = dynamo.getItem(GetItemRequest.builder()
+            .tableName(catalogTableName)
+            .key(DynamoDbCatalog.namespacePrimaryKey(namespace))
+            .build());
+    Assert.assertFalse("namespace must not exist", response.hasItem());
+  }
+
   private static String genRandomName() {
     return UUID.randomUUID().toString().replace("-", "");
   }
diff --git a/aws/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/aws/dynamodb/DynamoDbCatalog.java b/aws/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/aws/dynamodb/DynamoDbCatalog.java
index f9bef1514604..ebf4964aea85 100644
--- a/aws/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/aws/dynamodb/DynamoDbCatalog.java
+++ b/aws/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/aws/dynamodb/DynamoDbCatalog.java
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ public boolean dropNamespace(Namespace namespace) throws NamespaceNotEmptyExcept
       dynamo.deleteItem(DeleteItemRequest.builder()
           .tableName(awsProperties.dynamoDbTableName())
           .key(namespacePrimaryKey(namespace))
-          .conditionExpression("attribute_exists(" + namespace + ")")
+          .conditionExpression("attribute_exists(" + COL_NAMESPACE + ")")
           .build());
       return true;
     } catch (ConditionalCheckFailedException e) {