diff --git a/mr/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/mr/Catalogs.java b/mr/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/mr/Catalogs.java
index e02a07038f92..0bf04731124b 100644
--- a/mr/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/mr/Catalogs.java
+++ b/mr/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/mr/Catalogs.java
@@ -206,7 +206,11 @@ public static boolean hiveCatalog(Configuration conf, Properties props) {
     if (catalogType != null) {
       return CatalogUtil.ICEBERG_CATALOG_TYPE_HIVE.equalsIgnoreCase(catalogType);
     }
-    return CatalogUtil.ICEBERG_CATALOG_TYPE_HIVE.equalsIgnoreCase(getCatalogType(conf, ICEBERG_DEFAULT_CATALOG_NAME));
+    catalogType = getCatalogType(conf, ICEBERG_DEFAULT_CATALOG_NAME);
+    if (catalogType != null) {
+      return CatalogUtil.ICEBERG_CATALOG_TYPE_HIVE.equalsIgnoreCase(catalogType);
+    }
+    return getCatalogProperties(conf, catalogName, catalogType).get(CatalogProperties.CATALOG_IMPL) == null;
   }
 
   @VisibleForTesting
diff --git a/mr/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/mr/TestCatalogs.java b/mr/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/mr/TestCatalogs.java
index 6ac9808e87f8..4d4a87f03c54 100644
--- a/mr/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/mr/TestCatalogs.java
+++ b/mr/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/mr/TestCatalogs.java
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ public void testLegacyLoadCatalogDefault() {
     Optional<Catalog> defaultCatalog = Catalogs.loadCatalog(conf, null);
     Assert.assertTrue(defaultCatalog.isPresent());
     Assertions.assertThat(defaultCatalog.get()).isInstanceOf(HiveCatalog.class);
+    Assert.assertTrue(Catalogs.hiveCatalog(conf, new Properties()));
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -205,6 +206,7 @@ public void testLegacyLoadCatalogHive() {
     Optional<Catalog> hiveCatalog = Catalogs.loadCatalog(conf, null);
     Assert.assertTrue(hiveCatalog.isPresent());
     Assertions.assertThat(hiveCatalog.get()).isInstanceOf(HiveCatalog.class);
+    Assert.assertTrue(Catalogs.hiveCatalog(conf, new Properties()));
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -214,6 +216,7 @@ public void testLegacyLoadCatalogHadoop() {
     Optional<Catalog> hadoopCatalog = Catalogs.loadCatalog(conf, null);
     Assert.assertTrue(hadoopCatalog.isPresent());
     Assertions.assertThat(hadoopCatalog.get()).isInstanceOf(HadoopCatalog.class);
+    Assert.assertFalse(Catalogs.hiveCatalog(conf, new Properties()));
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -223,12 +226,14 @@ public void testLegacyLoadCatalogCustom() {
     Optional<Catalog> customHadoopCatalog = Catalogs.loadCatalog(conf, null);
     Assert.assertTrue(customHadoopCatalog.isPresent());
     Assertions.assertThat(customHadoopCatalog.get()).isInstanceOf(CustomHadoopCatalog.class);
+    Assert.assertFalse(Catalogs.hiveCatalog(conf, new Properties()));
   }
 
   @Test
   public void testLegacyLoadCatalogLocation() {
     conf.set(InputFormatConfig.CATALOG, Catalogs.LOCATION);
     Assert.assertFalse(Catalogs.loadCatalog(conf, null).isPresent());
+    Assert.assertFalse(Catalogs.hiveCatalog(conf, new Properties()));
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -241,9 +246,13 @@ public void testLegacyLoadCatalogUnknown() {
 
   @Test
   public void testLoadCatalogDefault() {
-    Optional<Catalog> defaultCatalog = Catalogs.loadCatalog(conf, "barCatalog");
+    String catalogName = "barCatalog";
+    Optional<Catalog> defaultCatalog = Catalogs.loadCatalog(conf, catalogName);
     Assert.assertTrue(defaultCatalog.isPresent());
     Assertions.assertThat(defaultCatalog.get()).isInstanceOf(HiveCatalog.class);
+    Properties properties = new Properties();
+    properties.put(InputFormatConfig.CATALOG_NAME, catalogName);
+    Assert.assertTrue(Catalogs.hiveCatalog(conf, properties));
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -254,6 +263,9 @@ public void testLoadCatalogHive() {
     Optional<Catalog> hiveCatalog = Catalogs.loadCatalog(conf, catalogName);
     Assert.assertTrue(hiveCatalog.isPresent());
     Assertions.assertThat(hiveCatalog.get()).isInstanceOf(HiveCatalog.class);
+    Properties properties = new Properties();
+    properties.put(InputFormatConfig.CATALOG_NAME, catalogName);
+    Assert.assertTrue(Catalogs.hiveCatalog(conf, properties));
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -278,6 +290,9 @@ public void testLoadCatalogHadoop() {
     Assert.assertTrue(hadoopCatalog.isPresent());
     Assertions.assertThat(hadoopCatalog.get()).isInstanceOf(HadoopCatalog.class);
     Assert.assertEquals("HadoopCatalog{name=barCatalog, location=/tmp/mylocation}", hadoopCatalog.get().toString());
+    Properties properties = new Properties();
+    properties.put(InputFormatConfig.CATALOG_NAME, catalogName);
+    Assert.assertFalse(Catalogs.hiveCatalog(conf, properties));
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -290,6 +305,9 @@ public void testLoadCatalogHadoopWithLegacyWarehouseLocation() {
     Assert.assertTrue(hadoopCatalog.isPresent());
     Assertions.assertThat(hadoopCatalog.get()).isInstanceOf(HadoopCatalog.class);
     Assert.assertEquals("HadoopCatalog{name=barCatalog, location=/tmp/mylocation}", hadoopCatalog.get().toString());
+    Properties properties = new Properties();
+    properties.put(InputFormatConfig.CATALOG_NAME, catalogName);
+    Assert.assertFalse(Catalogs.hiveCatalog(conf, properties));
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -302,6 +320,9 @@ public void testLoadCatalogCustom() {
     Optional<Catalog> customHadoopCatalog = Catalogs.loadCatalog(conf, catalogName);
     Assert.assertTrue(customHadoopCatalog.isPresent());
     Assertions.assertThat(customHadoopCatalog.get()).isInstanceOf(CustomHadoopCatalog.class);
+    Properties properties = new Properties();
+    properties.put(InputFormatConfig.CATALOG_NAME, catalogName);
+    Assert.assertFalse(Catalogs.hiveCatalog(conf, properties));
   }
 
   @Test