diff --git a/api/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/PartitionSpec.java b/api/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/PartitionSpec.java
index e984fc69d8ce..f24c0b193b2a 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/PartitionSpec.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/PartitionSpec.java
@@ -576,17 +576,25 @@ PartitionSpec buildUnchecked() {
   static void checkCompatibility(PartitionSpec spec, Schema schema) {
     for (PartitionField field : spec.fields) {
       Type sourceType = schema.findType(field.sourceId());
-      ValidationException.check(
-          sourceType != null, "Cannot find source column for partition field: %s", field);
-      ValidationException.check(
-          sourceType.isPrimitiveType(),
-          "Cannot partition by non-primitive source field: %s",
-          sourceType);
-      ValidationException.check(
-          field.transform().canTransform(sourceType),
-          "Invalid source type %s for transform: %s",
-          sourceType,
-          field.transform());
+      Transform<?, ?> transform = field.transform();
+      // In the case of a Version 1 partition-spec field gets deleted,
+      // it is replaced with a void transform, see:
+      // https://iceberg.apache.org/spec/#partition-transforms
+      // We don't care about the source type since a VoidTransform is always compatible and skip the
+      // checks
+      if (!transform.equals(Transforms.alwaysNull())) {
+        ValidationException.check(
+            sourceType != null, "Cannot find source column for partition field: %s", field);
+        ValidationException.check(
+            sourceType.isPrimitiveType(),
+            "Cannot partition by non-primitive source field: %s",
+            sourceType);
+        ValidationException.check(
+            transform.canTransform(sourceType),
+            "Invalid source type %s for transform: %s",
+            sourceType,
+            transform);
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/TableMetadataParser.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/TableMetadataParser.java
index ee0e8f6502fb..c744bf50a868 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/TableMetadataParser.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/TableMetadataParser.java
@@ -377,7 +377,12 @@ static TableMetadata fromJson(String metadataLocation, JsonNode node) {
       // parse the spec array
       ImmutableList.Builder<PartitionSpec> builder = ImmutableList.builder();
       for (JsonNode spec : specArray) {
-        builder.add(PartitionSpecParser.fromJson(schema, spec));
+        UnboundPartitionSpec unboundSpec = PartitionSpecParser.fromJson(spec);
+        if (unboundSpec.specId() == defaultSpecId) {
+          builder.add(unboundSpec.bind(schema));
+        } else {
+          builder.add(unboundSpec.bindUnchecked(schema));
+        }
       }
       specs = builder.build();
 
diff --git a/spark/v3.2/spark-extensions/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/spark/extensions/TestAlterTablePartitionFields.java b/spark/v3.2/spark-extensions/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/spark/extensions/TestAlterTablePartitionFields.java
index 8aee7c97752f..45fb8e0bbaee 100644
--- a/spark/v3.2/spark-extensions/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/spark/extensions/TestAlterTablePartitionFields.java
+++ b/spark/v3.2/spark-extensions/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/spark/extensions/TestAlterTablePartitionFields.java
@@ -421,6 +421,31 @@ public void testSparkTableAddDropPartitions() throws Exception {
         "spark table partition should be empty", 0, sparkTable().partitioning().length);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testDropColumnOfOldPartitionFieldV1() {
+    // default table created in v1 format
+    sql(
+        "CREATE TABLE %s (id bigint NOT NULL, ts timestamp, day_of_ts date) USING iceberg PARTITIONED BY (day_of_ts)",
+        tableName);
+
+    sql("ALTER TABLE %s REPLACE PARTITION FIELD day_of_ts WITH days(ts)", tableName);
+
+    sql("ALTER TABLE %s DROP COLUMN day_of_ts", tableName);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testDropColumnOfOldPartitionFieldV2() {
+    sql(
+        "CREATE TABLE %s (id bigint NOT NULL, ts timestamp, day_of_ts date) USING iceberg PARTITIONED BY (day_of_ts)",
+        tableName);
+
+    sql("ALTER TABLE %s SET TBLPROPERTIES ('format-version' = '2');", tableName);
+
+    sql("ALTER TABLE %s REPLACE PARTITION FIELD day_of_ts WITH days(ts)", tableName);
+
+    sql("ALTER TABLE %s DROP COLUMN day_of_ts", tableName);
+  }
+
   private void assertPartitioningEquals(SparkTable table, int len, String transform) {
     Assert.assertEquals("spark table partition should be " + len, len, table.partitioning().length);
     Assert.assertEquals(
diff --git a/spark/v3.3/spark-extensions/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/spark/extensions/TestAlterTablePartitionFields.java b/spark/v3.3/spark-extensions/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/spark/extensions/TestAlterTablePartitionFields.java
index 8aee7c97752f..45fb8e0bbaee 100644
--- a/spark/v3.3/spark-extensions/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/spark/extensions/TestAlterTablePartitionFields.java
+++ b/spark/v3.3/spark-extensions/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/spark/extensions/TestAlterTablePartitionFields.java
@@ -421,6 +421,31 @@ public void testSparkTableAddDropPartitions() throws Exception {
         "spark table partition should be empty", 0, sparkTable().partitioning().length);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testDropColumnOfOldPartitionFieldV1() {
+    // default table created in v1 format
+    sql(
+        "CREATE TABLE %s (id bigint NOT NULL, ts timestamp, day_of_ts date) USING iceberg PARTITIONED BY (day_of_ts)",
+        tableName);
+
+    sql("ALTER TABLE %s REPLACE PARTITION FIELD day_of_ts WITH days(ts)", tableName);
+
+    sql("ALTER TABLE %s DROP COLUMN day_of_ts", tableName);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testDropColumnOfOldPartitionFieldV2() {
+    sql(
+        "CREATE TABLE %s (id bigint NOT NULL, ts timestamp, day_of_ts date) USING iceberg PARTITIONED BY (day_of_ts)",
+        tableName);
+
+    sql("ALTER TABLE %s SET TBLPROPERTIES ('format-version' = '2');", tableName);
+
+    sql("ALTER TABLE %s REPLACE PARTITION FIELD day_of_ts WITH days(ts)", tableName);
+
+    sql("ALTER TABLE %s DROP COLUMN day_of_ts", tableName);
+  }
+
   private void assertPartitioningEquals(SparkTable table, int len, String transform) {
     Assert.assertEquals("spark table partition should be " + len, len, table.partitioning().length);
     Assert.assertEquals(