diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/CatalogHandlers.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/CatalogHandlers.java
index fc8384d48b70..d297fc738317 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/CatalogHandlers.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/rest/CatalogHandlers.java
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ public static LoadTableResponse createTable(
   }
 
   public static void dropTable(Catalog catalog, TableIdentifier ident) {
-    boolean dropped = catalog.dropTable(ident);
+    boolean dropped = catalog.dropTable(ident, false);
     if (!dropped) {
       throw new NoSuchTableException("Table does not exist: %s", ident);
     }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/catalog/CatalogTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/catalog/CatalogTests.java
index f191d9c4b945..c0f6515ca7fc 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/catalog/CatalogTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/catalog/CatalogTests.java
@@ -820,6 +820,31 @@ public void testDropTableWithPurge() {
     Assert.assertFalse("Table should not exist after drop", catalog.tableExists(TABLE));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testDropTableWithoutPurge() {
+    C catalog = catalog();
+
+    if (requiresNamespaceCreate()) {
+      catalog.createNamespace(NS);
+    }
+
+    Assert.assertFalse("Table should not exist before create", catalog.tableExists(TABLE));
+
+    Table table = catalog.buildTable(TABLE, SCHEMA).create();
+    Assert.assertTrue("Table should exist after create", catalog.tableExists(TABLE));
+    Set<String> actualMetadataFileLocations = ReachableFileUtil.metadataFileLocations(table, false);
+
+    boolean dropped = catalog.dropTable(TABLE, false);
+    Assert.assertTrue("Should drop a table that does exist", dropped);
+    Assert.assertFalse("Table should not exist after drop", catalog.tableExists(TABLE));
+    Set<String> expectedMetadataFileLocations =
+        ReachableFileUtil.metadataFileLocations(table, false);
+    Assertions.assertThat(actualMetadataFileLocations)
+        .hasSameElementsAs(expectedMetadataFileLocations)
+        .hasSize(1)
+        .as("Should have one metadata file");
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testDropMissingTable() {
     C catalog = catalog();