diff --git a/datafusion/src/execution/context.rs b/datafusion/src/execution/context.rs
index 926e2db9450a..165263084cc7 100644
--- a/datafusion/src/execution/context.rs
+++ b/datafusion/src/execution/context.rs
@@ -893,7 +893,7 @@ mod tests {
         logical_plan::{col, create_udf, sum, Expr},
     };
     use crate::{
-        datasource::{MemTable, TableType},
+        datasource::{empty::EmptyTable, MemTable, TableType},
         logical_plan::create_udaf,
         physical_plan::expressions::AvgAccumulator,
     };
@@ -3333,6 +3333,19 @@ mod tests {
         assert_batches_sorted_eq!(expected, &result);
     }
 
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn query_empty_table() {
+        let mut ctx = ExecutionContext::new();
+        let empty_table = Arc::new(EmptyTable::new(Arc::new(Schema::empty())));
+        ctx.register_table("test_tbl", empty_table).unwrap();
+        let sql = "SELECT * FROM test_tbl";
+        let result = plan_and_collect(&mut ctx, sql)
+            .await
+            .expect("Query empty table");
+        let expected = vec!["++", "++"];
+        assert_batches_sorted_eq!(expected, &result);
+    }
+
     struct MyPhysicalPlanner {}
 
     impl PhysicalPlanner for MyPhysicalPlanner {
diff --git a/datafusion/src/optimizer/projection_push_down.rs b/datafusion/src/optimizer/projection_push_down.rs
index 2544d89d0492..a9e571f3d00b 100644
--- a/datafusion/src/optimizer/projection_push_down.rs
+++ b/datafusion/src/optimizer/projection_push_down.rs
@@ -83,9 +83,10 @@ fn get_projected_schema(
         .collect();
 
     if projection.is_empty() {
-        if has_projection {
+        if has_projection && !schema.fields().is_empty() {
             // Ensure that we are reading at least one column from the table in case the query
-            // does not reference any columns directly such as "SELECT COUNT(1) FROM table"
+            // does not reference any columns directly such as "SELECT COUNT(1) FROM table",
+            // except when the table is empty (no column)
             projection.push(0);
         } else {
             // for table scan without projection, we default to return all columns