diff --git a/common/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/conf/HiveConf.java b/common/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/conf/HiveConf.java
index 903a8030b2c6..cf96fff73ad8 100644
--- a/common/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/conf/HiveConf.java
+++ b/common/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/hive/conf/HiveConf.java
@@ -5593,6 +5593,10 @@ public static enum ConfVars {
     HIVE_SERVER2_ICEBERG_METADATA_GENERATOR_THREADS("hive.server2.iceberg.metadata.generator.threads", 10,
         "Number of threads used to scan partition directories for data files and update/generate iceberg metadata"),
 
+    HIVE_ICEBERG_METADATA_REFRESH_MAX_RETRIES("hive.iceberg.metadata.refresh.max.retries", 2,
+        "Max retry count for trying to access the metadata location in order to refresh metadata during " +
+         " Iceberg table load."),
+
     /* BLOBSTORE section */
 
     HIVE_BLOBSTORE_SUPPORTED_SCHEMES("hive.blobstore.supported.schemes", "s3,s3a,s3n",
diff --git a/iceberg/iceberg-catalog/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableOperations.java b/iceberg/iceberg-catalog/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableOperations.java
index d7533e09044b..386d9ff40513 100644
--- a/iceberg/iceberg-catalog/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableOperations.java
+++ b/iceberg/iceberg-catalog/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableOperations.java
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.common.StatsSetupConst;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.conf.HiveConf;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.HiveMetaStoreClient;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.TableType;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.api.EnvironmentContext;
@@ -180,7 +181,8 @@ protected void doRefresh() {
       throw new RuntimeException("Interrupted during refresh", e);
     }
 
-    refreshFromMetadataLocation(metadataLocation);
+    refreshFromMetadataLocation(metadataLocation, HiveConf.getIntVar(conf,
+        HiveConf.ConfVars.HIVE_ICEBERG_METADATA_REFRESH_MAX_RETRIES));
   }
 
   @SuppressWarnings("checkstyle:CyclomaticComplexity")
diff --git a/iceberg/iceberg-catalog/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableBaseTest.java b/iceberg/iceberg-catalog/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableBaseTest.java
index 76f21924058b..b584b9e73c14 100644
--- a/iceberg/iceberg-catalog/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableBaseTest.java
+++ b/iceberg/iceberg-catalog/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableBaseTest.java
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ protected static String getTableLocation(String tableName) {
     return getTableLocationPath(tableName).toString();
   }
 
-  private static String metadataLocation(String tableName) {
+  protected static String metadataLocation(String tableName) {
     return Paths.get(getTableBasePath(tableName), "metadata").toString();
   }
 
diff --git a/iceberg/iceberg-catalog/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableTest.java b/iceberg/iceberg-catalog/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableTest.java
index fa67e5d971f4..6804fc80e5b0 100644
--- a/iceberg/iceberg-catalog/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableTest.java
+++ b/iceberg/iceberg-catalog/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableTest.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
+import org.apache.hadoop.hive.conf.HiveConf;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.TableType;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.api.FieldSchema;
 import org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.api.SerDeInfo;
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@
 import org.apache.iceberg.catalog.Namespace;
 import org.apache.iceberg.catalog.TableIdentifier;
 import org.apache.iceberg.exceptions.CommitFailedException;
+import org.apache.iceberg.exceptions.NotFoundException;
 import org.apache.iceberg.hadoop.ConfigProperties;
 import org.apache.iceberg.io.FileAppender;
 import org.apache.iceberg.relocated.com.google.common.collect.Lists;
@@ -434,6 +436,22 @@ public void testEngineHiveEnabledTableProperty() throws TException {
     assertHiveEnabled(hmsTable, false);
   }
 
+  @Test(timeout = 60000, expected = NotFoundException.class)
+  public void testMissingMetadataWontCauseHang() throws Exception {
+    catalog.loadTable(TABLE_IDENTIFIER);
+    HiveConf.setIntVar(catalog.getConf(), HiveConf.ConfVars.HIVE_ICEBERG_METADATA_REFRESH_MAX_RETRIES, 3);
+
+    File realLocation = new File(metadataLocation(TABLE_NAME));
+    File fakeLocation = new File(metadataLocation(TABLE_NAME) + "_dummy");
+    realLocation.renameTo(fakeLocation);
+
+    try {
+      catalog.loadTable(TABLE_IDENTIFIER);
+    } finally {
+      realLocation.renameTo(realLocation);
+    }
+  }
+
   private void assertHiveEnabled(org.apache.hadoop.hive.metastore.api.Table hmsTable, boolean expected) {
     if (expected) {
       Assert.assertEquals("org.apache.iceberg.mr.hive.HiveIcebergStorageHandler",