diff --git a/sdks/java/io/jdbc/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/io/jdbc/JdbcSchemaIOProvider.java b/sdks/java/io/jdbc/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/io/jdbc/JdbcSchemaIOProvider.java
index 5076f4a10298..77ec4082f6f4 100644
--- a/sdks/java/io/jdbc/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/io/jdbc/JdbcSchemaIOProvider.java
+++ b/sdks/java/io/jdbc/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/io/jdbc/JdbcSchemaIOProvider.java
@@ -175,9 +175,11 @@ protected JdbcIO.DataSourceConfiguration getDataSourceConfiguration() {
         dataSourceConfiguration = dataSourceConfiguration.withConnectionInitSqls(initSqls);
       }
 
-      @Nullable Integer maxConnections = config.getInt32("maxConnections");
-      if (maxConnections != null) {
-        dataSourceConfiguration = dataSourceConfiguration.withMaxConnections(maxConnections);
+      if (config.getSchema().hasField("maxConnections")) {
+        @Nullable Integer maxConnections = config.getInt32("maxConnections");
+        if (maxConnections != null) {
+          dataSourceConfiguration = dataSourceConfiguration.withMaxConnections(maxConnections);
+        }
       }
 
       return dataSourceConfiguration;