diff --git a/src/iceberg/catalog/memory/in_memory_catalog.cc b/src/iceberg/catalog/memory/in_memory_catalog.cc
index d0797e728..86d832388 100644
--- a/src/iceberg/catalog/memory/in_memory_catalog.cc
+++ b/src/iceberg/catalog/memory/in_memory_catalog.cc
@@ -422,6 +422,11 @@ Result<std::shared_ptr<Table>> InMemoryCatalog::CreateTable(
     const std::string& location,
     const std::unordered_map<std::string, std::string>& properties) {
   std::unique_lock lock(mutex_);
+  ICEBERG_ASSIGN_OR_RAISE(auto namespace_exists,
+                          root_namespace_->NamespaceExists(identifier.ns));
+  if (!namespace_exists) {
+    return NoSuchNamespace("Table namespace does not exist: {}", identifier.ns);
+  }
   if (root_namespace_->TableExists(identifier).value_or(false)) {
     return AlreadyExists("Table already exists: {}", identifier);
   }
@@ -609,7 +614,9 @@ Result<std::shared_ptr<Table>> InMemoryCatalog::RegisterTable(
                           TableMetadataUtil::Read(*file_io_, metadata_file_location));
 
   std::unique_lock lock(mutex_);
-  if (!root_namespace_->NamespaceExists(identifier.ns)) {
+  ICEBERG_ASSIGN_OR_RAISE(auto namespace_exists,
+                          root_namespace_->NamespaceExists(identifier.ns));
+  if (!namespace_exists) {
     return NoSuchNamespace("Table namespace does not exist: {}", identifier.ns);
   }
   if (!root_namespace_->RegisterTable(identifier, metadata_file_location)) {
diff --git a/src/iceberg/test/in_memory_catalog_test.cc b/src/iceberg/test/in_memory_catalog_test.cc
index b2c88f571..db90aa14a 100644
--- a/src/iceberg/test/in_memory_catalog_test.cc
+++ b/src/iceberg/test/in_memory_catalog_test.cc
@@ -158,6 +158,53 @@ TEST_F(InMemoryCatalogTest, RegisterTable) {
   ASSERT_EQ(table.value()->location(), "s3://bucket/test/location");
 }
 
+TEST_F(InMemoryCatalogTest, CreateTableNonexistentNamespace) {
+  TableIdentifier table_ident{.ns = Namespace{.levels = {"missing"}}, .name = "t1"};
+  auto schema = std::make_shared<Schema>(
+      std::vector<SchemaField>{SchemaField::MakeRequired(1, "id", int64())},
+      /*schema_id=*/1);
+  auto spec = PartitionSpec::Unpartitioned();
+  auto sort_order = SortOrder::Unsorted();
+
+  // Use an explicit location whose metadata directory already exists (the local
+  // FileIO does not create parent dirs). A write-before-validate bug would land a
+  // detectable orphan there. GenerateTestTableLocation is unique per test and
+  // auto-cleaned via created_temp_paths_.
+  auto table_location = GenerateTestTableLocation(table_ident.name);
+
+  auto table =
+      catalog_->CreateTable(table_ident, schema, spec, sort_order, table_location, {});
+  EXPECT_THAT(table, IsError(ErrorKind::kNoSuchNamespace));
+
+  // The namespace check must run before any metadata file is written, so a
+  // failed create must leave no orphaned metadata file behind.
+  std::error_code ec;
+  size_t metadata_files = 0;
+  for (auto it = std::filesystem::recursive_directory_iterator(table_location, ec);
+       it != std::filesystem::recursive_directory_iterator(); it.increment(ec)) {
+    if (it->path().extension() == ".json") {
+      ++metadata_files;
+    }
+  }
+  EXPECT_EQ(metadata_files, 0);
+}
+
+TEST_F(InMemoryCatalogTest, RegisterTableNonexistentNamespace) {
+  TableIdentifier table_ident{.ns = Namespace{.levels = {"missing"}}, .name = "t1"};
+
+  ICEBERG_UNWRAP_OR_FAIL(auto metadata,
+                         ReadTableMetadataFromResource("TableMetadataV2Valid.json"));
+  auto table_location = GenerateTestTableLocation(table_ident.name);
+  auto metadata_location = std::format("{}v1.metadata.json", table_location);
+  ASSERT_THAT(TableMetadataUtil::Write(*file_io_, metadata_location, *metadata), IsOk());
+
+  // Registering into a nonexistent namespace reports NoSuchNamespace. The dead
+  // if (!NamespaceExists(...)) check tested the Result<bool>'s has_value() rather
+  // than the contained bool, so this previously fell through to kUnknownError.
+  auto table = catalog_->RegisterTable(table_ident, metadata_location);
+  EXPECT_THAT(table, IsError(ErrorKind::kNoSuchNamespace));
+}
+
 TEST_F(InMemoryCatalogTest, RefreshTable) {
   TableIdentifier table_ident{.ns = {}, .name = "t1"};
   auto schema = std::make_shared<Schema>(