diff --git a/handwritten/bigquery/src/arrow.ts b/handwritten/bigquery/src/arrow.ts
index 12c5b938dc3..81291718e8c 100644
--- a/handwritten/bigquery/src/arrow.ts
+++ b/handwritten/bigquery/src/arrow.ts
@@ -142,20 +142,29 @@ export function decodeArrowPayload(
   serializedSchema?: Uint8Array | string,
   serializedRecordBatch?: Uint8Array | string,
 ): RecordBatch[] {
-  if (!serializedSchema) {
+  const hasSchema =
+    serializedSchema !== undefined && serializedSchema.length > 0;
+  const hasBatch =
+    serializedRecordBatch !== undefined && serializedRecordBatch.length > 0;
+  if (!hasSchema) {
+    // Without a schema the batch can't be decoded; returning an empty batch
+    // would silently drop its rows.
+    if (hasBatch) {
+      throw new Error('Got an Arrow record batch before its schema.');
+    }
     return [new arrow.RecordBatch({})];
   }
   // BigQuery returns the Arrow IPC Schema message and RecordBatch message as
   // separate fields; the reader accepts them as consecutive chunks of one IPC
   // stream, which avoids copying them into a single buffer.
-  const chunks = serializedRecordBatch
+  const chunks = hasBatch
     ? [toUint8Array(serializedSchema), toUint8Array(serializedRecordBatch)]
     : [toUint8Array(serializedSchema)];
   const reader = arrow.RecordBatchReader.from(chunks);
   reader.open();
   // With no record batch, the reader yields its own 0-row placeholder batch,
   // which leaves nested Struct children empty and List children undefined.
-  return serializedRecordBatch
+  return hasBatch
     ? [...reader]
     : [createEmptyRecordBatch(arrow, reader.schema)];
 }
diff --git a/handwritten/bigquery/test/arrow.ts b/handwritten/bigquery/test/arrow.ts
index 85d4e1609a0..b313e8dbc0b 100644
--- a/handwritten/bigquery/test/arrow.ts
+++ b/handwritten/bigquery/test/arrow.ts
@@ -268,6 +268,46 @@ describe('Arrow Support', () => {
       assert.strictEqual(batches[0].numRows, 2);
     });
 
+    it('should fail instead of dropping rows when jobs.query returns a record batch without a schema', async () => {
+      stubJobsQuery(bq, {
+        res: {
+          jobComplete: true,
+          totalRows: '2',
+          pageRowCount: '2',
+          arrowRecordBatch: {
+            serializedRecordBatch: SAMPLE_PAYLOAD.serializedRecordBatch,
+          },
+        },
+      });
+
+      // Verify the batch isn't silently replaced with an empty RecordBatch.
+      await assert.rejects(
+        bq.createQueryArrowStream('SELECT 1').toArray(),
+        /Got an Arrow record batch before its schema\./,
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('should treat an empty record batch without a schema like a missing one', async () => {
+      stubJobsQuery(bq, {
+        res: {
+          jobComplete: true,
+          totalRows: '0',
+          arrowRecordBatch: {
+            // An empty Uint8Array is truthy but carries no rows.
+            serializedRecordBatch: new Uint8Array(0) as unknown as string,
+          },
+        },
+      });
+
+      // Verify one 0-row, 0-column RecordBatch is emitted instead of an error.
+      const batches: arrow.RecordBatch[] = await bq
+        .createQueryArrowStream('SELECT 1')
+        .toArray();
+      assert.strictEqual(batches.length, 1);
+      assert.strictEqual(batches[0].numRows, 0);
+      assert.strictEqual(batches[0].numCols, 0);
+    });
+
     it('should emit a 0-row RecordBatch preserving the schema when arrowSchema is present without arrowRecordBatch', async () => {
       // Include nested Struct and List fields to verify 0-row buffer initialization.
       const schema = new arrow.Schema([