diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/translator/QueryTranslator.java b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/translator/QueryTranslator.java
index 0f669ef..66ea5f8 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/translator/QueryTranslator.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/app/translator/QueryTranslator.java
@@ -1579,7 +1579,12 @@
             // Check if the dataverse exists
             Dataverse dv = MetadataManager.INSTANCE.getDataverse(mdTxnCtx.getValue(), dataverseName);
             if (dv == null) {
-                throw new CompilationException(ErrorCode.UNKNOWN_DATAVERSE, sourceLoc, dataverseName);
+                if (ifExists) {
+                    MetadataManager.INSTANCE.commitTransaction(mdTxnCtx.getValue());
+                    return;
+                } else {
+                    throw new CompilationException(ErrorCode.UNKNOWN_DATAVERSE, sourceLoc, dataverseName);
+                }
             }
             Dataset ds = metadataProvider.findDataset(dataverseName, datasetName);
             if (ds == null) {
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/ddl/invalid-dataverse/invalid-dataverse.003.ddl.sqlpp b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/ddl/invalid-dataverse/invalid-dataverse.003.ddl.sqlpp
index 7d482dd..0bb88db 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/ddl/invalid-dataverse/invalid-dataverse.003.ddl.sqlpp
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/ddl/invalid-dataverse/invalid-dataverse.003.ddl.sqlpp
@@ -24,5 +24,5 @@
 drop type realDataverse.myType if exists;
 create type realDataverse.myType as open { id: uuid, f1: int };
 
-drop dataset fakeDataverse.myDataset if exists;
+drop dataset fakeDataverse.myDataset /*if exists*/;