diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 3f76cbea02bf..ab0924963906 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -723,6 +723,7 @@ project(':iceberg-hive-metastore') {
     }
 
     testImplementation project(path: ':iceberg-api', configuration: 'testArtifacts')
+    testImplementation project(path: ':iceberg-core', configuration: 'testArtifacts')
     testImplementation libs.awaitility
   }
 }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/catalog/CatalogTests.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/catalog/CatalogTests.java
index e01deebf5bc5..00f3739e2b9e 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/catalog/CatalogTests.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/catalog/CatalogTests.java
@@ -164,6 +164,10 @@ protected boolean supportsNamesWithSlashes() {
     return true;
   }
 
+  protected boolean supportsNamesWithDot() {
+    return true;
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testCreateNamespace() {
     C catalog = catalog();
@@ -470,6 +474,8 @@ public void testNamespaceWithSlash() {
 
   @Test
   public void testNamespaceWithDot() {
+    Assumptions.assumeTrue(supportsNamesWithDot());
+
     C catalog = catalog();
 
     Namespace withDot = Namespace.of("new.db");
@@ -547,6 +553,8 @@ public void testTableNameWithSlash() {
 
   @Test
   public void testTableNameWithDot() {
+    Assumptions.assumeTrue(supportsNamesWithDot());
+
     C catalog = catalog();
 
     TableIdentifier ident = TableIdentifier.of("ns", "ta.ble");
diff --git a/hive-metastore/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveCatalog.java b/hive-metastore/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveCatalog.java
index 46a8d33c48ac..bfd04e2d05fe 100644
--- a/hive-metastore/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveCatalog.java
+++ b/hive-metastore/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveCatalog.java
@@ -261,6 +261,17 @@ public void renameTable(TableIdentifier from, TableIdentifier originalTo) {
     } catch (InterruptedException e) {
       Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
       throw new RuntimeException("Interrupted in call to rename", e);
+    } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+      // in case of table already exists,
+      // Hive rename operation throws exception as
+      // java.lang.RuntimeException:InvalidOperationException(message:new table <> already exists)
+      if (e.getCause() instanceof InvalidOperationException
+          && e.getCause().getMessage() != null
+          && e.getCause().getMessage().contains(String.format("new table %s already exists", to))) {
+        throw new org.apache.iceberg.exceptions.AlreadyExistsException(
+            "Table already exists: %s", to);
+      }
+      throw new RuntimeException("Failed to rename " + from + " to " + to, e);
     }
   }
 
@@ -288,7 +299,7 @@ public void createNamespace(Namespace namespace, Map<String, String> meta) {
 
     } catch (AlreadyExistsException e) {
       throw new org.apache.iceberg.exceptions.AlreadyExistsException(
-          e, "Namespace '%s' already exists!", namespace);
+          e, "Namespace already exists: %s", namespace);
 
     } catch (TException e) {
       throw new RuntimeException(
@@ -500,6 +511,9 @@ protected String defaultWarehouseLocation(TableIdentifier tableIdentifier) {
         return String.format("%s/%s", databaseData.getLocationUri(), tableIdentifier.name());
       }
 
+    } catch (NoSuchObjectException e) {
+      throw new NoSuchNamespaceException(
+          e, "Namespace does not exist: %s", tableIdentifier.namespace().levels()[0]);
     } catch (TException e) {
       throw new RuntimeException(
           String.format("Metastore operation failed for %s", tableIdentifier), e);
diff --git a/hive-metastore/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableOperations.java b/hive-metastore/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableOperations.java
index 5e2d93a01d13..a3750b9f3101 100644
--- a/hive-metastore/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableOperations.java
+++ b/hive-metastore/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTableOperations.java
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ protected void doCommit(TableMetadata base, TableMetadata metadata) {
       String baseMetadataLocation = base != null ? base.metadataFileLocation() : null;
       if (!Objects.equals(baseMetadataLocation, metadataLocation)) {
         throw new CommitFailedException(
-            "Base metadata location '%s' is not same as the current table metadata location '%s' for %s.%s",
+            "Cannot commit: Base metadata location '%s' is not same as the current table metadata location '%s' for %s.%s",
             baseMetadataLocation, metadataLocation, database, tableName);
       }
 
diff --git a/hive-metastore/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/TestHiveCatalog.java b/hive-metastore/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/TestHiveCatalog.java
index b70cb1c8e5b1..369ad46c8e49 100644
--- a/hive-metastore/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/TestHiveCatalog.java
+++ b/hive-metastore/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/TestHiveCatalog.java
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
-import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.UUID;
@@ -53,7 +52,6 @@
 import org.apache.iceberg.DataFile;
 import org.apache.iceberg.DataFiles;
 import org.apache.iceberg.FileFormat;
-import org.apache.iceberg.HasTableOperations;
 import org.apache.iceberg.PartitionSpec;
 import org.apache.iceberg.PartitionSpecParser;
 import org.apache.iceberg.Schema;
@@ -65,10 +63,10 @@
 import org.apache.iceberg.TableMetadata;
 import org.apache.iceberg.TableOperations;
 import org.apache.iceberg.TableProperties;
-import org.apache.iceberg.TestHelpers;
 import org.apache.iceberg.Transaction;
 import org.apache.iceberg.UpdateSchema;
 import org.apache.iceberg.catalog.Catalog;
+import org.apache.iceberg.catalog.CatalogTests;
 import org.apache.iceberg.catalog.Namespace;
 import org.apache.iceberg.catalog.TableIdentifier;
 import org.apache.iceberg.exceptions.AlreadyExistsException;
@@ -83,6 +81,7 @@
 import org.apache.iceberg.types.Types;
 import org.apache.iceberg.util.JsonUtil;
 import org.apache.thrift.TException;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.RegisterExtension;
@@ -90,7 +89,10 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.ValueSource;
 
-public class TestHiveCatalog {
+/**
+ * Run all the tests from abstract of {@link CatalogTests} with few specific tests related to HIVE.
+ */
+public class TestHiveCatalog extends CatalogTests<HiveCatalog> {
   private static ImmutableMap meta =
       ImmutableMap.of(
           "owner", "apache",
@@ -104,10 +106,10 @@ public class TestHiveCatalog {
 
   @RegisterExtension
   private static final HiveMetastoreExtension HIVE_METASTORE_EXTENSION =
-      HiveMetastoreExtension.builder().withDatabase(DB_NAME).build();
+      HiveMetastoreExtension.builder().build();
 
   @BeforeEach
-  public void before() {
+  public void before() throws TException {
     catalog =
         (HiveCatalog)
             CatalogUtil.loadCatalog(
@@ -117,6 +119,34 @@ public void before() {
                     CatalogProperties.CLIENT_POOL_CACHE_EVICTION_INTERVAL_MS,
                     String.valueOf(TimeUnit.SECONDS.toMillis(10))),
                 HIVE_METASTORE_EXTENSION.hiveConf());
+    String dbPath = HIVE_METASTORE_EXTENSION.metastore().getDatabasePath(DB_NAME);
+    Database db = new Database(DB_NAME, "description", dbPath, Maps.newHashMap());
+    HIVE_METASTORE_EXTENSION.metastoreClient().createDatabase(db);
+  }
+
+  @AfterEach
+  public void cleanup() throws Exception {
+    HIVE_METASTORE_EXTENSION.metastore().reset();
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  protected boolean requiresNamespaceCreate() {
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  protected boolean supportsNamesWithSlashes() {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  protected boolean supportsNamesWithDot() {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  protected HiveCatalog catalog() {
+    return catalog;
   }
 
   private Schema getTestSchema() {
@@ -379,7 +409,7 @@ public void testCreateTableCustomSortOrder() throws Exception {
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void testCreateNamespace() throws Exception {
+  public void testDatabaseAndNamespaceWithLocation() throws Exception {
     Namespace namespace1 = Namespace.of("noLocation");
     catalog.createNamespace(namespace1, meta);
     Database database1 =
@@ -394,7 +424,7 @@ public void testCreateNamespace() throws Exception {
 
     assertThatThrownBy(() -> catalog.createNamespace(namespace1))
         .isInstanceOf(AlreadyExistsException.class)
-        .hasMessage("Namespace '" + namespace1 + "' already exists!");
+        .hasMessage(String.format("Namespace already exists: %s", namespace1));
     String hiveLocalDir = temp.toFile().toURI().toString();
     // remove the trailing slash of the URI
     hiveLocalDir = hiveLocalDir.substring(0, hiveLocalDir.length() - 1);
@@ -493,21 +523,6 @@ private void createNamespaceAndVerifyOwnership(
     assertThat(db.getOwnerType()).isEqualTo(expectedOwnerType);
   }
 
-  @Test
-  public void testListNamespace() throws TException {
-    List<Namespace> namespaces;
-    Namespace namespace1 = Namespace.of("dbname1");
-    catalog.createNamespace(namespace1, meta);
-    namespaces = catalog.listNamespaces(namespace1);
-    assertThat(namespaces).as("Hive db not hive the namespace 'dbname1'").isEmpty();
-
-    Namespace namespace2 = Namespace.of("dbname2");
-    catalog.createNamespace(namespace2, meta);
-    namespaces = catalog.listNamespaces();
-
-    assertThat(namespaces).as("Hive db not hive the namespace 'dbname2'").contains(namespace2);
-  }
-
   @Test
   public void testLoadNamespaceMeta() throws TException {
     Namespace namespace = Namespace.of("dbname_load");
@@ -534,30 +549,6 @@ public void testNamespaceExists() throws TException {
         .isFalse();
   }
 
-  @Test
-  public void testSetNamespaceProperties() throws TException {
-    Namespace namespace = Namespace.of("dbname_set");
-
-    catalog.createNamespace(namespace, meta);
-    catalog.setProperties(
-        namespace,
-        ImmutableMap.of(
-            "owner", "alter_apache",
-            "test", "test",
-            "location", "file:/data/tmp",
-            "comment", "iceberg test"));
-
-    Database database = HIVE_METASTORE_EXTENSION.metastoreClient().getDatabase(namespace.level(0));
-    assertThat(database.getParameters()).containsEntry("owner", "alter_apache");
-    assertThat(database.getParameters()).containsEntry("test", "test");
-    assertThat(database.getParameters()).containsEntry("group", "iceberg");
-
-    assertThatThrownBy(
-            () -> catalog.setProperties(Namespace.of("db2", "db2", "ns2"), ImmutableMap.of()))
-        .isInstanceOf(NoSuchNamespaceException.class)
-        .hasMessage("Namespace does not exist: db2.db2.ns2");
-  }
-
   @Test
   public void testSetNamespaceOwnership() throws TException {
     setNamespaceOwnershipAndVerify(
@@ -739,27 +730,6 @@ private void setNamespaceOwnershipAndVerify(
     assertThat(database.getOwnerType()).isEqualTo(expectedOwnerTypePostSet);
   }
 
-  @Test
-  public void testRemoveNamespaceProperties() throws TException {
-    Namespace namespace = Namespace.of("dbname_remove");
-
-    catalog.createNamespace(namespace, meta);
-
-    catalog.removeProperties(namespace, ImmutableSet.of("comment", "owner"));
-
-    Database database = HIVE_METASTORE_EXTENSION.metastoreClient().getDatabase(namespace.level(0));
-
-    assertThat(database.getParameters()).doesNotContainKey("owner");
-    assertThat(database.getParameters()).containsEntry("group", "iceberg");
-
-    assertThatThrownBy(
-            () ->
-                catalog.removeProperties(
-                    Namespace.of("db2", "db2", "ns2"), ImmutableSet.of("comment", "owner")))
-        .isInstanceOf(NoSuchNamespaceException.class)
-        .hasMessage("Namespace does not exist: db2.db2.ns2");
-  }
-
   @Test
   public void testRemoveNamespaceOwnership() throws TException, IOException {
     removeNamespaceOwnershipAndVerify(
@@ -886,7 +856,7 @@ private void removeNamespaceOwnershipAndVerify(
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void testDropNamespace() throws TException {
+  public void dropNamespace() {
     Namespace namespace = Namespace.of("dbname_drop");
     TableIdentifier identifier = TableIdentifier.of(namespace, "table");
     Schema schema = getTestSchema();
@@ -1209,35 +1179,4 @@ public void testDatabaseLocationWithSlashInWarehouseDir() {
 
     assertThat(database.getLocationUri()).isEqualTo("s3://bucket/database.db");
   }
-
-  @Test
-  public void testRegisterTable() {
-    TableIdentifier identifier = TableIdentifier.of(DB_NAME, "t1");
-    catalog.createTable(identifier, getTestSchema());
-    Table registeringTable = catalog.loadTable(identifier);
-    catalog.dropTable(identifier, false);
-    TableOperations ops = ((HasTableOperations) registeringTable).operations();
-    String metadataLocation = ((HiveTableOperations) ops).currentMetadataLocation();
-    Table registeredTable = catalog.registerTable(identifier, metadataLocation);
-    assertThat(registeredTable).isNotNull();
-    TestHelpers.assertSerializedAndLoadedMetadata(registeringTable, registeredTable);
-    String expectedMetadataLocation =
-        ((HasTableOperations) registeredTable).operations().current().metadataFileLocation();
-    assertThat(metadataLocation).isEqualTo(expectedMetadataLocation);
-    assertThat(catalog.loadTable(identifier)).isNotNull();
-    assertThat(catalog.dropTable(identifier)).isTrue();
-  }
-
-  @Test
-  public void testRegisterExistingTable() {
-    TableIdentifier identifier = TableIdentifier.of(DB_NAME, "t1");
-    catalog.createTable(identifier, getTestSchema());
-    Table registeringTable = catalog.loadTable(identifier);
-    TableOperations ops = ((HasTableOperations) registeringTable).operations();
-    String metadataLocation = ((HiveTableOperations) ops).currentMetadataLocation();
-    assertThatThrownBy(() -> catalog.registerTable(identifier, metadataLocation))
-        .isInstanceOf(AlreadyExistsException.class)
-        .hasMessage("Table already exists: hivedb.t1");
-    assertThat(catalog.dropTable(identifier, true)).isTrue();
-  }
 }