diff --git a/kcbq-connector/src/main/java/com/wepay/kafka/connect/bigquery/SchemaManager.java b/kcbq-connector/src/main/java/com/wepay/kafka/connect/bigquery/SchemaManager.java
index 15df988e1..78e47f37d 100644
--- a/kcbq-connector/src/main/java/com/wepay/kafka/connect/bigquery/SchemaManager.java
+++ b/kcbq-connector/src/main/java/com/wepay/kafka/connect/bigquery/SchemaManager.java
@@ -165,11 +165,12 @@ public void createOrUpdateTable(TableId table, Set<SinkRecord> records) {
     synchronized (lock(tableCreateLocks, table)) {
       if (bigQuery.getTable(table) == null) {
         logger.debug("{} doesn't exist; creating instead of updating", table(table));
-        createTable(table, records);
-        return;
+        if (createTable(table, records)) {
+          return;
+        }
       }
     }
-    
+
     // Table already existed; attempt to update instead
     logger.debug("{} already exists; updating instead of creating", table(table));
     updateSchema(table, records);
@@ -179,13 +180,14 @@ public void createOrUpdateTable(TableId table, Set<SinkRecord> records) {
    * Create a new table in BigQuery.
    * @param table The BigQuery table to create.
    * @param records The sink records used to determine the schema.
+   * @return whether the table had to be created; if the table already existed, will return false
    */
-  public void createTable(TableId table, Set<SinkRecord> records) {
+  public boolean createTable(TableId table, Set<SinkRecord> records) {
     synchronized (lock(tableCreateLocks, table)) {
       if (schemaCache.containsKey(table)) {
         // Table already exists; noop
         logger.debug("Skipping create of {} as it should already exist or appear very soon", table(table));
-        return;
+        return false;
       }
       TableInfo tableInfo = getTableInfo(table, records);
       logger.info("Attempting to create {} with schema {}",
@@ -194,11 +196,14 @@ public void createTable(TableId table, Set<SinkRecord> records) {
         bigQuery.create(tableInfo);
         logger.debug("Successfully created {}", table(table));
         schemaCache.put(table, tableInfo.getDefinition().getSchema());
+        return true;
       } catch (BigQueryException e) {
         if (e.getCode() == 409) {
           logger.debug("Failed to create {} as it already exists (possibly created by another task)", table(table));
           schemaCache.put(table, readTableSchema(table));
+          return false;
         }
+        throw e;
       }
     }
   }