diff --git a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveExternalCatalog.scala b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveExternalCatalog.scala
index 084c7b7210401..9af34ba3b2060 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveExternalCatalog.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveExternalCatalog.scala
@@ -721,19 +721,16 @@ private[spark] class HiveExternalCatalog(conf: SparkConf, hadoopConf: Configurat
       table: String,
       stats: Option[CatalogStatistics]): Unit = withClient {
     requireTableExists(db, table)
-    val rawTable = getRawTable(db, table)
-
-    // convert table statistics to properties so that we can persist them through hive client
-    val statsProperties =
+    val rawHiveTable = client.getRawHiveTable(db, table)
+    val oldProps = rawHiveTable.hiveTableProps().filterNot(_._1.startsWith(STATISTICS_PREFIX))
+    val newProps =
       if (stats.isDefined) {
-        statsToProperties(stats.get)
+        oldProps ++ statsToProperties(stats.get)
       } else {
-        new mutable.HashMap[String, String]()
+        oldProps
       }
 
-    val oldTableNonStatsProps = rawTable.properties.filterNot(_._1.startsWith(STATISTICS_PREFIX))
-    val updatedTable = rawTable.copy(properties = oldTableNonStatsProps ++ statsProperties)
-    client.alterTable(updatedTable)
+    client.alterTableProps(rawHiveTable, newProps)
   }
 
   override def getTable(db: String, table: String): CatalogTable = withClient {
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/HiveClient.scala b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/HiveClient.scala
index 58cacfa1d5ded..ff225e7a50f0d 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/HiveClient.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/HiveClient.scala
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ import org.apache.spark.sql.types.StructType
 private[hive] trait RawHiveTable {
   def rawTable: Object
   def toCatalogTable: CatalogTable
+
+  /** Get hive table properties. */
+  def hiveTableProps(): Map[String, String]
 }
 
 /**
@@ -127,6 +130,9 @@ private[hive] trait HiveClient {
    */
   def alterTable(dbName: String, tableName: String, table: CatalogTable): Unit
 
+  /** Alter a table properties */
+  def alterTableProps(rawHiveTable: RawHiveTable, newProps: Map[String, String]): Unit
+
   /**
    * Updates the given table with a new data schema and table properties, and keep everything else
    * unchanged.
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/HiveClientImpl.scala b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/HiveClientImpl.scala
index 213d930653dd0..d5cba1b978952 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/HiveClientImpl.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/HiveClientImpl.scala
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import java.lang.{Iterable => JIterable}
 import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
 import java.net.URI
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets.UTF_8
-import java.util.{Locale, Map => JMap}
+import java.util.{HashMap => JHashMap, Locale, Map => JMap}
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit._
 
 import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
@@ -105,6 +105,10 @@ private[hive] class HiveClientImpl(
 
   private class RawHiveTableImpl(override val rawTable: HiveTable) extends RawHiveTable {
     override lazy val toCatalogTable = convertHiveTableToCatalogTable(rawTable)
+
+    override def hiveTableProps(): Map[String, String] = {
+      rawTable.getParameters.asScala.toMap
+    }
   }
 
   import HiveClientImpl._
@@ -609,6 +613,16 @@ private[hive] class HiveClientImpl(
     shim.alterTable(client, qualifiedTableName, hiveTable)
   }
 
+  override def alterTableProps(
+      rawHiveTable: RawHiveTable,
+      newProps: Map[String, String]): Unit = withHiveState {
+    val hiveTable = rawHiveTable.rawTable.asInstanceOf[HiveTable]
+    val newPropsMap = new JHashMap[String, String]()
+    newPropsMap.putAll(newProps.asJava)
+    hiveTable.getTTable.setParameters(newPropsMap)
+    shim.alterTable(client, s"${hiveTable.getDbName}.${hiveTable.getTableName}", hiveTable)
+  }
+
   override def alterTableDataSchema(
       dbName: String,
       tableName: String,