diff --git a/airbyte-integrations/connectors/destination-bigquery/src/main/java/io/airbyte/integrations/destination/bigquery/BigQueryDestination.java b/airbyte-integrations/connectors/destination-bigquery/src/main/java/io/airbyte/integrations/destination/bigquery/BigQueryDestination.java
index cda6a95e97d1..c4246756356b 100644
--- a/airbyte-integrations/connectors/destination-bigquery/src/main/java/io/airbyte/integrations/destination/bigquery/BigQueryDestination.java
+++ b/airbyte-integrations/connectors/destination-bigquery/src/main/java/io/airbyte/integrations/destination/bigquery/BigQueryDestination.java
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ public AirbyteConnectionStatus checkStorageIamPermissions(final JsonNode config)
 
       final Storage storage = StorageOptions.newBuilder()
           .setProjectId(config.get(BigQueryConsts.CONFIG_PROJECT_ID).asText())
-          .setCredentials(credentials)
+          .setCredentials(!isNull(credentials) ? credentials : ServiceAccountCredentials.getApplicationDefault())
           .build().getService();
       final List<Boolean> permissionsCheckStatusList = storage.testIamPermissions(bucketName, REQUIRED_PERMISSIONS);