diff --git a/pkg/cloud/externalconn/record.go b/pkg/cloud/externalconn/record.go
index 1d5a9552e699..b08d83337ff2 100644
--- a/pkg/cloud/externalconn/record.go
+++ b/pkg/cloud/externalconn/record.go
@@ -293,10 +293,8 @@ func generatePlaceholders(n int) string {
 // Only the values initialized in the receiver are persisted in the system
 // table. If an error is returned, it is callers responsibility to handle it
 // (e.g. rollback transaction).
-func (e *MutableExternalConnection) Create(
-	ctx context.Context, txn isql.Txn, excludedCols map[string]bool,
-) error {
-	cols, qargs, err := e.marshalChanges(excludedCols)
+func (e *MutableExternalConnection) Create(ctx context.Context, txn isql.Txn) error {
+	cols, qargs, err := e.marshalChanges()
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -335,17 +333,11 @@ func (e *MutableExternalConnection) Create(
 
 // marshalChanges marshals all changes in the in-memory representation and returns
 // the names of the columns and marshaled values.
-func (e *MutableExternalConnection) marshalChanges(
-	excludedCols map[string]bool,
-) ([]string, []interface{}, error) {
+func (e *MutableExternalConnection) marshalChanges() ([]string, []interface{}, error) {
 	var cols []string
 	var qargs []interface{}
 
 	for col := range e.dirty {
-		if excludedCols[col] {
-			continue
-		}
-
 		var arg tree.Datum
 		var err error
 
@@ -359,6 +351,9 @@ func (e *MutableExternalConnection) marshalChanges(
 		case `owner`:
 			arg = tree.NewDString(e.rec.Owner.Normalized())
 		case `owner_id`:
+			if e.rec.OwnerID == 0 {
+				continue
+			}
 			arg = tree.NewDOid(e.rec.OwnerID)
 		default:
 			return nil, nil, errors.Newf("cannot marshal column %q", col)
diff --git a/pkg/sql/create_external_connection.go b/pkg/sql/create_external_connection.go
index e6fc0bd6536d..63c2b4f6c32b 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/create_external_connection.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/create_external_connection.go
@@ -136,24 +136,22 @@ func (p *planner) createExternalConnection(
 	ex.SetConnectionDetails(*exConn.ConnectionProto())
 	ex.SetConnectionType(exConn.ConnectionType())
 	ex.SetOwner(p.User())
-	row, err := txn.QueryRowEx(params.ctx, `get-user-id`, txn.KV(),
-		sessiondata.NodeUserSessionDataOverride,
-		`SELECT user_id FROM system.users WHERE username = $1`,
-		p.User(),
-	)
-	if err != nil {
-		return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to get owner ID for External Connection")
+	if p.ExecCfg().Settings.Version.IsActive(params.ctx, clusterversion.V23_1ExternalConnectionsTableHasOwnerIDColumn) {
+		row, err := txn.QueryRowEx(params.ctx, `get-user-id`, txn.KV(),
+			sessiondata.NodeUserSessionDataOverride,
+			`SELECT user_id FROM system.users WHERE username = $1`,
+			p.User(),
+		)
+		if err != nil {
+			return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to get owner ID for External Connection")
+		}
+		ownerID := tree.MustBeDOid(row[0]).Oid
+		ex.SetOwnerID(ownerID)
 	}
-	ownerID := tree.MustBeDOid(row[0]).Oid
-	ex.SetOwnerID(ownerID)
 
 	// Create the External Connection and persist it in the
 	// `system.external_connections` table.
-	excludedCols := make(map[string]bool)
-	if !p.ExecCfg().Settings.Version.IsActive(params.ctx, clusterversion.V23_1ExternalConnectionsTableHasOwnerIDColumn) {
-		excludedCols["owner_id"] = true
-	}
-	if err := ex.Create(params.ctx, txn, excludedCols); err != nil {
+	if err := ex.Create(params.ctx, txn); err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "failed to create external connection")
 	}