diff --git a/pyiceberg/catalog/rest/__init__.py b/pyiceberg/catalog/rest/__init__.py
index 2b8b4496f8..29facfea2a 100644
--- a/pyiceberg/catalog/rest/__init__.py
+++ b/pyiceberg/catalog/rest/__init__.py
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ class LoadCredentialsResponse(IcebergBaseModel):
 
 
 class ViewResponse(IcebergBaseModel):
-    metadata_location: str | None = Field(alias="metadata-location", default=None)
+    metadata_location: str = Field(..., alias="metadata-location")
     metadata: ViewMetadata
     config: Properties = Field(default_factory=dict)
 
diff --git a/tests/catalog/test_rest.py b/tests/catalog/test_rest.py
index 4877ee2f73..690ee2b785 100644
--- a/tests/catalog/test_rest.py
+++ b/tests/catalog/test_rest.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 from urllib.parse import parse_qs, urlsplit
 
 import pytest
+from pydantic import ValidationError
 from requests import Request
 from requests.adapters import HTTPAdapter
 from requests.exceptions import HTTPError
@@ -1851,6 +1852,19 @@ def test_load_view_200(rest_mock: Mocker, example_view_metadata_rest_json: dict[
     assert actual.config == example_view_metadata_rest_json["config"]
 
 
+def test_load_view_missing_metadata_location(rest_mock: Mocker, example_view_metadata_rest_json: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
+    response = {k: v for k, v in example_view_metadata_rest_json.items() if k != "metadata-location"}
+    rest_mock.get(
+        f"{TEST_URI}v1/namespaces/fokko/views/view",
+        json=response,
+        status_code=200,
+        request_headers=TEST_HEADERS,
+    )
+    catalog = RestCatalog("rest", uri=TEST_URI, token=TEST_TOKEN)
+    with pytest.raises(ValidationError, match="metadata-location"):
+        catalog.load_view(("fokko", "view"))
+
+
 def test_load_view_404(rest_mock: Mocker) -> None:
     rest_mock.get(
         f"{TEST_URI}v1/namespaces/fokko/views/non_existent_view",