diff --git a/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/BigQueryPreparedStatement.java b/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/BigQueryPreparedStatement.java
index 189c589b404d..9b14e946b094 100644
--- a/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/BigQueryPreparedStatement.java
+++ b/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/BigQueryPreparedStatement.java
@@ -103,8 +103,10 @@ class BigQueryPreparedStatement extends BigQueryStatement implements PreparedSta
   }
 
   private int resolveParameterCount(String query, QueryStatistics queryStatistics) {
-    if (queryStatistics != null && queryStatistics.getQueryParameters() != null) {
-      return queryStatistics.getQueryParameters().size();
+    if (queryStatistics != null) {
+      return queryStatistics.getQueryParameters() == null
+          ? 0
+          : queryStatistics.getQueryParameters().size();
     }
     return (int) query.chars().filter(ch -> ch == POSITIONAL_PARAMETER_CHAR).count();
   }
diff --git a/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/it/ITBigQueryJDBCTest.java b/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/it/ITBigQueryJDBCTest.java
index 31853252d06d..96a8f2972828 100644
--- a/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/it/ITBigQueryJDBCTest.java
+++ b/java-bigquery-jdbc/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/jdbc/it/ITBigQueryJDBCTest.java
@@ -1089,6 +1089,19 @@ public void testPreparedQueryWithExtraPositionalParameterCharacter() throws SQLE
     ResultSet selectResult2 = selectStmt.executeQuery();
     assertNotNull(selectResult2);
 
+    // string literal with ? should pass even if there are no parameters.
+    String noParameterQuery =
+        String.format("SELECT 'Hello, ?World!' FROM %s.%s", DATASET, TABLE_NAME);
+
+    PreparedStatement noParameterStmt = bigQueryConnection.prepareStatement(noParameterQuery);
+
+    // Tests that parameter Metadata is populated before query execution and setter.
+    ParameterMetaData noParameterMetaData = noParameterStmt.getParameterMetaData();
+    assertNotNull(noParameterMetaData);
+    assertEquals(0, noParameterMetaData.getParameterCount());
+
+    ResultSet selectResult3 = noParameterStmt.executeQuery();
+
     boolean dropStatus = bigQueryStatement.execute(dropQuery);
     assertFalse(dropStatus);
   }