diff --git a/spring-jdbc/src/main/java/org/springframework/jdbc/core/metadata/GenericTableMetaDataProvider.java b/spring-jdbc/src/main/java/org/springframework/jdbc/core/metadata/GenericTableMetaDataProvider.java
index b6e4ad61dca..d043c1f146d 100644
--- a/spring-jdbc/src/main/java/org/springframework/jdbc/core/metadata/GenericTableMetaDataProvider.java
+++ b/spring-jdbc/src/main/java/org/springframework/jdbc/core/metadata/GenericTableMetaDataProvider.java
@@ -218,17 +218,21 @@ public class GenericTableMetaDataProvider implements TableMetaDataProvider {
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * This implementation delegates to {@link #catalogNameToUse}.
+	 */
 	@Override
 	public @Nullable String metaDataCatalogNameToUse(@Nullable String catalogName) {
 		return catalogNameToUse(catalogName);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * This implementation delegates to {@link #schemaNameToUse}.
+	 * @see #getDefaultSchema()
+	 */
 	@Override
 	public @Nullable String metaDataSchemaNameToUse(@Nullable String schemaName) {
-		if (schemaName == null) {
-			return schemaNameToUse(getDefaultSchema());
-		}
-		return schemaNameToUse(schemaName);
+		return schemaNameToUse(schemaName != null ? schemaName : getDefaultSchema());
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -389,7 +393,7 @@ public class GenericTableMetaDataProvider implements TableMetaDataProvider {
 		try {
 			tableColumns = databaseMetaData.getColumns(
 					metaDataCatalogName, metaDataSchemaName, metaDataTableName, null);
-			while (tableColumns.next()) {
+			while (tableColumns != null && tableColumns.next()) {
 				String columnName = tableColumns.getString("COLUMN_NAME");
 				int dataType = tableColumns.getInt("DATA_TYPE");
 				if (dataType == Types.DECIMAL) {
diff --git a/spring-jdbc/src/main/java/org/springframework/jdbc/core/metadata/PostgresTableMetaDataProvider.java b/spring-jdbc/src/main/java/org/springframework/jdbc/core/metadata/PostgresTableMetaDataProvider.java
index fa9338a7d2e..cfea217acf1 100644
--- a/spring-jdbc/src/main/java/org/springframework/jdbc/core/metadata/PostgresTableMetaDataProvider.java
+++ b/spring-jdbc/src/main/java/org/springframework/jdbc/core/metadata/PostgresTableMetaDataProvider.java
@@ -19,12 +19,16 @@ package org.springframework.jdbc.core.metadata;
 import java.sql.DatabaseMetaData;
 import java.sql.SQLException;
 
+import org.springframework.lang.Nullable;
+
 /**
  * The PostgreSQL specific implementation of {@link TableMetaDataProvider}.
  * Supports a feature for retrieving generated keys without the JDBC 3.0
- * {@code getGeneratedKeys} support.
+ * {@code getGeneratedKeys} support. Also, it processes PostgreSQL-returned
+ * catalog and schema names from {@code DatabaseMetaData} in the given case.
  *
  * @author Thomas Risberg
+ * @author Juergen Hoeller
  * @since 2.5
  */
 public class PostgresTableMetaDataProvider extends GenericTableMetaDataProvider {
@@ -34,6 +38,18 @@ public class PostgresTableMetaDataProvider extends GenericTableMetaDataProvider
 	}
 
 
+	@Override
+	@Nullable
+	public String metaDataCatalogNameToUse(@Nullable String catalogName) {
+		return catalogName;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	@Nullable
+	public String metaDataSchemaNameToUse(@Nullable String schemaName) {
+		return (schemaName != null ? schemaName : getDefaultSchema());
+	}
+
 	@Override
 	public boolean isGetGeneratedKeysSimulated() {
 		return true;