diff --git a/sdks/python/apache_beam/io/gcp/bigquery_tools.py b/sdks/python/apache_beam/io/gcp/bigquery_tools.py
index 056182992329..d61e01ab0a69 100644
--- a/sdks/python/apache_beam/io/gcp/bigquery_tools.py
+++ b/sdks/python/apache_beam/io/gcp/bigquery_tools.py
@@ -930,8 +930,8 @@ def get_or_create_table(
       # specified.
       if write_disposition == BigQueryDisposition.WRITE_TRUNCATE:
         self._delete_table(project_id, dataset_id, table_id)
-      elif (not self._is_table_empty(project_id, dataset_id, table_id) and
-            write_disposition == BigQueryDisposition.WRITE_EMPTY):
+      elif (write_disposition == BigQueryDisposition.WRITE_EMPTY and
+            not self._is_table_empty(project_id, dataset_id, table_id)):
         raise RuntimeError(
             'Table %s:%s.%s is not empty but write disposition is WRITE_EMPTY.'
             % (project_id, dataset_id, table_id))