diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/MetricsConfig.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/MetricsConfig.java
index 864ec060495e..816f23e7ea99 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/MetricsConfig.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/MetricsConfig.java
@@ -22,13 +22,15 @@
 import com.google.common.collect.Maps;
 import java.util.Map;
 import org.apache.iceberg.MetricsModes.MetricsMode;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import static org.apache.iceberg.TableProperties.DEFAULT_WRITE_METRICS_MODE;
 import static org.apache.iceberg.TableProperties.DEFAULT_WRITE_METRICS_MODE_DEFAULT;
 
 public class MetricsConfig {
 
-  private static final String COLUMN_CONF_PREFIX = "write.metadata.metrics.column.";
+  private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(MetricsConfig.class);
 
   private Map<String, MetricsMode> columnModes = Maps.newHashMap();
   private MetricsMode defaultMode;
@@ -43,15 +45,30 @@ public static MetricsConfig getDefault() {
 
   public static MetricsConfig fromProperties(Map<String, String> props) {
     MetricsConfig spec = new MetricsConfig();
+    String defaultModeAsString = props.getOrDefault(DEFAULT_WRITE_METRICS_MODE, DEFAULT_WRITE_METRICS_MODE_DEFAULT);
+    try {
+      spec.defaultMode = MetricsModes.fromString(defaultModeAsString);
+    } catch (IllegalArgumentException err) {
+      // Mode was invalid, log the error and use the default
+      LOG.warn("Ignoring invalid default metrics mode: {}", defaultModeAsString, err);
+      spec.defaultMode = MetricsModes.fromString(DEFAULT_WRITE_METRICS_MODE_DEFAULT);
+    }
+
     props.keySet().stream()
-        .filter(key -> key.startsWith(COLUMN_CONF_PREFIX))
+        .filter(key -> key.startsWith(TableProperties.METRICS_MODE_COLUMN_CONF_PREFIX))
         .forEach(key -> {
-          MetricsMode mode = MetricsModes.fromString(props.get(key));
-          String columnAlias = key.replaceFirst(COLUMN_CONF_PREFIX, "");
+          String columnAlias = key.replaceFirst(TableProperties.METRICS_MODE_COLUMN_CONF_PREFIX, "");
+          MetricsMode mode;
+          try {
+            mode = MetricsModes.fromString(props.get(key));
+          } catch (IllegalArgumentException err) {
+            // Mode was invalid, log the error and use the default
+            LOG.warn("Ignoring invalid metrics mode for column {}: {}", columnAlias, props.get(key), err);
+            mode = spec.defaultMode;
+          }
           spec.columnModes.put(columnAlias, mode);
         });
-    String defaultModeAsString = props.getOrDefault(DEFAULT_WRITE_METRICS_MODE, DEFAULT_WRITE_METRICS_MODE_DEFAULT);
-    spec.defaultMode = MetricsModes.fromString(defaultModeAsString);
+
     return spec;
   }
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/TableProperties.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/TableProperties.java
index ecb0f31d57ca..42a43dc8a1c2 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/TableProperties.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/TableProperties.java
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ private TableProperties() {}
   public static final String METADATA_COMPRESSION = "write.metadata.compression-codec";
   public static final String METADATA_COMPRESSION_DEFAULT = "none";
 
+  public static final String METRICS_MODE_COLUMN_CONF_PREFIX = "write.metadata.metrics.column.";
   public static final String DEFAULT_WRITE_METRICS_MODE = "write.metadata.metrics.default";
   public static final String DEFAULT_WRITE_METRICS_MODE_DEFAULT = "truncate(16)";
 }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestMetricsModes.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestMetricsModes.java
index 03b6bb792202..698f5c3a193f 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestMetricsModes.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/iceberg/TestMetricsModes.java
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 
 package org.apache.iceberg;
 
+import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableMap;
+import java.util.Map;
 import org.apache.iceberg.MetricsModes.Counts;
 import org.apache.iceberg.MetricsModes.Full;
 import org.apache.iceberg.MetricsModes.None;
@@ -51,4 +53,26 @@ public void testInvalidTruncationLength() {
     exceptionRule.expectMessage("length should be positive");
     MetricsModes.fromString("truncate(0)");
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testInvalidColumnModeValue() {
+    Map<String, String> properties = ImmutableMap.of(
+        TableProperties.DEFAULT_WRITE_METRICS_MODE, "full",
+        TableProperties.METRICS_MODE_COLUMN_CONF_PREFIX + "col", "troncate(5)");
+
+    MetricsConfig config = MetricsConfig.fromProperties(properties);
+    Assert.assertEquals("Invalid mode should be defaulted to table default (full)",
+        MetricsModes.Full.get(), config.columnMode("col"));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testInvalidDefaultColumnModeValue() {
+    Map<String, String> properties = ImmutableMap.of(
+        TableProperties.DEFAULT_WRITE_METRICS_MODE, "fuull",
+        TableProperties.METRICS_MODE_COLUMN_CONF_PREFIX + "col", "troncate(5)");
+
+    MetricsConfig config = MetricsConfig.fromProperties(properties);
+    Assert.assertEquals("Invalid mode should be defaulted to library default (truncate(16))",
+        MetricsModes.Truncate.withLength(16), config.columnMode("col"));
+  }
 }