diff --git a/hive/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTypeConverter.java b/hive/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTypeConverter.java
index 31f3b73bd927..dc50c7a6e7fc 100644
--- a/hive/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTypeConverter.java
+++ b/hive/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/HiveTypeConverter.java
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ public static String convert(Type type) {
       case DATE:
         return "date";
       case TIME:
-        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Hive does not support time fields");
+        return "string";
       case TIMESTAMP:
         return "timestamp";
       case STRING: