diff --git a/google-cloud-clients/google-cloud-bigquery/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/BigQueryImpl.java b/google-cloud-clients/google-cloud-bigquery/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/BigQueryImpl.java
index c4d6f0f7ae88..3cfaa9629609 100644
--- a/google-cloud-clients/google-cloud-bigquery/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/BigQueryImpl.java
+++ b/google-cloud-clients/google-cloud-bigquery/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/BigQueryImpl.java
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 import com.google.cloud.bigquery.spi.v2.BigQueryRpc;
 import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting;
 import com.google.common.base.Function;
+import com.google.common.base.Strings;
 import com.google.common.base.Supplier;
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
 import com.google.common.collect.Iterables;
@@ -401,7 +402,12 @@ public Table getTable(final String datasetId, final String tableId, TableOption.
 
   @Override
   public Table getTable(TableId tableId, TableOption... options) {
-    final TableId completeTableId = tableId.setProjectId(getOptions().getProjectId());
+    // More context about why this: https://github.com/googleapis/google-cloud-java/issues/3808
+    final TableId completeTableId = tableId.setProjectId(
+        Strings.isNullOrEmpty(tableId.getProject())
+            ? getOptions().getProjectId()
+            : tableId.getProject()
+    );
     final Map<BigQueryRpc.Option, ?> optionsMap = optionMap(options);
     try {
       com.google.api.services.bigquery.model.Table answer =
diff --git a/google-cloud-clients/google-cloud-bigquery/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/BigQueryImplTest.java b/google-cloud-clients/google-cloud-bigquery/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/BigQueryImplTest.java
index fe0d8572d46f..8291045b34d1 100644
--- a/google-cloud-clients/google-cloud-bigquery/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/BigQueryImplTest.java
+++ b/google-cloud-clients/google-cloud-bigquery/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/BigQueryImplTest.java
@@ -603,6 +603,20 @@ public void testGetTableFromTableIdWithProject() {
     assertEquals(new Table(bigquery, new TableInfo.BuilderImpl(tableInfo)), table);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testGetTableFromTableIdWithoutProject() {
+    TableInfo tableInfo = TABLE_INFO.setProjectId(PROJECT);
+    TableId tableId = TableId.of("", TABLE_ID.getDataset(), TABLE_ID.getTable());
+    EasyMock.expect(bigqueryRpcMock.getTable(PROJECT, DATASET, TABLE, EMPTY_RPC_OPTIONS))
+        .andReturn(tableInfo.toPb());
+    EasyMock.replay(bigqueryRpcMock);
+    BigQueryOptions bigQueryOptions =
+        createBigQueryOptionsForProject(PROJECT, rpcFactoryMock);
+    bigquery = bigQueryOptions.getService();
+    Table table = bigquery.getTable(tableId);
+    assertEquals(new Table(bigquery, new TableInfo.BuilderImpl(tableInfo)), table);
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testGetTableWithSelectedFields() {
     Capture<Map<BigQueryRpc.Option, Object>> capturedOptions = Capture.newInstance();