diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/boot/model/relational/internal/SqlStringGenerationContextImpl.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/boot/model/relational/internal/SqlStringGenerationContextImpl.java
index 05091caa25..bef59f4503 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/boot/model/relational/internal/SqlStringGenerationContextImpl.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/boot/model/relational/internal/SqlStringGenerationContextImpl.java
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ public class SqlStringGenerationContextImpl
 	/**
 	 * @param jdbcEnvironment The JDBC environment, to extract the dialect, identifier helper, etc.
 	 * @param database The database metadata, to retrieve the implicit namespace name configured through XML mapping.
-	 * @param defaultCatalog The default catalog to use, unless an implicit catalog was configured through XML mapping.
-	 * @param defaultSchema The default schema to use, unless an implicit schema was configured through XML mapping.
+	 * @param defaultCatalog The default catalog to use; if {@code null}, will use the implicit catalog that was configured through XML mapping.
+	 * @param defaultSchema The default schema to use; if {@code null}, will use the implicit schema that was configured through XML mapping.
 	 * @return An {@link SqlStringGenerationContext}.
 	 */
 	public static SqlStringGenerationContext fromExplicit(JdbcEnvironment jdbcEnvironment,
@@ -52,15 +52,17 @@ public class SqlStringGenerationContextImpl
 		NameQualifierSupport nameQualifierSupport = jdbcEnvironment.getNameQualifierSupport();
 		Identifier actualDefaultCatalog = null;
 		if ( nameQualifierSupport.supportsCatalogs() ) {
-			actualDefaultCatalog = implicitNamespaceName.getCatalog() != null
-					? implicitNamespaceName.getCatalog()
-					: identifierHelper.toIdentifier( defaultCatalog );
+			actualDefaultCatalog = identifierHelper.toIdentifier( defaultCatalog );
+			if ( actualDefaultCatalog == null ) {
+				actualDefaultCatalog = implicitNamespaceName.getCatalog();
+			}
 		}
 		Identifier actualDefaultSchema = null;
 		if ( nameQualifierSupport.supportsSchemas() ) {
-			actualDefaultSchema = implicitNamespaceName.getSchema() != null
-					? implicitNamespaceName.getSchema()
-					: identifierHelper.toIdentifier( defaultSchema );
+			actualDefaultSchema = identifierHelper.toIdentifier( defaultSchema );
+			if ( defaultSchema == null ) {
+				actualDefaultSchema = implicitNamespaceName.getSchema();
+			}
 		}
 		return new SqlStringGenerationContextImpl( jdbcEnvironment, actualDefaultCatalog, actualDefaultSchema );
 	}
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cfg/Settings.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cfg/Settings.java
index 1b89ae77ed..ad9c46ad38 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cfg/Settings.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cfg/Settings.java
@@ -61,8 +61,8 @@ public final class Settings {
 
 	public Settings(SessionFactoryOptions sessionFactoryOptions, String defaultCatalogName, String defaultSchemaName) {
 		this.sessionFactoryOptions = sessionFactoryOptions;
-		this.defaultCatalogName = defaultCatalogName != null ? defaultCatalogName : sessionFactoryOptions.getDefaultCatalog();
-		this.defaultSchemaName = defaultSchemaName != null ? defaultSchemaName : sessionFactoryOptions.getDefaultSchema();
+		this.defaultCatalogName = sessionFactoryOptions.getDefaultCatalog() != null ? sessionFactoryOptions.getDefaultCatalog() : defaultCatalogName;
+		this.defaultSchemaName = sessionFactoryOptions.getDefaultSchema() != null ? sessionFactoryOptions.getDefaultSchema() : defaultSchemaName;
 
 		if ( LOG.isDebugEnabled() ) {
 			LOG.debugf( "SessionFactory name : %s", sessionFactoryOptions.getSessionFactoryName() );
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/test/boot/database/qualfiedTableNaming/DefaultCatalogAndSchemaTest.java b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/test/boot/database/qualfiedTableNaming/DefaultCatalogAndSchemaTest.java
index f0c497a6ef..37fc2926bb 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/test/boot/database/qualfiedTableNaming/DefaultCatalogAndSchemaTest.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/test/boot/database/qualfiedTableNaming/DefaultCatalogAndSchemaTest.java
@@ -129,9 +129,9 @@ public class DefaultCatalogAndSchemaTest {
 			// HHH-14922: Inconsistent precedence of orm.xml implicit catalog/schema over "default_catalog"/"default_schema"
 			params.add( new Object[] { mode, "implicit-global-catalog-and-schema.orm.xml",
 					"someDefaultCatalog", "someDefaultSchema",
-					// The implicit catalog/schema defined in the mapping should take precedence
-					// over the default catalog/schema defined in settings.
-					"someImplicitCatalog", "someImplicitSchema"  } );
+					// The default catalog/schema should replace the
+					// implicit catalog/schema defined in the mapping.
+					"someDefaultCatalog", "someDefaultSchema"  } );
 		}
 		return params;
 	}