diff --git a/src/test/java/com/snowflake/kafka/connector/streaming/iceberg/IcebergTableSchemaValidatorIT.java b/src/test/java/com/snowflake/kafka/connector/streaming/iceberg/IcebergTableSchemaValidatorIT.java
index 249bde3c6..abc8bca8e 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/snowflake/kafka/connector/streaming/iceberg/IcebergTableSchemaValidatorIT.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/snowflake/kafka/connector/streaming/iceberg/IcebergTableSchemaValidatorIT.java
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import com.snowflake.kafka.connector.internal.TestUtils;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeAll;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
@@ -10,11 +11,17 @@ public class IcebergTableSchemaValidatorIT extends BaseIcebergIT {
 
   private static final String TEST_ROLE = "testrole_kafka";
 
-  private static final IcebergTableSchemaValidator schemaValidator =
-      new IcebergTableSchemaValidator(conn);
+  private static IcebergTableSchemaValidator schemaValidator;
 
   private String tableName;
 
+  @BeforeAll
+  // overrides the base class @BeforeAll
+  public static void setup() {
+    conn = TestUtils.getConnectionServiceForStreaming();
+    schemaValidator = new IcebergTableSchemaValidator(conn);
+  }
+
   @BeforeEach
   public void setUp() {
     tableName = TestUtils.randomTableName();