diff --git a/crates/iceberg/src/spec/table_metadata.rs b/crates/iceberg/src/spec/table_metadata.rs
index 38204fc154..94f1191b26 100644
--- a/crates/iceberg/src/spec/table_metadata.rs
+++ b/crates/iceberg/src/spec/table_metadata.rs
@@ -425,6 +425,22 @@ impl TableMetadata {
             .insert(snapshot.snapshot_id(), Arc::new(snapshot));
     }
 
+    fn construct_refs(&mut self) {
+        if let Some(current_snapshot_id) = self.current_snapshot_id {
+            if !self.refs.contains_key(MAIN_BRANCH) {
+                self.refs
+                    .insert(MAIN_BRANCH.to_string(), SnapshotReference {
+                        snapshot_id: current_snapshot_id,
+                        retention: SnapshotRetention::Branch {
+                            min_snapshots_to_keep: None,
+                            max_snapshot_age_ms: None,
+                            max_ref_age_ms: None,
+                        },
+                    });
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Normalize this partition spec.
     ///
     /// This is an internal method
@@ -435,6 +451,7 @@ impl TableMetadata {
     pub(super) fn try_normalize(&mut self) -> Result<&mut Self> {
         self.validate_current_schema()?;
         self.normalize_current_snapshot()?;
+        self.construct_refs();
         self.validate_refs()?;
         self.validate_chronological_snapshot_logs()?;
         self.validate_chronological_metadata_logs()?;
diff --git a/crates/iceberg/src/spec/table_metadata_builder.rs b/crates/iceberg/src/spec/table_metadata_builder.rs
index 26ee52b53e..68ed76987b 100644
--- a/crates/iceberg/src/spec/table_metadata_builder.rs
+++ b/crates/iceberg/src/spec/table_metadata_builder.rs
@@ -1220,14 +1220,19 @@ impl From<TableMetadataBuildResult> for TableMetadata {
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
+    use std::fs::File;
+    use std::io::BufReader;
     use std::thread::sleep;
 
     use super::*;
+    use crate::io::FileIOBuilder;
     use crate::spec::{
         BlobMetadata, NestedField, NullOrder, Operation, PartitionSpec, PrimitiveType, Schema,
         SnapshotRetention, SortDirection, SortField, StructType, Summary, Transform, Type,
         UnboundPartitionField,
     };
+    use crate::table::Table;
+    use crate::TableIdent;
 
     const TEST_LOCATION: &str = "s3://bucket/test/location";
     const LAST_ASSIGNED_COLUMN_ID: i32 = 3;
@@ -2381,4 +2386,30 @@ mod tests {
             last_updated_ms
         );
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_construct_default_main_branch() {
+        // Load the table without ref
+        let file = File::open(format!(
+            "{}/testdata/table_metadata/{}",
+            env!("CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR"),
+            "TableMetadataV2Valid.json"
+        ))
+        .unwrap();
+        let reader = BufReader::new(file);
+        let resp = serde_json::from_reader::<_, TableMetadata>(reader).unwrap();
+
+        let table = Table::builder()
+            .metadata(resp)
+            .metadata_location("s3://bucket/test/location/metadata/v1.json".to_string())
+            .identifier(TableIdent::from_strs(["ns1", "test1"]).unwrap())
+            .file_io(FileIOBuilder::new("memory").build().unwrap())
+            .build()
+            .unwrap();
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            table.metadata().refs.get(MAIN_BRANCH).unwrap().snapshot_id,
+            table.metadata().current_snapshot_id().unwrap()
+        );
+    }
 }