diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cfg/JdbcSettings.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cfg/JdbcSettings.java
index 8f0f628a9d76..2ae730b7e75a 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cfg/JdbcSettings.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cfg/JdbcSettings.java
@@ -490,6 +490,21 @@ public interface JdbcSettings extends C3p0Settings, ProxoolSettings, AgroalSetti
 	 */
 	String ALLOW_METADATA_ON_BOOT = "hibernate.boot.allow_jdbc_metadata_access";
 
+	/**
+	 * Whether failures to access the JDBC {@linkplain java.sql.DatabaseMetaData metadata} should be ignored and the
+	 * bootstrapping process should continue. Hibernate then uses a default JDBC
+	 * {@linkplain org.hibernate.engine.jdbc.env.spi.JdbcEnvironment environment}.
+	 * <p/>
+	 * Failures to access the metadata can result in unexpected runtime errors when accessing the database, since the
+	 * default JDBC environment might not correctly represent the capabilities of the underlying database.
+	 * <p/>
+	 * This setting only takes effect when the {@link #ALLOW_METADATA_ON_BOOT} setting is activated.
+	 *
+	 * @settingDefault {@code true}
+	 * @see #ALLOW_METADATA_ON_BOOT
+	 * @since 6.6
+	 */
+	String IGNORE_METADATA_ACCESS_FAILURE_ON_BOOT = "hibernate.boot.ignore_jdbc_metadata_access_failure";
 
 	// ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 	// Deprecated Hibernate settings
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/engine/jdbc/env/internal/JdbcEnvironmentInitiator.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/engine/jdbc/env/internal/JdbcEnvironmentInitiator.java
index 7038b1aa9fc3..ecc9492c96b8 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/engine/jdbc/env/internal/JdbcEnvironmentInitiator.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/engine/jdbc/env/internal/JdbcEnvironmentInitiator.java
@@ -13,13 +13,13 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.StringTokenizer;
 
+import org.hibernate.HibernateException;
 import org.hibernate.boot.registry.StandardServiceInitiator;
 import org.hibernate.cfg.JdbcSettings;
 import org.hibernate.dialect.DatabaseVersion;
 import org.hibernate.dialect.Dialect;
 import org.hibernate.engine.config.spi.ConfigurationService;
 import org.hibernate.engine.jdbc.batch.spi.BatchBuilder;
-import org.hibernate.engine.jdbc.connections.internal.ConnectionProviderInitiator;
 import org.hibernate.engine.jdbc.connections.internal.DatabaseConnectionInfoImpl;
 import org.hibernate.engine.jdbc.connections.spi.ConnectionProvider;
 import org.hibernate.engine.jdbc.connections.spi.DatabaseConnectionInfo;
@@ -321,7 +321,7 @@ private JdbcEnvironmentImpl getJdbcEnvironmentUsingJdbcMetadata(
 			return temporaryJdbcSessionOwner.transactionCoordinator.createIsolationDelegate().delegateWork(
 					new AbstractReturningWork<>() {
 						@Override
-						public JdbcEnvironmentImpl execute(Connection connection) {
+						public JdbcEnvironmentImpl execute(Connection connection) throws SQLException {
 							try {
 								final DatabaseMetaData metadata = connection.getMetaData();
 								logDatabaseAndDriver( metadata );
@@ -357,7 +357,12 @@ public JdbcEnvironmentImpl execute(Connection connection) {
 								);
 							}
 							catch (SQLException e) {
-								log.unableToObtainConnectionMetadata( e );
+								if ( shouldIgnoreMetadataAccessFailure( configurationValues ) ) {
+									log.unableToObtainConnectionMetadata( e );
+								}
+								else {
+									throw e;
+								}
 							}
 
 							// accessing the JDBC metadata failed
@@ -387,12 +392,25 @@ private int databaseMicroVersion(DatabaseMetaData metadata) throws SQLException
 			);
 		}
 		catch ( Exception e ) {
-			log.unableToObtainConnectionToQueryMetadata( e );
+			if ( shouldIgnoreMetadataAccessFailure( configurationValues ) ) {
+				log.unableToObtainConnectionToQueryMetadata( e );
+			}
+			else {
+				throw new HibernateException( "Unable to access JDBC metadata", e );
+			}
 		}
 		// accessing the JDBC metadata failed
 		return getJdbcEnvironmentWithDefaults( configurationValues, registry, dialectFactory );
 	}
 
+	private static boolean shouldIgnoreMetadataAccessFailure(Map<String, Object> configurationValues) {
+		return getBoolean(
+				JdbcSettings.IGNORE_METADATA_ACCESS_FAILURE_ON_BOOT,
+				configurationValues,
+				true
+		);
+	}
+
 	private static void logDatabaseAndDriver(DatabaseMetaData dbmd) throws SQLException {
 		if ( log.isDebugEnabled() ) {
 			log.debugf(
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/boot/database/metadata/MetadataAccessTests.java b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/boot/database/metadata/MetadataAccessTests.java
index b5cd886cae2a..4b16ade67b52 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/boot/database/metadata/MetadataAccessTests.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/boot/database/metadata/MetadataAccessTests.java
@@ -6,10 +6,6 @@
  */
 package org.hibernate.orm.test.boot.database.metadata;
 
-import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
-import static org.hibernate.dialect.SimpleDatabaseVersion.ZERO_VERSION;
-import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.fail;
-
 import java.lang.reflect.Field;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
@@ -50,6 +46,11 @@
 
 import org.jboss.logging.Logger;
 
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatExceptionOfType;
+import static org.hibernate.dialect.SimpleDatabaseVersion.ZERO_VERSION;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.fail;
+
 /**
  * @author Steve Ebersole
  */
@@ -203,6 +204,23 @@ void testAccessDisabledNoDialectNorProductName() {
 		}
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	@Jira("https://hibernate.atlassian.net/browse/HHH-18286")
+	void testDontIgnoreMetadataAccessFailureWhenConnectionCantBeObtained() {
+		StandardServiceRegistryBuilder registryBuilder = new StandardServiceRegistryBuilder();
+		registryBuilder.clearSettings();
+
+		registryBuilder.applySetting( JdbcSettings.IGNORE_METADATA_ACCESS_FAILURE_ON_BOOT, false );
+
+		try (StandardServiceRegistry registry = registryBuilder.build()) {
+			assertThatExceptionOfType( ServiceException.class )
+					.isThrownBy( () -> registry.getService( JdbcEnvironment.class ) )
+					.havingCause()
+					.isInstanceOf( HibernateException.class )
+					.withMessage( "Unable to access JDBC metadata" );
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Ugly hack because neither MINIMUM_VERSION nor getMinimumSupportedVersion()
 	// can be accessed from this test.
 	private static DatabaseVersion getVersionConstant(Class<? extends Dialect> dialectClass, String versionConstantName) {