diff --git a/src/ibis_hotdata/backend.py b/src/ibis_hotdata/backend.py
index c5ba6d5..89323e2 100644
--- a/src/ibis_hotdata/backend.py
+++ b/src/ibis_hotdata/backend.py
@@ -345,6 +345,13 @@ def _managed_table_synced(
         schema_name: str,
         table_name: str,
     ) -> bool:
+        """Return True only if the table exists and its last load has completed.
+
+        A table whose ``synced`` flag is False is still being loaded; we treat
+        it as writable (returns False) so that an in-progress load can be
+        retried without requiring ``overwrite=True``. Tables not present in the
+        information schema also return False (not yet created).
+        """
         for row in self._iterate_information_schema(
             {"connection_id": connection_id, "schema": schema_name, "table": table_name},
             include_columns=False,
@@ -613,9 +620,6 @@ def create_table(
         if temp:
             raise NotImplementedError("Hotdata does not support temporary tables.")
 
-        if obj is not None and schema is not None:
-            raise com.IbisInputError("create_table accepts only one of obj or schema")
-
         data = self._local_table_to_parquet(obj, schema)
         connection_id, schema_name = self._table_location(database)
         if not overwrite and self._managed_table_synced(connection_id, schema_name, name):
diff --git a/src/ibis_hotdata/managed.py b/src/ibis_hotdata/managed.py
index 4f47d24..7357724 100644
--- a/src/ibis_hotdata/managed.py
+++ b/src/ibis_hotdata/managed.py
@@ -9,8 +9,6 @@
 
 
 def build_managed_config(schema: str, tables: list[str]) -> dict[str, Any]:
-    if not tables:
-        return {}
     return {
         "schemas": [
             {
diff --git a/src/ibis_hotdata/types.py b/src/ibis_hotdata/types.py
index c3a4bad..bc2f0b9 100644
--- a/src/ibis_hotdata/types.py
+++ b/src/ibis_hotdata/types.py
@@ -12,5 +12,5 @@ def dtype_from_hotdata_sql_type(sql_type: str | None, *, nullable: bool) -> dt.D
         return dt.String(nullable=nullable)
     try:
         return PostgresType.from_string(sql_type.strip(), nullable=nullable)
-    except Exception:
+    except Exception:  # ibis/sqlglot raise a variety of parse errors; fall back to String
         return dt.String(nullable=nullable)
diff --git a/tests/test_hotdata_backend.py b/tests/test_hotdata_backend.py
index 6f4456e..197a8b7 100644
--- a/tests/test_hotdata_backend.py
+++ b/tests/test_hotdata_backend.py
@@ -499,6 +499,38 @@ def on_create(req: Request) -> Response:
     con.create_database("sales", schema="public", tables=["orders"])
 
 
+def test_create_database_no_tables_still_sends_schema(httpserver: HTTPServer, srv: str):
+    def on_create(req: Request) -> Response:
+        body = req.get_json()
+        assert body == {
+            "name": "empty_db",
+            "source_type": "managed",
+            "config": {
+                "schemas": [{"name": "analytics", "tables": []}],
+            },
+            "skip_discovery": True,
+        }
+        return Response(
+            json.dumps(
+                {
+                    "id": MANAGED_CONN,
+                    "name": "empty_db",
+                    "source_type": "managed",
+                    "discovery_status": "skipped",
+                    "tables_discovered": 0,
+                }
+            ),
+            status=201,
+            content_type="application/json",
+        )
+
+    httpserver.expect_request("/v1/connections", method="GET").respond_with_json({"connections": []})
+    httpserver.expect_request("/v1/connections", method="POST").respond_with_handler(on_create)
+
+    con = ibis.hotdata.connect(api_url=srv, token="tok", workspace_id="ws", verify_ssl=False)
+    con.create_database("empty_db", schema="analytics")
+
+
 def test_drop_table_deletes_managed_table(httpserver: HTTPServer, srv: str):
     httpserver.expect_request("/v1/connections").respond_with_json(managed_connections_response())
     httpserver.expect_request(
diff --git a/tests/test_hotdata_http.py b/tests/test_hotdata_http.py
index 8402e44..b1932ca 100644
--- a/tests/test_hotdata_http.py
+++ b/tests/test_hotdata_http.py
@@ -124,6 +124,7 @@ def test_result_arrow_poll_handles_accepted_result(httpserver: HTTPServer):
     )
     out = client.execute_query("select 1", poll_interval_s=0, poll_timeout_s=5)
     assert out["pa_table"].to_pydict() == {"n": [42]}
+    client.close()
 
 
 def test_async_query_run_failure(httpserver: HTTPServer):