diff --git a/common/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/service/MappingService.scala b/common/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/service/MappingService.scala
index 8ff183269..ff2e7609b 100644
--- a/common/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/service/MappingService.scala
+++ b/common/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/service/MappingService.scala
@@ -25,8 +25,6 @@ class Neo4jWriteMappingStrategy(private val options: Neo4jOptions)
   private val dataConverter = SparkToNeo4jDataConverter()
 
   override def node(row: InternalRow, schema: StructType): java.util.Map[String, AnyRef] = {
-    Validations.validate(ValidateSchemaOptions(options, schema))
-
     val rowMap: java.util.Map[String, Object] = new java.util.HashMap[String, Object]
     val keys: java.util.Map[String, Object] = new java.util.HashMap[String, Object]
     val properties: java.util.Map[String, Object] = new java.util.HashMap[String, Object]
@@ -97,8 +95,6 @@ class Neo4jWriteMappingStrategy(private val options: Neo4jOptions)
   override def relationship(row: InternalRow, schema: StructType): java.util.Map[String, AnyRef] = {
     val rowMap: java.util.Map[String, AnyRef] = new java.util.HashMap[String, AnyRef]
 
-    Validations.validate(ValidateSchemaOptions(options, schema))
-
     val consumer = options.relationshipMetadata.saveStrategy match {
       case RelationshipSaveStrategy.NATIVE => nativeStrategyConsumer()
       case RelationshipSaveStrategy.KEYS => keysStrategyConsumer()
diff --git a/common/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/service/SchemaService.scala b/common/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/service/SchemaService.scala
index 0da1893e1..96762f27f 100644
--- a/common/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/service/SchemaService.scala
+++ b/common/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/service/SchemaService.scala
@@ -684,7 +684,7 @@ class SchemaService(private val options: Neo4jOptions, private val driverCache:
     })
   }
 
-  private def createOptimizationsForNode(struct: Optional[StructType]): Unit = {
+  private def createOptimizationsForNode(struct: StructType): Unit = {
     val schemaMetadata = options.schemaMetadata.optimization
     if (schemaMetadata.nodeConstraint != ConstraintsOptimizationType.NONE
       || schemaMetadata.schemaConstraints != Set(SchemaConstraintsOptimizationType.NONE)) {
@@ -694,13 +694,12 @@ class SchemaService(private val options: Neo4jOptions, private val driverCache:
           options.nodeMetadata.nodeKeys)
       }
       if (schemaMetadata.schemaConstraints.nonEmpty) {
-        val structType: StructType = struct.orElse(emptyStruct)
-        val propFromStruct: Map[String, String] = structType
+        val propFromStruct: Map[String, String] = struct
           .map(f => (f.name, f.name))
           .toMap
         val propsFromMeta: Map[String, String] = options.nodeMetadata.nodeKeys ++ options.nodeMetadata.properties
         createEntityTypeConstraint("NODE", options.nodeMetadata.labels.head,
-          propsFromMeta ++ propFromStruct, structType, schemaMetadata.schemaConstraints)
+          propsFromMeta ++ propFromStruct, struct, schemaMetadata.schemaConstraints)
       }
     } else { // TODO old behaviour, remove it in the future
       options.schemaMetadata.optimizationType match {
@@ -714,7 +713,7 @@ class SchemaService(private val options: Neo4jOptions, private val driverCache:
     }
   }
 
-  private def createOptimizationsForRelationship(struct: Optional[StructType]): Unit = {
+  private def createOptimizationsForRelationship(struct: StructType): Unit = {
     val schemaMetadata = options.schemaMetadata.optimization
     if (schemaMetadata.nodeConstraint != ConstraintsOptimizationType.NONE
       || schemaMetadata.relConstraint != ConstraintsOptimizationType.NONE
@@ -735,19 +734,18 @@ class SchemaService(private val options: Neo4jOptions, private val driverCache:
       if (schemaMetadata.schemaConstraints.nonEmpty) {
         val sourceNodeProps: Map[String, String] = options.relationshipMetadata.source.nodeKeys ++ options.relationshipMetadata.source.properties
         val targetNodeProps: Map[String, String] = options.relationshipMetadata.target.nodeKeys ++ options.relationshipMetadata.target.properties
-        val baseStruct = struct.orElse(emptyStruct)
         val allNodeProps: Map[String, String] = sourceNodeProps ++ targetNodeProps
-        val relStruct: StructType = StructType(baseStruct.filterNot(f => allNodeProps.contains(f.name)))
+        val relStruct: StructType = StructType(struct.filterNot(f => allNodeProps.contains(f.name)))
         val relFromStruct: Map[String, String] = relStruct
           .map(f => (f.name, f.name))
           .toMap
         val propsFromMeta: Map[String, String] = options.relationshipMetadata.relationshipKeys ++ options.relationshipMetadata.properties
         createEntityTypeConstraint("RELATIONSHIP",options.relationshipMetadata.relationshipType,
-          propsFromMeta ++ relFromStruct, baseStruct, schemaMetadata.schemaConstraints)
+          propsFromMeta ++ relFromStruct, struct, schemaMetadata.schemaConstraints)
         createEntityTypeConstraint("NODE", options.relationshipMetadata.source.labels.head,
-          sourceNodeProps, baseStruct, schemaMetadata.schemaConstraints)
+          sourceNodeProps, struct, schemaMetadata.schemaConstraints)
         createEntityTypeConstraint("NODE", options.relationshipMetadata.target.labels.head,
-          targetNodeProps, baseStruct, schemaMetadata.schemaConstraints)
+          targetNodeProps, struct, schemaMetadata.schemaConstraints)
       }
     } else { // TODO old behaviour, remove it in the future
       options.schemaMetadata.optimizationType match {
@@ -764,7 +762,8 @@ class SchemaService(private val options: Neo4jOptions, private val driverCache:
     }
   }
 
-  def createOptimizations(struct: Optional[StructType]): Unit = {
+  def createOptimizations(struct: StructType): Unit = {
+    Validations.validate(ValidateSchemaOptions(options, struct))
     options.query.queryType match {
       case QueryType.LABELS => createOptimizationsForNode(struct)
       case QueryType.RELATIONSHIP => createOptimizationsForRelationship(struct)
diff --git a/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/reader/Neo4jScan.scala b/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/reader/Neo4jScan.scala
index 2410f74ab..f1dab53cf 100644
--- a/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/reader/Neo4jScan.scala
+++ b/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/reader/Neo4jScan.scala
@@ -58,6 +58,6 @@ class Neo4jScan(neo4jOptions: Neo4jOptions,
     optsMap.put(Neo4jOptions.STREAMING_METADATA_STORAGE, StorageType.SPARK.toString)
     val newOpts = new Neo4jOptions(optsMap)
     Validations.validate(ValidateReadStreaming(newOpts, jobId))
-    new Neo4jMicroBatchReader(Optional.of(schema), newOpts, jobId, aggregateColumns)
+    new Neo4jMicroBatchReader(schema, newOpts, jobId, aggregateColumns)
   }
 }
diff --git a/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/streaming/Neo4jMicroBatchReader.scala b/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/streaming/Neo4jMicroBatchReader.scala
index 4981f9a18..ae99d3dcf 100644
--- a/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/streaming/Neo4jMicroBatchReader.scala
+++ b/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/streaming/Neo4jMicroBatchReader.scala
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import org.neo4j.spark.util._
 import java.lang
 import java.util.Optional
 
-class Neo4jMicroBatchReader(private val optionalSchema: Optional[StructType],
+class Neo4jMicroBatchReader(private val schema: StructType,
                             private val neo4jOptions: Neo4jOptions,
                             private val jobId: String,
                             private val aggregateColumns: Array[AggregateFunc])
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class Neo4jMicroBatchReader(private val optionalSchema: Optional[StructType],
 
   private lazy val scriptResult = {
     val schemaService = new SchemaService(neo4jOptions, driverCache)
-    schemaService.createOptimizations(optionalSchema)
+    schemaService.createOptimizations(schema)
     val scriptResult = schemaService.execute(neo4jOptions.script)
     schemaService.close()
     scriptResult
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ class Neo4jMicroBatchReader(private val optionalSchema: Optional[StructType],
 
   override def createReaderFactory(): PartitionReaderFactory = {
     new Neo4jStreamingPartitionReaderFactory(
-      neo4jOptions, optionalSchema.orElse(new StructType()), jobId, scriptResult, offsetAccumulator, aggregateColumns
+      neo4jOptions, schema, jobId, scriptResult, offsetAccumulator, aggregateColumns
     )
   }
 }
diff --git a/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/streaming/Neo4jStreamingWriter.scala b/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/streaming/Neo4jStreamingWriter.scala
index 8d72338c0..37f40abd3 100644
--- a/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/streaming/Neo4jStreamingWriter.scala
+++ b/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/streaming/Neo4jStreamingWriter.scala
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ class Neo4jStreamingWriter(val queryId: String,
 
   private lazy val scriptResult = {
     val schemaService = new SchemaService(neo4jOptions, driverCache)
-    schemaService.createOptimizations(Optional.of(schema))
+    schemaService.createOptimizations(schema)
     val scriptResult = schemaService.execute(neo4jOptions.script)
     schemaService.close()
     scriptResult
diff --git a/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/writer/Neo4jBatchWriter.scala b/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/writer/Neo4jBatchWriter.scala
index 3d6edc9c4..fce0fa332 100644
--- a/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/writer/Neo4jBatchWriter.scala
+++ b/spark-3/src/main/scala/org/neo4j/spark/writer/Neo4jBatchWriter.scala
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ class Neo4jBatchWriter(jobId: String,
                        neo4jOptions: Neo4jOptions) extends BatchWrite{
   override def createBatchWriterFactory(physicalWriteInfo: PhysicalWriteInfo): DataWriterFactory = {
     val schemaService = new SchemaService(neo4jOptions, driverCache)
-    schemaService.createOptimizations(Optional.of(structType))
+    schemaService.createOptimizations(structType)
     val scriptResult = schemaService.execute(neo4jOptions.script)
     schemaService.close()
 
diff --git a/spark-3/src/test/scala/org/neo4j/spark/DataSourceWriterNeo4jTSE.scala b/spark-3/src/test/scala/org/neo4j/spark/DataSourceWriterNeo4jTSE.scala
index 3d61101ca..cd3cd47fd 100644
--- a/spark-3/src/test/scala/org/neo4j/spark/DataSourceWriterNeo4jTSE.scala
+++ b/spark-3/src/test/scala/org/neo4j/spark/DataSourceWriterNeo4jTSE.scala
@@ -2,19 +2,19 @@ package org.neo4j.spark
 
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.exception.ExceptionUtils
 import org.apache.spark.SparkException
-import org.apache.spark.scheduler.{SparkListener, SparkListenerJobEnd, SparkListenerStageCompleted}
+import org.apache.spark.scheduler.{SparkListener, SparkListenerStageCompleted}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.{DataFrame, SaveMode, SparkSession}
 import org.junit.Assert.{assertEquals, assertTrue, fail}
-import org.junit.{Assume, BeforeClass, Test}
+import org.junit.Test
 import org.neo4j.driver.summary.ResultSummary
-import org.neo4j.driver.{Result, SessionConfig, Transaction, TransactionWork}
+import org.neo4j.driver.{Result, Session, SessionConfig, Transaction, TransactionWork}
 import org.neo4j.spark.writer.DataWriterMetrics
 
 import java.util.concurrent.{CountDownLatch, TimeUnit}
 
 class DataSourceWriterNeo4jTSE extends SparkConnectorScalaBaseTSE {
 
-  val sparkSession = SparkSession.builder().getOrCreate()
+  private val sparkSession = SparkSession.builder().getOrCreate()
 
   import sparkSession.implicits._
 
@@ -496,15 +496,15 @@ class DataSourceWriterNeo4jTSE extends SparkConnectorScalaBaseTSE {
         .option("relationship.target.node.keys", "instrument:name")
         .save()
     } catch {
-      case sparkException: SparkException => {
-        val clientException = ExceptionUtils.getRootCause(sparkException)
+      case exception: IllegalArgumentException => {
+        val clientException = ExceptionUtils.getRootCause(exception)
         assertTrue(clientException.getMessage.equals(
           """Write failed due to the following errors:
             | - Schema is missing musician_name from option `relationship.source.node.keys`
             |
             |The option key and value might be inverted.""".stripMargin))
       }
-      case generic: Throwable => fail(s"should be thrown a ${classOf[SparkException].getName}, got ${generic.getClass} instead")
+      case generic: Throwable => fail(s"should be thrown a ${classOf[IllegalArgumentException].getName}, got ${generic.getClass} instead")
     }
   }
 
@@ -533,8 +533,8 @@ class DataSourceWriterNeo4jTSE extends SparkConnectorScalaBaseTSE {
         .option("relationship.target.node.keys", "instrument_name:name")
         .save()
     } catch {
-      case sparkException: SparkException => {
-        val clientException = ExceptionUtils.getRootCause(sparkException)
+      case exception: IllegalArgumentException => {
+        val clientException = ExceptionUtils.getRootCause(exception)
         assertTrue(clientException.getMessage.equals(
           """Write failed due to the following errors:
             | - Schema is missing instrument_name from option `relationship.target.node.keys`
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@ class DataSourceWriterNeo4jTSE extends SparkConnectorScalaBaseTSE {
             |
             |The option key and value might be inverted.""".stripMargin))
       }
-      case generic: Throwable => fail(s"should be thrown a ${classOf[SparkException].getName}, got ${generic.getClass} instead")
+      case generic: Throwable => fail(s"should be thrown a ${classOf[IllegalArgumentException].getName}, got ${generic.getClass} instead")
     }
   }
 
@@ -565,15 +565,15 @@ class DataSourceWriterNeo4jTSE extends SparkConnectorScalaBaseTSE {
         .option("node.properties", "musician_name:name,another_name:name")
         .save()
     } catch {
-      case sparkException: SparkException => {
-        val clientException = ExceptionUtils.getRootCause(sparkException)
+      case exception: IllegalArgumentException => {
+        val clientException = ExceptionUtils.getRootCause(exception)
         assertTrue(clientException.getMessage.equals(
           """Write failed due to the following errors:
             | - Schema is missing instrument_name from option `node.properties`
             |
             |The option key and value might be inverted.""".stripMargin))
       }
-      case generic: Throwable => fail(s"should be thrown a ${classOf[SparkException].getName}, got ${generic.getClass} instead: ${generic.getMessage}")
+      case generic: Throwable => fail(s"should be thrown a ${classOf[IllegalArgumentException].getName}, got ${generic.getClass} instead: ${generic.getMessage}")
     }
   }
 
@@ -604,6 +604,43 @@ class DataSourceWriterNeo4jTSE extends SparkConnectorScalaBaseTSE {
     latch.await(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
   }
 
+  @Test
+  def `does not create constraint if schema validation fails`(): Unit = {
+    val cities = Seq(
+      (1, "Cherbourg en Cotentin"),
+      (2, "London"),
+      (3, "Malmö"),
+    ).toDF("id", "city")
+
+    try {
+      cities.write
+        .format(classOf[DataSource].getName)
+        .mode(SaveMode.Overwrite)
+        .option("url", SparkConnectorScalaSuiteIT.server.getBoltUrl)
+        .option("labels", ":News")
+        .option("node.keys", "newsId")
+        .option("schema.optimization.node.keys", "UNIQUE")
+        .save()
+    } catch {
+      case _:Exception => {
+      }
+    }
+
+    var session: Session = null
+    try {
+      session = SparkConnectorScalaSuiteIT.driver.session()
+      val result = session.run("SHOW CONSTRAINTS YIELD labelsOrTypes WHERE labelsOrTypes[0] = 'News' RETURN count(*) AS count")
+        .single()
+        .get("count")
+        .asLong()
+      assertEquals(0, result)
+    } finally {
+      if (session != null) {
+        session.close()
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   class MetricsListener(expectedMetrics: Map[String, Any], done: CountDownLatch) extends SparkListener {
     override def onStageCompleted(stageCompleted: SparkListenerStageCompleted): Unit = {
       val actualMetrics = stageCompleted