diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/editor/QueryEditor.vue b/apps/desktop/src/components/editor/QueryEditor.vue
index 292d0037a..fdcad01e4 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/editor/QueryEditor.vue
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/editor/QueryEditor.vue
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ import { extractIdentifierAt, isSqlKeyword, matchTable } from "@/lib/sqlNavigati
 import { lineColumnToOffset, parseSqlErrorLocation } from "@/lib/sqlDiagnostics";
 import {
   DBX_TABLE_REFERENCE_MIME,
+  activeTableReferencePayloadValue,
+  clearActiveTableReferencePayload,
   hasTableReferencePayloadType,
   parseTableReferencePayload,
   tableReferenceInsertText,
@@ -723,11 +725,14 @@ async function formatCurrentSql() {
 }
 
 function droppedTableReference(event: DragEvent) {
-  return parseTableReferencePayload(event.dataTransfer?.getData(DBX_TABLE_REFERENCE_MIME));
+  return (
+    activeTableReferencePayloadValue() ??
+    parseTableReferencePayload(event.dataTransfer?.getData(DBX_TABLE_REFERENCE_MIME))
+  );
 }
 
 function hasDroppedTableReference(event: DragEvent) {
-  return hasTableReferencePayloadType(event.dataTransfer?.types);
+  return !!activeTableReferencePayloadValue() || hasTableReferencePayloadType(event.dataTransfer?.types);
 }
 
 function insertDroppedTableReference(currentView: EditorViewType, event: DragEvent): boolean {
@@ -749,6 +754,7 @@ function insertDroppedTableReference(currentView: EditorViewType, event: DragEve
     scrollIntoView: true,
     userEvent: "input.drop",
   });
+  clearActiveTableReferencePayload(payload);
   currentView.focus();
   return true;
 }
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/TreeItem.vue b/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/TreeItem.vue
index 9fb9fe888..2465752e6 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/TreeItem.vue
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/components/sidebar/TreeItem.vue
@@ -60,8 +60,10 @@ import { canTreeNodeShowExpander, treeItemPaddingLeft } from "@/lib/sidebarTreeI
 import { buildTableSelectSql } from "@/lib/tableSelectSql";
 import {
   DBX_TABLE_REFERENCE_MIME,
+  clearActiveTableReferencePayload,
   createTableReferencePayload,
   serializeTableReferencePayload,
+  setActiveTableReferencePayload,
   tableReferenceInsertText,
 } from "@/lib/queryEditorTableDrop";
 import { editablePrimaryKeys, usesSyntheticRowIdKey } from "@/lib/tableEditing";
@@ -1803,9 +1805,11 @@ const canDragTableReference = computed(
     !props.dragDisabled &&
     (props.node.type === "table" || props.node.type === "view") &&
     !!props.node.connectionId &&
-    !!props.node.database,
+    props.node.database != null,
 );
 
+let draggingTableReferencePayload: ReturnType<typeof createTableReferencePayload> = null;
+
 function onTableReferenceDragStart(event: DragEvent) {
   if (!canDragTableReference.value) return;
   const payload = createTableReferencePayload({
@@ -1815,11 +1819,20 @@ function onTableReferenceDragStart(event: DragEvent) {
     tableName: props.node.label,
     databaseType: currentDatabaseType(),
   });
-  if (!payload || !event.dataTransfer) return;
+  if (!payload) return;
+  draggingTableReferencePayload = payload;
+  setActiveTableReferencePayload(payload);
   const insertText = tableReferenceInsertText(payload, currentDatabaseType());
-  event.dataTransfer.effectAllowed = "copy";
-  event.dataTransfer.setData(DBX_TABLE_REFERENCE_MIME, serializeTableReferencePayload(payload));
-  event.dataTransfer.setData("text/plain", insertText);
+  if (event.dataTransfer) {
+    event.dataTransfer.effectAllowed = "copy";
+    event.dataTransfer.setData(DBX_TABLE_REFERENCE_MIME, serializeTableReferencePayload(payload));
+    event.dataTransfer.setData("text/plain", insertText);
+  }
+}
+
+function onTableReferenceDragEnd() {
+  clearActiveTableReferencePayload(draggingTableReferencePayload);
+  draggingTableReferencePayload = null;
 }
 
 // ---- CustomContextMenu ----
@@ -2147,6 +2160,7 @@ function treeItemMenuItems(): ContextMenuItem[] {
         @mousemove="isDropTarget ? updateTarget($event, node.id, node.type) : undefined"
         @mouseleave="clearTarget(node.id)"
         @dragstart="onTableReferenceDragStart"
+        @dragend="onTableReferenceDragEnd"
       >
         <div
           v-if="showDropBefore"
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/queryEditorTableDrop.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/queryEditorTableDrop.ts
index ca9889baa..7a57bbaea 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/queryEditorTableDrop.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/queryEditorTableDrop.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ export interface QueryEditorTableReferencePayload {
   databaseType?: DatabaseType;
 }
 
+let activeTableReferencePayload: QueryEditorTableReferencePayload | null = null;
+
 export function createTableReferencePayload(options: {
   connectionId?: string;
   database?: string;
@@ -19,15 +21,16 @@ export function createTableReferencePayload(options: {
   tableName?: string;
   databaseType?: DatabaseType;
 }): QueryEditorTableReferencePayload | null {
-  if (!options.connectionId || !options.database || !options.tableName) return null;
-  return {
+  if (!options.connectionId || options.database == null || !options.tableName) return null;
+  const payload: QueryEditorTableReferencePayload = {
     kind: "dbx-table-reference",
     connectionId: options.connectionId,
     database: options.database,
-    schema: options.schema,
     tableName: options.tableName,
-    databaseType: options.databaseType,
   };
+  if (options.schema) payload.schema = options.schema;
+  if (options.databaseType) payload.databaseType = options.databaseType;
+  return payload;
 }
 
 export function serializeTableReferencePayload(payload: QueryEditorTableReferencePayload): string {
@@ -44,19 +47,19 @@ export function parseTableReferencePayload(value: string | undefined | null): Qu
       typeof parsed.database !== "string" ||
       typeof parsed.tableName !== "string" ||
       !parsed.connectionId ||
-      !parsed.database ||
       !parsed.tableName
     ) {
       return null;
     }
-    return {
+    const payload: QueryEditorTableReferencePayload = {
       kind: "dbx-table-reference",
       connectionId: parsed.connectionId,
       database: parsed.database,
-      schema: typeof parsed.schema === "string" && parsed.schema ? parsed.schema : undefined,
       tableName: parsed.tableName,
-      databaseType: parsed.databaseType,
     };
+    if (typeof parsed.schema === "string" && parsed.schema) payload.schema = parsed.schema;
+    if (parsed.databaseType) payload.databaseType = parsed.databaseType;
+    return payload;
   } catch {
     return null;
   }
@@ -70,6 +73,20 @@ export function hasTableReferencePayloadType(types: Iterable<string> | undefined
   return false;
 }
 
+export function setActiveTableReferencePayload(payload: QueryEditorTableReferencePayload | null) {
+  activeTableReferencePayload = payload;
+}
+
+export function activeTableReferencePayloadValue(): QueryEditorTableReferencePayload | null {
+  return activeTableReferencePayload;
+}
+
+export function clearActiveTableReferencePayload(payload?: QueryEditorTableReferencePayload | null) {
+  if (!payload || activeTableReferencePayload === payload) {
+    activeTableReferencePayload = null;
+  }
+}
+
 export function tableReferenceInsertText(
   payload: QueryEditorTableReferencePayload,
   fallbackDatabaseType?: DatabaseType,
diff --git a/packages/app-tests/queryEditorTableDrop.test.ts b/packages/app-tests/queryEditorTableDrop.test.ts
index d0cab9154..49bbb4593 100644
--- a/packages/app-tests/queryEditorTableDrop.test.ts
+++ b/packages/app-tests/queryEditorTableDrop.test.ts
@@ -2,15 +2,33 @@ import { strict as assert } from "node:assert";
 import test from "node:test";
 import {
   DBX_TABLE_REFERENCE_MIME,
+  activeTableReferencePayloadValue,
+  clearActiveTableReferencePayload,
   createTableReferencePayload,
   hasTableReferencePayloadType,
   parseTableReferencePayload,
   serializeTableReferencePayload,
+  setActiveTableReferencePayload,
   tableReferenceInsertText,
 } from "../../apps/desktop/src/lib/queryEditorTableDrop.ts";
 
 test("creates table drag payload only when table context is complete", () => {
   assert.equal(createTableReferencePayload({ connectionId: "c1", database: "db" }), null);
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    createTableReferencePayload({
+      connectionId: "c1",
+      database: "",
+      tableName: "catalogless_table",
+      databaseType: "sqlite",
+    }),
+    {
+      kind: "dbx-table-reference",
+      connectionId: "c1",
+      database: "",
+      tableName: "catalogless_table",
+      databaseType: "sqlite",
+    },
+  );
   assert.deepEqual(
     createTableReferencePayload({
       connectionId: "c1",
@@ -39,10 +57,40 @@ test("round trips table drag payload and rejects unrelated data", () => {
   });
   assert.ok(payload);
   assert.deepEqual(parseTableReferencePayload(serializeTableReferencePayload(payload)), payload);
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    parseTableReferencePayload(
+      JSON.stringify({
+        kind: "dbx-table-reference",
+        connectionId: "c1",
+        database: "",
+        tableName: "orders",
+      }),
+    ),
+    {
+      kind: "dbx-table-reference",
+      connectionId: "c1",
+      database: "",
+      tableName: "orders",
+    },
+  );
   assert.equal(parseTableReferencePayload("not json"), null);
   assert.equal(parseTableReferencePayload(JSON.stringify({ kind: "dbx-table-reference", tableName: "orders" })), null);
 });
 
+test("tracks the active in-app table drag payload without dataTransfer reads", () => {
+  const payload = createTableReferencePayload({
+    connectionId: "c1",
+    database: "",
+    tableName: "orders",
+    databaseType: "sqlite",
+  });
+  assert.ok(payload);
+  setActiveTableReferencePayload(payload);
+  assert.equal(activeTableReferencePayloadValue(), payload);
+  clearActiveTableReferencePayload(payload);
+  assert.equal(activeTableReferencePayloadValue(), null);
+});
+
 test("detects table drag payload type without reading drag data", () => {
   assert.equal(hasTableReferencePayloadType(undefined), false);
   assert.equal(hasTableReferencePayloadType(["text/plain"]), false);