diff --git a/plugins/bigquery/dbt/adapters/bigquery/connections.py b/plugins/bigquery/dbt/adapters/bigquery/connections.py
index 5b3c600c452..50b14702c6f 100644
--- a/plugins/bigquery/dbt/adapters/bigquery/connections.py
+++ b/plugins/bigquery/dbt/adapters/bigquery/connections.py
@@ -294,28 +294,14 @@ def drop_dataset(self, database, schema):
         client = conn.handle
 
         with self.exception_handler('drop dataset'):
-            try:
-                tables = list(client.list_tables(dataset))
-            except google.api_core.exceptions.NotFound:
-                # the dataset doesn't exist. return here to match
-                # 'drop schema if exists' behavior. If anything 404s after this
-                # then there are real problems that should cause us to raise.
-                return
-            for table in tables:
-                client.delete_table(table.reference)
-            client.delete_dataset(dataset)
+            client.delete_dataset(
+                dataset, delete_contents=True, not_found_ok=True
+            )
 
     def create_dataset(self, database, schema):
         conn = self.get_thread_connection()
         client = conn.handle
         dataset = self.dataset(database, schema, conn)
 
-        # Emulate 'create schema if not exists ...'
-        try:
-            client.get_dataset(dataset)
-            return
-        except google.api_core.exceptions.NotFound:
-            pass
-
         with self.exception_handler('create dataset'):
-            client.create_dataset(dataset)
+            client.create_dataset(dataset, exists_ok=True)
diff --git a/plugins/bigquery/setup.py b/plugins/bigquery/setup.py
index 83ccb3550cf..d58743529d2 100644
--- a/plugins/bigquery/setup.py
+++ b/plugins/bigquery/setup.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
     },
     install_requires=[
         'dbt-core=={}'.format(package_version),
-        'google-cloud-bigquery>=1.0.0,<2',
+        'google-cloud-bigquery>=1.15.0,<2',
     ],
     zip_safe=False,
 )