diff --git a/core/dbt/include/global_project/macros/materializations/archive/archive.sql b/core/dbt/include/global_project/macros/materializations/archive/archive.sql
index 6e3e96c5f59..ead07b657d7 100644
--- a/core/dbt/include/global_project/macros/materializations/archive/archive.sql
+++ b/core/dbt/include/global_project/macros/materializations/archive/archive.sql
@@ -253,7 +253,14 @@
   {%- set target_table = model.get('alias', model.get('name')) -%}
   {%- set strategy = config.get('strategy') -%}
 
-  {{ create_schema(target_database, target_schema) }}
+  {% set information_schema = api.Relation.create(
+    database=target_database,
+    schema=target_schema,
+    identifier=target_table).information_schema() %}
+
+  {% if not check_schema_exists(information_schema, target_schema) %}
+    {{ create_schema(target_database, target_schema) }}
+  {% endif %}
 
   {%- set target_relation = adapter.get_relation(
       database=target_database,
diff --git a/plugins/bigquery/dbt/include/bigquery/macros/adapters.sql b/plugins/bigquery/dbt/include/bigquery/macros/adapters.sql
index 71bb137781c..1c87ce4dc18 100644
--- a/plugins/bigquery/dbt/include/bigquery/macros/adapters.sql
+++ b/plugins/bigquery/dbt/include/bigquery/macros/adapters.sql
@@ -74,6 +74,6 @@
 {% endmacro %}
 
 
-{% macro bigquery__check_schema_exists(database, schema) %}
-  {{ return(adapter.check_schema_exists(database, schema)) }}
+{% macro bigquery__check_schema_exists(information_schema, schema) %}
+  {{ return(adapter.check_schema_exists(information_schema.database, schema)) }}
 {% endmacro %}