diff --git a/ci/schema/snowflake.sql b/ci/schema/snowflake.sql
index 291e36a29afc..93638382d33f 100644
--- a/ci/schema/snowflake.sql
+++ b/ci/schema/snowflake.sql
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-CREATE OR REPLACE FILE FORMAT ibis_testing
+CREATE OR REPLACE TEMP FILE FORMAT ibis_testing
     type = 'CSV'
     field_delimiter = ','
     skip_header = 1
     field_optionally_enclosed_by = '"';
 
-CREATE OR REPLACE STAGE ibis_testing file_format = ibis_testing;
+CREATE OR REPLACE TEMP STAGE ibis_testing file_format = ibis_testing;
 
 CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE diamonds (
     "carat" FLOAT,
diff --git a/ibis/backends/base/sql/alchemy/__init__.py b/ibis/backends/base/sql/alchemy/__init__.py
index 30f06a288516..ca21cadfc3d5 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/base/sql/alchemy/__init__.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/base/sql/alchemy/__init__.py
@@ -478,16 +478,8 @@ def table(
             Table expression
         """
         if database is not None and database != self.current_database:
-            return self.database(database=database).table(
-                name=name,
-                database=database,
-                schema=schema,
-            )
-        sqla_table = self._get_sqla_table(
-            name,
-            database=database,
-            schema=schema,
-        )
+            return self.database(name=database).table(name=name, schema=schema)
+        sqla_table = self._get_sqla_table(name, database=database, schema=schema)
         return self._sqla_table_to_expr(sqla_table)
 
     def insert(
diff --git a/ibis/backends/snowflake/__init__.py b/ibis/backends/snowflake/__init__.py
index 2c3ce3894dce..19d0a7a4099b 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/snowflake/__init__.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/snowflake/__init__.py
@@ -177,9 +177,22 @@ def connect(dbapi_connection, connection_record):
     def _get_sqla_table(
         self, name: str, schema: str | None = None, **_: Any
     ) -> sa.Table:
-        inspected = self.inspector.get_columns(name, schema)
+        with self.begin() as con:
+            cur_db, cur_schema = con.exec_driver_sql(
+                "SELECT CURRENT_DATABASE(), CURRENT_SCHEMA()"
+            ).fetchone()
+            if schema is not None:
+                con.exec_driver_sql(f"USE {schema}")
+        try:
+            inspected = self.inspector.get_columns(
+                name,
+                schema=schema.split(".", 2)[1] if schema is not None else schema,
+            )
+        finally:
+            with self.begin() as con:
+                con.exec_driver_sql(f"USE {cur_db}.{cur_schema}")
         cols = []
-        identifier = name if not schema else schema + "." + name
+        identifier = name if schema is None else schema + "." + name
         with self.begin() as con:
             cur = con.exec_driver_sql(f"DESCRIBE TABLE {identifier}").mappings()
             for colname, colinfo in zip(toolz.pluck("name", cur), inspected):
diff --git a/ibis/backends/snowflake/tests/conftest.py b/ibis/backends/snowflake/tests/conftest.py
index 14cf682f1a2f..bfd388b7b250 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/snowflake/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/snowflake/tests/conftest.py
@@ -88,3 +88,8 @@ def connect(data_directory: Path) -> BaseBackend:
         if snowflake_url := os.environ.get("SNOWFLAKE_URL"):
             return ibis.connect(snowflake_url)  # type: ignore
         pytest.skip("SNOWFLAKE_URL environment variable is not defined")
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def con(data_directory):
+    return TestConf.connect(data_directory)
diff --git a/ibis/backends/snowflake/tests/test_client.py b/ibis/backends/snowflake/tests/test_client.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..56ddb79b7e76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ibis/backends/snowflake/tests/test_client.py
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import pytest
+
+import ibis
+from ibis.util import guid
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("db", "schema", "cleanup"),
+    [
+        (f"tmp_db_{guid()}", f"tmp_schema_{guid()}", True),
+        ("ibis_testing", f"tmp_schema_{guid()}", False),
+    ],
+    ids=["temp", "perm"],
+)
+def test_cross_db_access(con, db, schema, cleanup):
+    schema = f"{db}.{schema}"
+    table = f"tmp_table_{guid()}"
+    con.raw_sql(f"CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS {db}")
+    try:
+        con.raw_sql(f"CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS {schema}")
+        try:
+            con.raw_sql(f'CREATE TEMP TABLE {schema}.{table} ("x" INT)')
+            t = con.table(table, schema=f"{schema}")
+            assert t.schema() == ibis.schema(dict(x="int"))
+            assert t.execute().empty
+        finally:
+            if cleanup:
+                con.raw_sql(f"DROP SCHEMA {schema}")
+    finally:
+        if cleanup:
+            con.raw_sql(f"DROP DATABASE {db}")