diff --git a/pyiceberg/cli/console.py b/pyiceberg/cli/console.py
index 736c32f817..e7a2ceb416 100644
--- a/pyiceberg/cli/console.py
+++ b/pyiceberg/cli/console.py
@@ -101,6 +101,9 @@ def run(
     else:
         ctx.obj["output"] = JsonOutput(verbose=verbose)
 
+    if ctx.invoked_subcommand == "version":
+        return
+
     try:
         ctx.obj["catalog"] = load_catalog(catalog, **properties)
     except Exception as e:
diff --git a/tests/cli/test_console.py b/tests/cli/test_console.py
index 4f0b8caa9d..5dd1a7bc3b 100644
--- a/tests/cli/test_console.py
+++ b/tests/cli/test_console.py
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 from click.testing import CliRunner
 from pytest_mock import MockFixture
 
+from pyiceberg import __version__
 from pyiceberg.catalog.memory import InMemoryCatalog
 from pyiceberg.cli.console import run
 from pyiceberg.io import WAREHOUSE
@@ -61,6 +62,17 @@ def test_hive_catalog_missing_uri_shows_helpful_error(mocker: MockFixture) -> No
     assert "'uri'" not in result.output
 
 
+def test_version_does_not_load_catalog(mocker: MockFixture) -> None:
+    mock_load_catalog = mocker.patch("pyiceberg.cli.console.load_catalog", side_effect=Exception("should not be called"))
+
+    runner = CliRunner()
+    result = runner.invoke(run, ["version"])
+
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    assert result.output == f"{__version__}\n"
+    mock_load_catalog.assert_not_called()
+
+
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
 def env_vars(mocker: MockFixture) -> None:
     mocker.patch.dict(os.environ, MOCK_ENVIRONMENT)