diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/ddl.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/ddl.scala
index 5a7f8cf1eb59ef64f9e6d8234d6341f9d2782e23..f924b3d9146351a1db41d407b1d5dda2c0762c5c 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/ddl.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/command/ddl.scala
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ case class AlterTableSetPropertiesCommand(
     // direct property.
     val newTable = table.copy(
       properties = table.properties ++ properties,
-      comment = properties.get("comment"))
+      comment = properties.get("comment").orElse(table.comment))
     catalog.alterTable(newTable)
     Seq.empty[Row]
   }
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/resources/sql-tests/results/describe.sql.out b/sql/core/src/test/resources/sql-tests/results/describe.sql.out
index 329532cd7c842c9f2f8d981caf00bba648be9b7b..ab9f2783f06bb96e542fcf3e518bc18195f2236d 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/resources/sql-tests/results/describe.sql.out
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/resources/sql-tests/results/describe.sql.out
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ Provider            	parquet
 Num Buckets         	2                   	                    
 Bucket Columns      	[`a`]               	                    
 Sort Columns        	[`b`]               	                    
+Comment             	table_comment       	                    
 Table Properties    	[e=3]               	                    
 Location [not included in comparison]sql/core/spark-warehouse/t	                    
 Storage Properties  	[a=1, b=2]          	                    
@@ -157,6 +158,7 @@ Provider            	parquet
 Num Buckets         	2                   	                    
 Bucket Columns      	[`a`]               	                    
 Sort Columns        	[`b`]               	                    
+Comment             	table_comment       	                    
 Table Properties    	[e=3]               	                    
 Location [not included in comparison]sql/core/spark-warehouse/t	                    
 Storage Properties  	[a=1, b=2]