diff --git a/airflow/hooks/hive_hooks.py b/airflow/hooks/hive_hooks.py
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/airflow/hooks/hive_hooks.py
+++ b/airflow/hooks/hive_hooks.py
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ class HiveCliHook(BaseHook):
         True
         """
         conn = self.conn
+        schema = schema or conn.schema
         if schema:
             hql = "USE {schema};\n{hql}".format(**locals())
Picking up the connection's schema in hive operator