diff --git a/google/cloud/bigquery/dbapi/cursor.py b/google/cloud/bigquery/dbapi/cursor.py
index 63264e9ab..597313fd6 100644
--- a/google/cloud/bigquery/dbapi/cursor.py
+++ b/google/cloud/bigquery/dbapi/cursor.py
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ def _format_operation(operation, parameters=None):
             if a parameter used in the operation is not found in the
             ``parameters`` argument.
     """
-    if parameters is None:
+    if parameters is None or len(parameters) == 0:
         return operation
 
     if isinstance(parameters, collections_abc.Mapping):
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_dbapi_cursor.py b/tests/unit/test_dbapi_cursor.py
index 9a1a6b1e8..5c3bfcae9 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_dbapi_cursor.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_dbapi_cursor.py
@@ -601,3 +601,9 @@ def test__format_operation_w_too_short_sequence(self):
             "SELECT %s, %s;",
             ("hello",),
         )
+
+    def test__format_operation_w_empty_dict(self):
+        from google.cloud.bigquery.dbapi import cursor
+
+        formatted_operation = cursor._format_operation("SELECT '%f'", {})
+        self.assertEqual(formatted_operation, "SELECT '%f'")