diff --git a/runtime/drivers/bigquery/bigquery.go b/runtime/drivers/bigquery/bigquery.go
index 4aa2198edf8..68bd9ef3119 100644
--- a/runtime/drivers/bigquery/bigquery.go
+++ b/runtime/drivers/bigquery/bigquery.go
@@ -213,6 +213,9 @@ func parseSourceProperties(props map[string]any) (*sourceProperties, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	if conf.SQL == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("property 'sql' is mandatory for connector \"bigquery\"")
+	}
 	if conf.ProjectID == "" {
 		conf.ProjectID = bigquery.DetectProjectID
 	}
diff --git a/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter/motherduck_to_duckDB.go b/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter/motherduck_to_duckDB.go
index 7e051991fc1..1e6961d7aa2 100644
--- a/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter/motherduck_to_duckDB.go
+++ b/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter/motherduck_to_duckDB.go
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func (t *motherduckToDuckDB) Transfer(ctx context.Context, srcProps, sinkProps m
 		}
 
 		if srcCfg.SQL == "" {
-			return fmt.Errorf("property \"query\" is mandatory for connector \"motherduck\"")
+			return fmt.Errorf("property \"sql\" is mandatory for connector \"motherduck\"")
 		}
 
 		userQuery := strings.TrimSpace(srcCfg.SQL)
diff --git a/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter/utils.go b/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter/utils.go
index c1d8f93d57a..5a816390e24 100644
--- a/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter/utils.go
+++ b/runtime/drivers/duckdb/transporter/utils.go
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 type sourceProperties struct {
-	Database string `mapstructure:"database"`
+	Database string `mapstructure:"db"`
 	SQL      string `mapstructure:"sql"`
 }
 
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ func parseSourceProperties(props map[string]any) (*sourceProperties, error) {
 	if err := mapstructure.Decode(props, cfg); err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse source properties: %w", err)
 	}
+	if cfg.SQL == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("property 'sql' is mandatory")
+	}
 	return cfg, nil
 }