diff --git a/extension/persistence/eclipselink/src/main/java/io/polaris/extension/persistence/impl/eclipselink/PolarisEclipseLinkMetaStoreSessionImpl.java b/extension/persistence/eclipselink/src/main/java/io/polaris/extension/persistence/impl/eclipselink/PolarisEclipseLinkMetaStoreSessionImpl.java
index 43a78436f2..0463eb55e4 100644
--- a/extension/persistence/eclipselink/src/main/java/io/polaris/extension/persistence/impl/eclipselink/PolarisEclipseLinkMetaStoreSessionImpl.java
+++ b/extension/persistence/eclipselink/src/main/java/io/polaris/extension/persistence/impl/eclipselink/PolarisEclipseLinkMetaStoreSessionImpl.java
@@ -15,11 +15,9 @@
  */
 package io.polaris.extension.persistence.impl.eclipselink;
 
-import static org.eclipse.persistence.config.PersistenceUnitProperties.ECLIPSELINK_PERSISTENCE_XML;
 import static org.eclipse.persistence.config.PersistenceUnitProperties.JDBC_URL;
 
 import com.google.common.base.Predicates;
-import com.google.common.collect.Maps;
 import io.polaris.core.PolarisCallContext;
 import io.polaris.core.context.RealmContext;
 import io.polaris.core.entity.PolarisBaseEntity;
@@ -47,7 +45,7 @@
 import jakarta.persistence.EntityTransaction;
 import jakarta.persistence.OptimisticLockException;
 import jakarta.persistence.Persistence;
-import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -106,7 +104,6 @@ public PolarisEclipseLinkMetaStoreSessionImpl(
       properties.put(
           JDBC_URL, properties.get(JDBC_URL).replace("{realm}", realmContext.getRealmIdentifier()));
     }
-    properties.put(ECLIPSELINK_PERSISTENCE_XML, confFile);
 
     emf = Persistence.createEntityManagerFactory(persistenceUnitName, properties);
 
@@ -124,7 +121,7 @@ private Map<String, String> loadProperties(String confFile, String persistenceUn
     }
 
     try {
-      InputStream input = this.getClass().getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(confFile);
+      FileInputStream input = new FileInputStream(confFile);
       DocumentBuilderFactory factory = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
       DocumentBuilder builder = factory.newDocumentBuilder();
       Document doc = builder.parse(input);
@@ -144,13 +141,13 @@ private Map<String, String> loadProperties(String confFile, String persistenceUn
       this.properties = properties;
       return properties;
     } catch (Exception e) {
-      LOG.warn(
-          "Cannot find or parse the configuration file {} for persistence-unit {}",
-          confFile,
-          persistenceUnitName);
+      String errorMessage =
+          String.format(
+              "Cannot find or parse the configuration file {} for persistence-unit {}",
+              confFile,
+              persistenceUnitName);
+      throw new IllegalArgumentException(errorMessage, e);
     }
-
-    return Maps.newHashMap();
   }
 
   /** {@inheritDoc} */
diff --git a/extension/persistence/eclipselink/src/test/java/com/snowflake/polaris/persistence/impl/eclipselink/PolarisEclipseLinkMetaStoreTest.java b/extension/persistence/eclipselink/src/test/java/com/snowflake/polaris/persistence/impl/eclipselink/PolarisEclipseLinkMetaStoreTest.java
index 03cc1026e9..e255976862 100644
--- a/extension/persistence/eclipselink/src/test/java/com/snowflake/polaris/persistence/impl/eclipselink/PolarisEclipseLinkMetaStoreTest.java
+++ b/extension/persistence/eclipselink/src/test/java/com/snowflake/polaris/persistence/impl/eclipselink/PolarisEclipseLinkMetaStoreTest.java
@@ -24,7 +24,14 @@
 import io.polaris.core.persistence.PolarisTestMetaStoreManager;
 import io.polaris.extension.persistence.impl.eclipselink.PolarisEclipseLinkMetaStoreSessionImpl;
 import io.polaris.extension.persistence.impl.eclipselink.PolarisEclipseLinkStore;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.time.ZoneId;
+import java.util.Objects;
+import java.util.UUID;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.mockito.Mockito;
 
 /**
@@ -36,11 +43,20 @@ public class PolarisEclipseLinkMetaStoreTest extends PolarisMetaStoreManagerTest
 
   @Override
   protected PolarisTestMetaStoreManager createPolarisTestMetaStoreManager() {
+    Path tmpFile = Paths.get(String.format("/tmp/%s-persistence.xml", UUID.randomUUID()));
+    try {
+      Files.copy(
+          Objects.requireNonNull(getClass().getResourceAsStream("/META-INF/persistence.xml")),
+          tmpFile);
+    } catch (IOException e) {
+      throw new RuntimeException(e);
+    }
+
     PolarisDiagnostics diagServices = new PolarisDefaultDiagServiceImpl();
     PolarisEclipseLinkStore store = new PolarisEclipseLinkStore(diagServices);
     PolarisEclipseLinkMetaStoreSessionImpl session =
         new PolarisEclipseLinkMetaStoreSessionImpl(
-            store, Mockito.mock(), () -> "realm", null, "polaris-dev");
+            store, Mockito.mock(), () -> "realm", tmpFile.toString(), "polaris-dev");
     return new PolarisTestMetaStoreManager(
         new PolarisMetaStoreManagerImpl(),
         new PolarisCallContext(
@@ -49,4 +65,20 @@ protected PolarisTestMetaStoreManager createPolarisTestMetaStoreManager() {
             new PolarisConfigurationStore() {},
             timeSource.withZone(ZoneId.systemDefault())));
   }
+
+  @Test
+  void throwExceptionIfConfigFileDoesNotExists() {
+    PolarisDiagnostics diagServices = new PolarisDefaultDiagServiceImpl();
+    PolarisEclipseLinkStore store = new PolarisEclipseLinkStore(diagServices);
+    new PolarisEclipseLinkMetaStoreSessionImpl(
+        store, Mockito.mock(), () -> "realm", "does not exists", "polaris-dev");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void ensureNotLoadingDefaultClassPersistence() {
+    PolarisDiagnostics diagServices = new PolarisDefaultDiagServiceImpl();
+    PolarisEclipseLinkStore store = new PolarisEclipseLinkStore(diagServices);
+    new PolarisEclipseLinkMetaStoreSessionImpl(
+        store, Mockito.mock(), () -> "realm", null, "polaris-dev");
+  }
 }