diff --git a/target_snowflake/connector.py b/target_snowflake/connector.py
index 60187b2..5eb69b8 100644
--- a/target_snowflake/connector.py
+++ b/target_snowflake/connector.py
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ def create_engine(self) -> Engine:
         Returns:
             A new SQLAlchemy Engine.
         """
-        return sqlalchemy.create_engine(
+        engine = sqlalchemy.create_engine(
             self.sqlalchemy_url,
             connect_args={
                 "session_parameters": {
@@ -143,6 +143,12 @@ def create_engine(self) -> Engine:
             },
             echo=False,
         )
+        connection = engine.connect()
+        db_names = [db[1] for db in connection.execute(text("SHOW DATABASES;")).fetchall()]
+        if self.config["database"] not in db_names:
+            raise Exception(f"Database '{self.config['database']}' does not exist or the user/role doesn't have access to it.")
+        return engine
+
 
     def prepare_column(
         self,
diff --git a/tests/test_target_snowflake.py b/tests/test_target_snowflake.py
index 5c55ac0..fa37892 100644
--- a/tests/test_target_snowflake.py
+++ b/tests/test_target_snowflake.py
@@ -89,3 +89,14 @@ class TestTargetSnowflake(BaseSnowflakeTargetTests, StandardTargetTests):  # typ
 
 class TestTargetSnowflakeBatch(BaseSnowflakeTargetTests, BatchTargetTests):  # type: ignore[misc, valid-type]  # noqa: E501
     """Batch Target Tests."""
+
+def test_invalid_database():
+    INVALID_TEST_CONFIG = copy.deepcopy(SAMPLE_CONFIG)
+    INVALID_TEST_CONFIG["database"] = "FOO_BAR_DOESNT_EXIST"
+    runner = TargetTestRunner(
+        TargetSnowflake,
+        config=INVALID_TEST_CONFIG,
+        input_filepath="tests/target_test_streams/existing_table.singer"
+    )
+    with pytest.raises(Exception):
+        runner.sync_all()
\ No newline at end of file