diff --git a/src/dataset_exec.rs b/src/dataset_exec.rs
index 5fe1f4d1..ea8cf8dd 100644
--- a/src/dataset_exec.rs
+++ b/src/dataset_exec.rs
@@ -53,13 +53,25 @@ impl Iterator for PyArrowBatchesAdapter {
 
     fn next(&mut self) -> Option<Self::Item> {
         Python::with_gil(|py| {
+            println!("getting next pyarrow batch");
             let mut batches = self.batches.clone().into_bound(py);
-            Some(
-                batches
-                    .next()?
-                    .and_then(|batch| Ok(batch.extract::<PyArrowType<_>>()?.0))
-                    .map_err(|err| ArrowError::ExternalError(Box::new(err))),
-            )
+            
+            let next_batch = batches.next().expect("no next batch").expect("failed to get next batch");
+
+            // NOTE: This is where the failure actually occurs.
+            // It occurs because `from_pyarrow_bound` uses the default `RecordBatchOptions` which does *not* allow a batch with no columns.
+            // See https://github.com/apache/arrow-rs/pull/1552 for more details.
+            let extracted = next_batch.extract::<PyArrowType<_>>().expect("failed to extract batch");
+            Some(Ok(extracted.0))   
+
+            // Some(Ok(
+            //     batches
+            //         .next()
+            //         .unwrap()
+            //         .and_then(|batch| Ok(batch.extract::<PyArrowType<_>>().unwrap().0))
+            //         .unwrap()
+            //         // .map_err(|err| ArrowError::ExternalError(Box::new(err))),
+            // ))
         })
     }
 }
@@ -83,6 +95,7 @@ impl DatasetExec {
         projection: Option<Vec<usize>>,
         filters: &[Expr],
     ) -> Result<Self, DataFusionError> {
+        println!("initiating new DatasetExec");
         let columns: Option<Result<Vec<String>, DataFusionError>> = projection.map(|p| {
             p.iter()
                 .map(|index| {
@@ -138,7 +151,7 @@ impl DatasetExec {
             Partitioning::UnknownPartitioning(fragments.len()),
             ExecutionMode::Bounded,
         );
-
+        println!("intiating new DatasetExec: done");
         Ok(DatasetExec {
             dataset: dataset.clone().unbind(),
             schema,
@@ -184,45 +197,58 @@ impl ExecutionPlan for DatasetExec {
         partition: usize,
         context: Arc<TaskContext>,
     ) -> DFResult<SendableRecordBatchStream> {
+        println!("executing DatasetExec");
         let batch_size = context.session_config().batch_size();
         Python::with_gil(|py| {
             let dataset = self.dataset.bind(py);
             let fragments = self.fragments.bind(py);
             let fragment = fragments
                 .get_item(partition)
-                .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?;
+                .unwrap();
+                // .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?;
 
             // We need to pass the dataset schema to unify the fragment and dataset schema per PyArrow docs
             let dataset_schema = dataset
                 .getattr("schema")
-                .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?;
+                .unwrap();
+                // .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?;
+            println!("dataset_schema: {:?}", dataset_schema);
             let kwargs = PyDict::new_bound(py);
             kwargs
-                .set_item("columns", self.columns.clone())
-                .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?;
+                .set_item("columns", self.columns.clone()).unwrap();
+                // .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?;
             kwargs
                 .set_item(
                     "filter",
                     self.filter_expr.as_ref().map(|expr| expr.clone_ref(py)),
-                )
-                .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?;
+                ).unwrap();
+                // .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?;
             kwargs
                 .set_item("batch_size", batch_size)
-                .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?;
+                .unwrap();
+                // .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?;
             let scanner = fragment
                 .call_method("scanner", (dataset_schema,), Some(&kwargs))
-                .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?;
+                .unwrap();
+                // .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?;
             let schema: SchemaRef = Arc::new(
                 scanner
                     .getattr("projected_schema")
-                    .and_then(|schema| Ok(schema.extract::<PyArrowType<_>>()?.0))
-                    .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?,
+                    .and_then(|schema| {
+                        let pyarrow_schema = schema.extract::<PyArrowType<_>>().unwrap().0;
+                        println!("pyarrow_schema: {:?}", pyarrow_schema);
+                        Ok(pyarrow_schema)
+                    })
+                    .unwrap(),
+                    // .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?,
             );
             let record_batches: Bound<'_, PyIterator> = scanner
                 .call_method0("to_batches")
-                .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?
+                .unwrap()
+                // .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?
                 .iter()
-                .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?;
+                .unwrap();
+                // .map_err(|err| InnerDataFusionError::External(Box::new(err)))?;
 
             let record_batches = PyArrowBatchesAdapter {
                 batches: record_batches.into(),