diff --git a/google/cloud/bigquery/client.py b/google/cloud/bigquery/client.py
index e7cafc47e..5d91a4263 100644
--- a/google/cloud/bigquery/client.py
+++ b/google/cloud/bigquery/client.py
@@ -1389,6 +1389,7 @@ def update_table(
         self,
         table: Table,
         fields: Sequence[str],
+        autodetect_schema: bool = False,
         retry: retries.Retry = DEFAULT_RETRY,
         timeout: TimeoutType = DEFAULT_TIMEOUT,
     ) -> Table:
@@ -1419,6 +1420,10 @@ def update_table(
             fields (Sequence[str]):
                 The fields of ``table`` to change, spelled as the
                 :class:`~google.cloud.bigquery.table.Table` properties.
+            autodetect_schema (bool):
+                Specifies if the schema of the table should be autodetected when
+                updating the table from the underlying source. Only applicable
+                for external tables.
             retry (Optional[google.api_core.retry.Retry]):
                 A description of how to retry the API call.
             timeout (Optional[float]):
@@ -1438,12 +1443,17 @@ def update_table(
         path = table.path
         span_attributes = {"path": path, "fields": fields}
 
+        query_params = {}
+        if autodetect_schema:
+            query_params["autodetect_schema"] = True
+
         api_response = self._call_api(
             retry,
             span_name="BigQuery.updateTable",
             span_attributes=span_attributes,
             method="PATCH",
             path=path,
+            query_params=query_params,
             data=partial,
             headers=headers,
             timeout=timeout,
diff --git a/tests/system/test_client.py b/tests/system/test_client.py
index 9df572b14..ea8cc4046 100644
--- a/tests/system/test_client.py
+++ b/tests/system/test_client.py
@@ -978,6 +978,52 @@ def test_update_table_constraints(self):
         )
         self.assertIsNone(reference_table3.table_constraints, None)
 
+    def test_update_table_autodetect_schema(self):
+        dataset = self.temp_dataset(_make_dataset_id("bq_update_table_test"))
+
+        # Create an external table, restrict schema to one field
+        TABLE_NAME = "test_table"
+        set_schema = [bigquery.SchemaField("username", "STRING", mode="NULLABLE")]
+        table_arg = Table(dataset.table(TABLE_NAME))
+
+        # Create an external_config and include it in the table arguments
+        external_config = bigquery.ExternalConfig(bigquery.ExternalSourceFormat.AVRO)
+        external_config.source_uris = SOURCE_URIS_AVRO
+        external_config.reference_file_schema_uri = REFERENCE_FILE_SCHEMA_URI_AVRO
+        external_config.schema = set_schema
+        table_arg.external_data_configuration = external_config
+
+        self.assertFalse(_table_exists(table_arg))
+
+        table = helpers.retry_403(Config.CLIENT.create_table)(table_arg)
+        self.to_delete.insert(0, table)
+        self.assertTrue(_table_exists(table))
+
+        self.assertEqual(table.schema, set_schema)
+
+        # Update table with schema autodetection
+        updated_table_arg = Table(dataset.table(TABLE_NAME))
+
+        # Update the external_config and include it in the updated table arguments
+        updated_external_config = copy.deepcopy(external_config)
+        updated_external_config.autodetect = True
+        updated_external_config.schema = None
+        updated_table_arg.external_data_configuration = updated_external_config
+
+        updated_table = Config.CLIENT.update_table(
+            updated_table_arg, ["external_data_configuration"], autodetect_schema=True
+        )
+
+        # The updated table should have a schema inferred from the reference
+        # file, which has all four fields.
+        expected_schema = [
+            bigquery.SchemaField("username", "STRING", mode="NULLABLE"),
+            bigquery.SchemaField("tweet", "STRING", mode="NULLABLE"),
+            bigquery.SchemaField("timestamp", "STRING", mode="NULLABLE"),
+            bigquery.SchemaField("likes", "INTEGER", mode="NULLABLE"),
+        ]
+        self.assertEqual(updated_table.schema, expected_schema)
+
     @staticmethod
     def _fetch_single_page(table, selected_fields=None):
         iterator = Config.CLIENT.list_rows(table, selected_fields=selected_fields)