diff --git a/src/materialized/dependencies.rs b/src/materialized/dependencies.rs
index 060e1e0..50f806c 100644
--- a/src/materialized/dependencies.rs
+++ b/src/materialized/dependencies.rs
@@ -639,6 +639,13 @@ fn pushdown_projection_inexact(plan: LogicalPlan, indices: &HashSet<usize>) -> R
                 _ => unreachable!(),
             };
 
+            if new_projection.is_empty() {
+                return Ok(LogicalPlan::EmptyRelation(EmptyRelation {
+                    produce_one_row: true,
+                    schema: Arc::new(DFSchema::empty()),
+                }));
+            }
+
             TableScan::try_new(
                 scan.table_name,
                 scan.source,
@@ -1798,11 +1805,11 @@ mod test {
                 query_to_analyze: "SELECT column1 AS output FROM t3",
                 projection: &[],
                 expected_plan: vec![
-                    "+--------------+-----------------------------+",
-                    "| plan_type    | plan                        |",
-                    "+--------------+-----------------------------+",
-                    "| logical_plan | TableScan: t3 projection=[] |",
-                    "+--------------+-----------------------------+",
+                    "+--------------+-----------------------+",
+                    "| plan_type    | plan                  |",
+                    "+--------------+-----------------------+",
+                    "| logical_plan | EmptyRelation: rows=1 |",
+                    "+--------------+-----------------------+",
                 ],
                 expected_output: vec![
                     "++",
@@ -2051,6 +2058,73 @@ mod test {
         Ok(())
     }
 
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_cross_join_unrelated_files() -> Result<()> {
+        let context = setup().await?;
+
+        // Test case: Cross join where only columns from left table (t1) are selected
+        // The cross join with t3 affects cardinality but we don't select any t3 columns
+        // Expected: Only files from t1 should be in dependencies, not from t3
+        // BUG: Currently t3 files are incorrectly included in dependencies
+        let query = "SELECT t1.column1, t1.column2 FROM t1 CROSS JOIN t3";
+
+        let plan = context.sql(query).await?.into_optimized_plan()?;
+
+        println!("Original plan:\n{}", plan.display_indent());
+
+        // We're partitioning on column1 which only comes from t1
+        let partition_col_indices: HashSet<usize> = [0].into_iter().collect(); // column1 is at index 0
+
+        let analyzed = pushdown_projection_inexact(plan.clone(), &partition_col_indices)?;
+        println!("After pushdown:\n{}", analyzed.display_indent());
+
+        // Register materialized view
+        context.register_table(
+            "mv_cross_join",
+            Arc::new(MockMaterializedView {
+                table_path: ListingTableUrl::parse("s3://mv_cross_join/").unwrap(),
+                partition_columns: vec!["column1".to_string()],
+                static_partition_columns: None,
+                query: plan,
+                file_ext: ".parquet",
+            }),
+        )?;
+
+        // Add file metadata for the MV
+        context.sql(
+                "INSERT INTO file_metadata VALUES
+                ('datafusion', 'test', 'mv_cross_join', 's3://mv_cross_join/column1=2021/data.01.parquet', '2023-07-12T16:00:00Z', 0),
+                ('datafusion', 'test', 'mv_cross_join', 's3://mv_cross_join/column1=2022/data.01.parquet', '2023-07-12T16:00:00Z', 0),
+                ('datafusion', 'test', 'mv_cross_join', 's3://mv_cross_join/column1=2023/data.01.parquet', '2023-07-12T16:00:00Z', 0)"
+            ).await?.collect().await?;
+
+        // Get dependencies
+        let df = context
+            .sql("SELECT * FROM mv_dependencies('mv_cross_join', 'v2')")
+            .await?;
+        let batches = df.collect().await?;
+
+        // Print the actual dependencies for debugging
+        println!("Actual dependencies:");
+        println!("{}", pretty_format_batches(&batches)?);
+
+        // Expected: Only t1 files should be in dependencies, NOT t3 files
+        // This test currently FAILS because t3 files are incorrectly included
+        let expected = [
+            "+----------------------------------+----------------------+---------------------+-------------------+--------------------------------------+----------------------+",
+            "| target                           | source_table_catalog | source_table_schema | source_table_name | source_uri                           | source_last_modified |",
+            "+----------------------------------+----------------------+---------------------+-------------------+--------------------------------------+----------------------+",
+            "| s3://mv_cross_join/column1=2021/ | datafusion           | test                | t1                | s3://t1/column1=2021/data.01.parquet | 2023-07-11T16:29:26  |",
+            "| s3://mv_cross_join/column1=2022/ | datafusion           | test                | t1                | s3://t1/column1=2022/data.01.parquet | 2023-07-11T16:45:22  |",
+            "| s3://mv_cross_join/column1=2023/ | datafusion           | test                | t1                | s3://t1/column1=2023/data.01.parquet | 2023-07-11T16:45:44  |",
+            "+----------------------------------+----------------------+---------------------+-------------------+--------------------------------------+----------------------+",
+            ];
+
+        assert_batches_sorted_eq!(expected, &batches);
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_pushdown_unnest_guard_partition_date_only() -> Result<()> {
         // This test simulates a simplified MV scenario: