diff --git a/src/metabase/driver/clickhouse.clj b/src/metabase/driver/clickhouse.clj
index 2684ca2..4559856 100644
--- a/src/metabase/driver/clickhouse.clj
+++ b/src/metabase/driver/clickhouse.clj
@@ -67,7 +67,8 @@
      (sql-jdbc.common/handle-additional-options details :separator-style :url))))
 
 (def ^:private ^{:arglists '([db-details])} cloud?
-  "Is this a cloud DB?"
+  "Returns true if the `db-details` are for a ClickHouse Cloud instance, and false otherwise. If it fails to connect
+   to the database, it throws a java.sql.SQLException."
   (memoize/ttl
    (fn [db-details]
      (sql-jdbc.execute/do-with-connection-with-options
@@ -85,13 +86,17 @@
 (defmethod sql-jdbc.conn/connection-details->spec :clickhouse
   [_ details]
   (cond-> (connection-details->spec* details)
-    (cloud? details)
+    (try (cloud? details)
+      (catch java.sql.SQLException _e
+        false))
     ;; select_sequential_consistency guarantees that we can query data from any replica in CH Cloud
     ;; immediately after it is written
     (assoc :select_sequential_consistency true)))
 
 (defmethod driver/database-supports? [:clickhouse :uploads] [_driver _feature db]
-  (cloud? (:details db)))
+  (try (cloud? (:details db))
+    (catch java.sql.SQLException _e
+      false)))
 
 (defmethod driver/can-connect? :clickhouse
   [driver details]
@@ -179,7 +184,9 @@
                                 :quoted true
                                 :dialect (sql.qp/quote-style driver)))
              "ENGINE = MergeTree"
-             (format "ORDER BY (%s)" (str/join ", " (map quote-name primary-key)))]))
+             (format "ORDER BY (%s)" (str/join ", " (map quote-name primary-key)))
+             ;; disable insert idempotency to allow duplicate inserts
+             "SETTINGS replicated_deduplication_window = 0"]))
 
 (defmethod driver/create-table! :clickhouse
   [driver db-id table-name column-definitions & {:keys [primary-key]}]
diff --git a/test/metabase/driver/clickhouse_test.clj b/test/metabase/driver/clickhouse_test.clj
index 7d60f29..52345cd 100644
--- a/test/metabase/driver/clickhouse_test.clj
+++ b/test/metabase/driver/clickhouse_test.clj
@@ -99,6 +99,17 @@
               :clickhouse
               {}))))))
 
+(deftest clickhouse-connection-fails-test
+  (mt/test-driver :clickhouse
+    (mt/with-temp [:model/Database db {:details (assoc (mt/db) :password "wrongpassword") :engine :clickhouse}]
+      (testing "Sense check that checking the cloud mode fails with a SQLException."
+        (is (thrown? java.sql.SQLException (#'clickhouse/cloud? (:details db)))))
+      (testing "`driver/database-supports?` succeeds even if the connection fails."
+        (is (false? (driver/database-supports? :clickhouse :uploads db))))
+      (testing (str "`sql-jdbc.conn/connection-details->spec` succeeds even if the connection fails, "
+                    "and doesn't include the `select_sequential_consistency` parameter.")
+        (is (nil? (:select_sequential_consistency (sql-jdbc.conn/connection-details->spec :clickhouse (:details db)))))))))
+
 (deftest ^:parallel clickhouse-tls
   (mt/test-driver
    :clickhouse