diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/analysis/Analyzer.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/analysis/Analyzer.scala
index e55cdfedd3234..85fcdb7c1704a 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/analysis/Analyzer.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/analysis/Analyzer.scala
@@ -2454,7 +2454,7 @@ class Analyzer(
       } else {
         // always add an UpCast. it will be removed in the optimizer if it is unnecessary.
         Some(Alias(
-          UpCast(queryExpr, tableAttr.dataType), tableAttr.name
+          Cast(queryExpr, tableAttr.dataType), tableAttr.name
         )(
           explicitMetadata = Option(tableAttr.metadata)
         ))
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/DataType.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/DataType.scala
index a35e971d08823..e51d7eb5e2a51 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/DataType.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/DataType.scala
@@ -442,14 +442,16 @@ object DataType {
         fieldCompatible
 
       case (w: AtomicType, r: AtomicType) =>
-        if (!Cast.canUpCast(w, r)) {
-          addError(s"Cannot safely cast '$context': $w to $r")
+        if (!canWriteAtomicType(w, r)) {
+          addError(s"Cannot assign '$context': $w to $r")
           false
         } else {
           true
         }
 
-      case (w, r) if w.sameType(r) && !w.isInstanceOf[NullType] =>
+      case (NullType, _) => true
+
+      case (w, r) if w.sameType(r) =>
         true
 
       case (w, r) =>
@@ -457,4 +459,17 @@ object DataType {
         false
     }
   }
+
+  private def canWriteAtomicType(from: AtomicType, to: AtomicType): Boolean = (from, to) match {
+    case _ if from == to => true
+    case (_: NumericType, _: NumericType) => true
+    case (_, StringType) => true
+    case (DateType, TimestampType) => true
+    case (TimestampType, DateType) => true
+    // Spark supports casting between long and timestamp, please see `longToTimestamp` and
+    // `timestampToLong` for details.
+    case (TimestampType, LongType) => true
+    case (LongType, TimestampType) => true
+    case _ => false
+  }
 }