diff --git a/flink/src/main/scala/ai/chronon/flink/SparkExpressionEvalFn.scala b/flink/src/main/scala/ai/chronon/flink/SparkExpressionEvalFn.scala
index a39421d32..e626db137 100644
--- a/flink/src/main/scala/ai/chronon/flink/SparkExpressionEvalFn.scala
+++ b/flink/src/main/scala/ai/chronon/flink/SparkExpressionEvalFn.scala
@@ -57,13 +57,12 @@ class SparkExpressionEvalFn[T](encoder: Encoder[T], groupBy: GroupBy) extends Ri
   private[flink] def getOutputSchema: StructType = {
     // before we do anything, run our setup statements.
     // in order to create the output schema, we'll evaluate expressions
-    // TODO handle UDFs
-    new CatalystUtil(transforms, chrononSchema, filters).getOutputSparkSchema
+    new CatalystUtil(transforms, chrononSchema, filters, groupBy.setups).getOutputSparkSchema
   }
 
   override def open(configuration: Configuration): Unit = {
     super.open(configuration)
-    catalystUtil = new CatalystUtil(transforms, chrononSchema, filters)
+    catalystUtil = new CatalystUtil(transforms, chrononSchema, filters, groupBy.setups)
     val eventExprEncoder = encoder.asInstanceOf[ExpressionEncoder[T]]
     rowSerializer = eventExprEncoder.createSerializer()
 
diff --git a/online/src/main/scala/ai/chronon/online/CatalystUtil.scala b/online/src/main/scala/ai/chronon/online/CatalystUtil.scala
index 6e3c52442..c16918abf 100644
--- a/online/src/main/scala/ai/chronon/online/CatalystUtil.scala
+++ b/online/src/main/scala/ai/chronon/online/CatalystUtil.scala
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import ai.chronon.api.{DataType, StructType}
 import ai.chronon.online.CatalystUtil.{IteratorWrapper, PoolKey, poolMap}
 import ai.chronon.online.Extensions.StructTypeOps
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.InternalRow
+import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.analysis.FunctionAlreadyExistsException
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.UnsafeProjection
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.codegen.CodeGenerator
 import org.apache.spark.sql.execution.{
@@ -55,6 +56,7 @@ object CatalystUtil {
       .config("spark.sql.session.timeZone", "UTC")
       .config("spark.sql.adaptive.enabled", "false")
       .config("spark.sql.legacy.timeParserPolicy", "LEGACY")
+      .enableHiveSupport()
       .getOrCreate()
     assert(spark.sessionState.conf.wholeStageEnabled)
     spark
@@ -126,7 +128,8 @@ class PooledCatalystUtil(expressions: collection.Seq[(String, String)], inputSch
 // This class by itself it not thread safe because of the transformBuffer
 class CatalystUtil(expressions: collection.Seq[(String, String)],
                    inputSchema: StructType,
-                   filters: collection.Seq[String] = Seq.empty) {
+                   filters: collection.Seq[String] = Seq.empty,
+                   setups: collection.Seq[String] = Seq.empty) {
   private val selectClauses = expressions.map { case (name, expr) => s"$expr as $name" }
   private val sessionTable =
     s"q${math.abs(selectClauses.mkString(", ").hashCode)}_f${math.abs(inputSparkSchema.pretty.hashCode)}"
@@ -165,6 +168,18 @@ class CatalystUtil(expressions: collection.Seq[(String, String)],
   private def initialize(): (InternalRow => Option[InternalRow], types.StructType) = {
     val session = CatalystUtil.session
 
+    // run through and execute the setup statements
+    setups.foreach { statement =>
+      try {
+        session.sql(statement)
+      } catch {
+        case _: FunctionAlreadyExistsException =>
+        // ignore - this crops up in unit tests on occasion
+        case e: Exception =>
+          throw new RuntimeException(s"Error executing setup statement: $statement", e)
+      }
+    }
+
     // create dummy df with sql query and schema
     val emptyRowRdd = session.emptyDataFrame.rdd
     val inputSparkSchema = SparkConversions.fromChrononSchema(inputSchema)
diff --git a/online/src/test/scala/ai/chronon/online/test/CatalystUtilHiveUDFTest.scala b/online/src/test/scala/ai/chronon/online/test/CatalystUtilHiveUDFTest.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7def8407c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/online/src/test/scala/ai/chronon/online/test/CatalystUtilHiveUDFTest.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package ai.chronon.online.test
+
+import ai.chronon.online.CatalystUtil
+import junit.framework.TestCase
+import org.junit.Assert.assertEquals
+import org.junit.Test
+
+class CatalystUtilHiveUDFTest extends TestCase with CatalystUtilTestSparkSQLStructs {
+
+  @Test
+  def testHiveUDFsViaSetupsShouldWork(): Unit = {
+    val setups = Seq(
+      "CREATE FUNCTION MINUS_ONE AS 'ai.chronon.online.test.Minus_One'",
+      "CREATE FUNCTION CAT_STR AS 'ai.chronon.online.test.Cat_Str'",
+    )
+    val selects = Seq(
+      "a" -> "MINUS_ONE(int32_x)",
+      "b" -> "CAT_STR(string_x)"
+    )
+    val cu = new CatalystUtil(expressions = selects, inputSchema = CommonScalarsStruct, setups = setups)
+    val res = cu.sqlTransform(CommonScalarsRow)
+    assertEquals(res.get.size, 2)
+    assertEquals(res.get("a"), Int.MaxValue - 1)
+    assertEquals(res.get("b"), "hello123")
+  }
+}
diff --git a/online/src/test/scala/ai/chronon/online/test/ExampleUDFs.scala b/online/src/test/scala/ai/chronon/online/test/ExampleUDFs.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..608386c2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/online/src/test/scala/ai/chronon/online/test/ExampleUDFs.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+package ai.chronon.online.test
+
+// A couple of toy UDFs to help test Hive UDF registration in CatalystUtil
+class Minus_One extends org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.exec.UDF {
+  def evaluate(x: Integer): Integer = {
+    x - 1
+  }
+}
+
+class Cat_Str extends org.apache.hadoop.hive.ql.exec.UDF {
+  def evaluate(x: String): String = {
+    x + "123"
+  }
+}