EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM (SELECT 1) AS x; +----+-------------+------------+--------+---------------+------+---------+------+------+----------------+ | id | select_type | table | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | Extra | +----+-------------+------------+--------+---------------+------+---------+------+------+----------------+ | 1 | PRIMARY | | system | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | 1 | | | 2 | DERIVED | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | No tables used | +----+-------------+------------+--------+---------------+------+---------+------+------+----------------+