mysql> explain select 1 in (select 1 union select 2); +----+--------------------+------------+------+---------------+------+---------+------+------+----------------+ | id | select_type | table | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | Extra | +----+--------------------+------------+------+---------------+------+---------+------+------+----------------+ | 1 | PRIMARY | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | No tables used | | 2 | DEPENDENT SUBQUERY | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | No tables used | | 3 | DEPENDENT UNION | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | No tables used | | NULL | UNION RESULT | | ALL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | | +----+--------------------+------------+------+---------------+------+---------+------+------+----------------+ 4 rows in set (0.00 sec) mysql> notee