mysql> explain select * from ( select 1 as foo from sakila.actor ) as x; +----+-------------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+-------------+ | id | select_type | table | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | Extra | +----+-------------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+-------------+ | 1 | PRIMARY | | ALL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | 200 | | | 2 | DERIVED | actor | index | NULL | PRIMARY | 2 | NULL | 200 | Using index | +----+-------------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+------+-------------+ 2 rows in set (0.00 sec) mysql> notee