explain select * from ( select 1 as foo from sakila.actor as actor_1, sakila.actor as actor_2 ) as x; +----+-------------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+-------+-------------+ | id | select_type | table | type | possible_keys | key | key_len | ref | rows | Extra | +----+-------------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+-------+-------------+ | 1 | PRIMARY | | ALL | NULL | NULL | NULL | NULL | 40000 | | | 2 | DERIVED | actor_1 | index | NULL | PRIMARY | 2 | NULL | 200 | Using index | | 2 | DERIVED | actor_2 | index | NULL | PRIMARY | 2 | NULL | 200 | Using index | +----+-------------+------------+-------+---------------+---------+---------+------+-------+-------------+