CREATE TABLE t1 (id int(11) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, name varchar(20), INDEX (name)) ENGINE=InnoDB; CREATE TABLE t2 (id int(11) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, fkey int(11), FOREIGN KEY (fkey) REFERENCES t2(id)) ENGINE=InnoDB; INSERT INTO t1 VALUES (1,'A1'),(2,'A2'),(3,'B'); INSERT INTO t2 VALUES (1,1),(2,2),(3,2),(4,3),(5,3); EXPLAIN SELECT COUNT(*) FROM t2 LEFT JOIN t1 ON t2.fkey = t1.id WHERE t1.name LIKE 'A%'; id select_type table type possible_keys key key_len ref rows Extra 1 SIMPLE t1 index PRIMARY,name name 23 NULL 3 Using where; Using index 1 SIMPLE t2 ref fkey fkey 5 test.t1.id 1 Using where; Using index EXPLAIN SELECT COUNT(*) FROM t2 LEFT JOIN t1 ON t2.fkey = t1.id WHERE t1.name LIKE 'A%' OR FALSE; id select_type table type possible_keys key key_len ref rows Extra 1 SIMPLE t2 index NULL fkey 5 NULL 5 Using index 1 SIMPLE t1 eq_ref PRIMARY PRIMARY 4 test.t2.fkey 1 Using where DROP TABLE t1,t2; CREATE TABLE t1(a int, b int, KEY (a), PRIMARY KEY (b)) ENGINE=InnoDB; CREATE TABLE t2 (b int, PRIMARY KEY (b)); INSERT INTO t2 VALUES (4),(9); SELECT STRAIGHT_JOIN t1.a FROM t1 RIGHT JOIN t2 ON t1.b = t2.b WHERE (t1.b NOT BETWEEN 1 AND 7 OR t1.a IS NULL AND t1.b = t2.b) AND t2.b = 4 GROUP BY 1; a DROP TABLE t1,t2;