--disable_warnings drop table if exists t1,t2; --enable_warnings create table t1 (a int primary key auto_increment, b int); create table t2 (c int primary key auto_increment, d int); let $count= 100; while ($count) { INSERT INTO t1 VALUES (); INSERT INTO t2 VALUES (); dec $count; } EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM t1 FORCE INDEX (PRIMARY) JOIN t2 ON b=c ORDER BY a LIMIT 2; EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM t1 FORCE INDEX (PRIMARY) JOIN t2 ON a=c ORDER BY a LIMIT 2;