SET @dbname = DATABASE(); SET @tablename = 'YourTable'; SET @columnname = 'YourColumn'; SET @columntype = 'YourType' -- Example: CHAR(16) binary; SET @command = (SELECT IF( ( SELECT COUNT(*) FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS WHERE (table_name = @tablename) AND (table_schema = @dbname) AND (column_name = @columnname) ) > 0, "SELECT 1", CONCAT("ALTER TABLE ", @tablename, " ADD ", @columnname, " ", @columntype, " ;") )); PREPARE stmt FROM @command; EXECUTE stmt; DEALLOCATE PREPARE stmt;