SET @s = (SELECT IF( (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS WHERE table_schema = DATABASE() AND table_name = 'Monitors' AND column_name = 'DecodingEnabled' ) > 0, "SELECT 'Column DecodingEnabled already exists in Monitors'", "ALTER TABLE Monitors ADD `DecodingEnabled` tinyint(3) unsigned NOT NULL default '1' AFTER `Enabled`" )); PREPARE stmt FROM @s; EXECUTE stmt;