CREATE TABLE t1 ( a INT, b CHAR(3) ); INSERT INTO t1 VALUES ( 1, 'foo' ); CREATE TABLE t2 ( c CHAR(3), d INT ); INSERT INTO t2 VALUES ( 'foo', 1 ); UPDATE IGNORE t1, t2 SET b = 'bar', c = 'bar' WHERE a != ( SELECT 1 UNION SELECT 2 ); Warnings: Warning 1242 Subquery returns more than 1 row DROP TABLE t1, t2;