diff --git a/dax/test/dax/dax_test.go b/dax/test/dax/dax_test.go
index 6a96354d5..547a02ebe 100644
--- a/dax/test/dax/dax_test.go
+++ b/dax/test/dax/dax_test.go
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ func TestDAXIntegration(t *testing.T) {
 			"testinsert/test-5",                         // error messages differ
 			"percentile_test/test-6",                    // related to TODO in orchestrator.executePercentile
 			"innerjointest/innerjoin-aggregate-groupby", // join test which won't work until we support multiple tables
+			"alterTable/alterTableBadTable",             // looks like table does not exist is a different error in DAX
 		}
 
 		doSkip := func(name string) bool {
diff --git a/sql3/planner/compilealtertable.go b/sql3/planner/compilealtertable.go
index 15fe6b50a..a8ce0af7b 100644
--- a/sql3/planner/compilealtertable.go
+++ b/sql3/planner/compilealtertable.go
@@ -3,11 +3,14 @@
 package planner
 
 import (
+	"context"
 	"strings"
 
-	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/sql3"
-	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/sql3/parser"
-	"github.com/featurebasedb/featurebase/v3/sql3/planner/types"
+	pilosa "github.com/molecula/featurebase/v3"
+	"github.com/molecula/featurebase/v3/sql3"
+	"github.com/molecula/featurebase/v3/sql3/parser"
+	"github.com/molecula/featurebase/v3/sql3/planner/types"
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 )
 
 type alterOperation int64
@@ -22,12 +25,43 @@ const (
 // PlanOperator.
 func (p *ExecutionPlanner) compileAlterTableStatement(stmt *parser.AlterTableStatement) (_ types.PlanOperator, err error) {
 	tableName := parser.IdentName(stmt.Name)
+
+	// does the table exist
+	table, err := p.schemaAPI.IndexInfo(context.Background(), tableName)
+	if err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, pilosa.ErrIndexNotFound) {
+			return nil, sql3.NewErrTableNotFound(stmt.Name.NamePos.Line, stmt.Name.NamePos.Column, tableName)
+		}
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	if stmt.Drop.IsValid() {
 		columnName := parser.IdentName(stmt.DropColumnName)
+
+		// does this column exist
+		found := false
+		for _, f := range table.Fields {
+			if strings.EqualFold(f.Name, columnName) {
+				found = true
+				break
+			}
+		}
+		if !found {
+			return nil, sql3.NewErrColumnNotFound(stmt.DropColumnName.NamePos.Line, stmt.DropColumnName.NamePos.Column, columnName)
+		}
+
 		return NewPlanOpQuery(NewPlanOpAlterTable(p, tableName, alterOpDrop, columnName, "", nil), p.sql), nil
 	} else if stmt.Add.IsValid() {
 		col := stmt.ColumnDef
 		columnName := parser.IdentName(col.Name)
+
+		// does this column exist
+		for _, f := range table.Fields {
+			if strings.EqualFold(f.Name, columnName) {
+				return nil, sql3.NewErrDuplicateColumn(col.Name.NamePos.Line, col.Name.NamePos.Column, columnName)
+			}
+		}
+
 		column, err := p.compileColumn(col)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
@@ -46,6 +80,7 @@ func (p *ExecutionPlanner) compileAlterTableStatement(stmt *parser.AlterTableSta
 // analyzeAlterTableStatement analyze an ALTER TABLE statement and returns an
 // error if anything is invalid.
 func (p *ExecutionPlanner) analyzeAlterTableStatement(stmt *parser.AlterTableStatement) error {
+
 	if stmt.Drop.IsValid() {
 		//no checks for now
 	} else if stmt.Add.IsValid() {
diff --git a/sql3/test/defs/defs.go b/sql3/test/defs/defs.go
index 45526f59f..9eec1db2d 100644
--- a/sql3/test/defs/defs.go
+++ b/sql3/test/defs/defs.go
@@ -151,6 +151,7 @@ var TableTests []TableTest = []TableTest{
 
 	//create table tests
 	createTable,
+	alterTable,
 
 	//joins
 	joinTestsUsers,
diff --git a/sql3/test/defs/defs_create_table.go b/sql3/test/defs/defs_create_table.go
index fe2767704..b32ed9897 100644
--- a/sql3/test/defs/defs_create_table.go
+++ b/sql3/test/defs/defs_create_table.go
@@ -46,3 +46,38 @@ var createTable = TableTest{
 		},
 	},
 }
+
+var alterTable = TableTest{
+	name: "alterTable",
+	Table: tbl(
+		"alter_table_test",
+		srcHdrs(
+			srcHdr("_id", fldTypeID),
+			srcHdr("a_int", fldTypeInt),
+		),
+		srcRows(),
+	),
+	SQLTests: []SQLTest{
+		{
+			name: "alterTableBadTable",
+			SQLs: sqls(
+				"alter table alter_table_test_foo add column a_int int",
+			),
+			ExpErr: "table 'alter_table_test_foo' not found",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "alterTableAddExistingCol",
+			SQLs: sqls(
+				"alter table alter_table_test add column a_int int",
+			),
+			ExpErr: "duplicate column 'a_int'",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "alterTableDropNonExistentCol",
+			SQLs: sqls(
+				"alter table alter_table_test drop column b_int",
+			),
+			ExpErr: "column 'b_int' not found",
+		},
+	},
+}