foo.p

diff --git a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/load_table.go b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/load_table.go
index 95d8a739c..97548a27b 100644
--- a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/load_table.go
+++ b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/load_table.go
@@ -10,34 +10,39 @@ You may obtain a copy of the License at
 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 */
 
 package schema
 
 import (
+	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/sqltypes"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/log"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/sqlparser"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/connpool"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/tabletenv"
 
 	querypb "vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/proto/query"
 )
 
+var (
+	schemaEngineHack = flag.Bool("schema_engine_hack", false, "avoid looking up schema info; probably breaks vindexes")
+)
+
 // LoadTable creates a Table from the schema info in the database.
 func LoadTable(conn *connpool.DBConn, tableName string, tableType string, comment string) (*Table, error) {
 	ta := NewTable(tableName)
 	sqlTableName := sqlparser.String(ta.Name)
 	if err := fetchColumns(ta, conn, sqlTableName); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	if err := fetchIndexes(ta, conn, sqlTableName); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -57,20 +62,28 @@ func LoadTable(conn *connpool.DBConn, tableName string, tableType string, commen
 func fetchColumns(ta *Table, conn *connpool.DBConn, sqlTableName string) error {
 	qr, err := conn.Exec(tabletenv.LocalContext(), fmt.Sprintf("select * from %s where 1 != 1", sqlTableName), 0, true)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	fieldTypes := make(map[string]querypb.Type, len(qr.Fields))
 	// TODO(sougou): Store the full field info in the schema.
 	for _, field := range qr.Fields {
 		fieldTypes[field.Name] = field.Type
 	}
+	if *schemaEngineHack {
+		for fieldName, fieldType := range fieldTypes {
+			if fieldDefault, err := sqltypes.NewValue(fieldType, []byte("")); err != nil {
+				ta.AddColumn(fieldName, fieldType, fieldDefault, "")
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
 	columns, err := conn.Exec(tabletenv.LocalContext(), fmt.Sprintf("describe %s", sqlTableName), 10000, false)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	for _, row := range columns.Rows {
 		name := row[0].ToString()
 		columnType, ok := fieldTypes[name]
 		if !ok {
 			// This code is unreachable.
 			log.Warningf("Table: %s, column %s not found in select list, skipping.", ta.Name, name)
@@ -91,20 +104,24 @@ func fetchColumns(ta *Table, conn *connpool.DBConn, sqlTableName string) error {
 			}
 			// overwrite the original value with the new one.
 			row[4] = r.Rows[0][0]
 		}
 		ta.AddColumn(name, columnType, row[4], row[5].ToString())
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
 func fetchIndexes(ta *Table, conn *connpool.DBConn, sqlTableName string) error {
+	if *schemaEngineHack {
+		ta.Done()
+		return nil
+	}
 	indexes, err := conn.Exec(tabletenv.LocalContext(), fmt.Sprintf("show index from %s", sqlTableName), 10000, false)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 	var currentIndex *Index
 	currentName := ""
 	for _, row := range indexes.Rows {
 		indexName := row[2].ToString()
 		if currentName != indexName {
 			currentIndex = ta.AddIndex(indexName, row[1].ToString() == "0")