mysql> CREATE TABLE t1 (id int, index(id)) ENGINE=INNODB; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.08 sec) mysql> CREATE TABLE t2 (id int, index(id), FOREIGN KEY (id) REFERENCES t1 (id)) ENGINE=InnoDB; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.09 sec) mysql> INSERT INTO t1 VALUES (1), (1); Query OK, 2 rows affected (0.05 sec) Records: 2 Duplicates: 0 Warnings: 0 mysql> INSERT INTO t2 VALUES (1), (1); Query OK, 2 rows affected (0.03 sec) Records: 2 Duplicates: 0 Warnings: 0 mysql> SELECT * FROM t1; SELECT * FROM t2; +------+ | id | +------+ | 1 | | 1 | +------+ 2 rows in set (0.00 sec) +------+ | id | +------+ | 1 | | 1 | +------+ 2 rows in set (0.00 sec) mysql> DELETE FROM t1 LIMIT 1; ERROR 1451 (23000): Cannot delete or update a parent row: a foreign key constraint fails (`test/t2`, CONSTRAINT `t2_ibfk_1` FOREIGN KEY (`id`) REFERENCES `t1` (`id`))