diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/schema_statements.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/schema_statements.rb
index d3499cea72..638e5d7236 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/schema_statements.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/schema_statements.rb
@@ -205,6 +205,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
       #  remove_column(:suppliers, :qualification)
       #  remove_columns(:suppliers, :qualification, :experience)
       def remove_column(table_name, *column_names)
+        raise ArgumentError.new("You must specify at least one column name.  Example: remove_column(:people, :first_name)") if column_names.empty?
         column_names.flatten.each do |column_name|
           execute "ALTER TABLE #{quote_table_name(table_name)} DROP #{quote_column_name(column_name)}"
         end
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/sqlite_adapter.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/sqlite_adapter.rb
index deb62e3802..ad6314c530 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/sqlite_adapter.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/sqlite_adapter.rb
@@ -246,6 +246,7 @@ module ActiveRecord
       end
 
       def remove_column(table_name, *column_names) #:nodoc:
+        raise ArgumentError.new("You must specify at least one column name.  Example: remove_column(:people, :first_name)") if column_names.empty?
         column_names.flatten.each do |column_name|
           alter_table(table_name) do |definition|
             definition.columns.delete(definition[column_name])
diff --git a/activerecord/test/cases/migration_test.rb b/activerecord/test/cases/migration_test.rb
index 6fe3b01281..9ece2fbab1 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/cases/migration_test.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/cases/migration_test.rb
@@ -748,6 +748,10 @@ if ActiveRecord::Base.connection.supports_migrations?
       ActiveRecord::Base.connection.drop_table(:hats)
     end
 
+    def test_remove_column_no_second_parameter_raises_exception
+      assert_raise(ArgumentError) { Person.connection.remove_column("funny") }
+    end
+
     def test_change_type_of_not_null_column
       assert_nothing_raised do
         Topic.connection.change_column "topics", "written_on", :datetime, :null => false