diff --git a/lib/arel/table.rb b/lib/arel/table.rb
index c381613515..06bbe7b99e 100644
--- a/lib/arel/table.rb
+++ b/lib/arel/table.rb
@@ -88,8 +88,6 @@ module Arel
     end
 
     def [] name
-      return nil unless @engine.connection.table_exists?(@name)
-
       name = name.to_sym
       columns.find { |column| column.name == name }
     end
diff --git a/spec/arel/table_spec.rb b/spec/arel/table_spec.rb
index 9c84b170a2..5b68040aac 100644
--- a/spec/arel/table_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/arel/table_spec.rb
@@ -147,13 +147,6 @@ module Arel
         end
       end
 
-      describe 'when table does not exist' do
-        it 'returns nil' do
-          table = Table.new(:foooo)
-          table[:id].should be_nil
-        end
-      end
-
       ### FIXME: this seems like a bad requirement.
       #describe 'when given an', Attribute do
       #  it "returns the attribute if the attribute is within the relation" do