SQL Server Error 8622

Error number

8622

Severity

16 (user-correctable error)

State

1

Product

Microsoft SQL Server Database Engine

Versions

All supported SQL Server versions (2016 to 2025), Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance

Category

Query Processing & Performance

Last reviewed

24 October 2026

What it means

Error 8622 means the hints on a query (table, join or query hints, or SET FORCEPLAN) demand a plan shape that cannot exist for that query, so the Query Optimizer gives up instead of ignoring them.

Hints are orders, not suggestions. If you force an index seek, the optimiser must find an index whose key matches a predicate; if you force a hash or merge join, the join must have at least one equality condition. When no valid plan satisfies every hint at once, SQL Server stops at compile time with 8622 at level 16. Nothing runs, so no data is changed.

The message does not say which hint is impossible. Look for WITH (FORCESEEK), WITH (INDEX(...)), join hints such as INNER HASH JOIN, query hints in OPTION (...), and SET FORCEPLAN ON earlier in the session. Hints can also come from outside the query text: a plan guide or a Query Store hint attached to the query applies them without being visible in the code.

Common causes

• FORCESEEK on a table that has no index, or whose indexes do not start with a column used in an equality or range predicate.
• A HASH JOIN or MERGE JOIN hint on a join whose only conditions are inequalities (>, <, <>).
• An index hint combined with FORCESEEK on an index that cannot seek for this predicate, or an index that was changed since the hint was written.
• A plan guide or Query Store hint created for an older version of the query or schema, which no longer fits.
• Several hints that contradict each other, possibly together with SET FORCEPLAN ON, which fixes the join order.

Diagnose it

Read-only These queries only read metadata and dynamic management views. They do not change data, permissions or configuration, so they are safe to run first.

SELECT i.name AS index_name, i.type_desc, ic.key_ordinal, c.name AS column_name
FROM sys.indexes AS i
LEFT JOIN sys.index_columns AS ic
       ON ic.object_id = i.object_id AND ic.index_id = i.index_id AND ic.key_ordinal > 0
LEFT JOIN sys.columns AS c
       ON c.object_id = ic.object_id AND c.column_id = ic.column_id
WHERE i.object_id = OBJECT_ID(N'dbo.Orders')
ORDER BY i.index_id, ic.key_ordinal;

SELECT name, scope_type_desc, is_disabled, hints, query_text
FROM sys.plan_guides;

SELECT h.query_id, h.query_hint_text, h.last_query_hint_failure_reason_desc,
       h.query_hint_failure_count, t.query_sql_text
FROM sys.query_store_query_hints AS h
JOIN sys.query_store_query AS q ON q.query_id = h.query_id
JOIN sys.query_store_query_text AS t ON t.query_text_id = q.query_text_id;

How to fix it

Each fix is labelled with what it changes. Try read-only checks and the least invasive fix first, and test changes outside production.

SELECT order_id, total
FROM dbo.Orders
WHERE total > 100;   -- no FORCESEEK

CREATE INDEX IX_Orders_total ON dbo.Orders (total) INCLUDE (customer_id);

SELECT o.order_id, c.name
FROM dbo.Orders AS o
JOIN dbo.Customers AS c ON o.customer_id > c.customer_id
OPTION (LOOP JOIN);

EXEC sys.sp_query_store_clear_hints @query_id = 42;
-- or, for a plan guide:
EXEC sys.sp_control_plan_guide N'DROP', N'PG_Orders_ForceSeek';

Examples

FORCESEEK on a table without an index

SET NOCOUNT ON;
CREATE TABLE dbo.Customers (customer_id INT NOT NULL, name VARCHAR(50));   -- a heap
INSERT INTO dbo.Customers VALUES (1, 'Sara'), (2, 'Ali');

SELECT name FROM dbo.Customers WITH (FORCESEEK) WHERE customer_id = 2;

Msg 8622, Level 16, State 1, Line 5
Query processor could not produce a query plan because of the hints defined in this query. Resubmit the query without specifying any hints and without using SET FORCEPLAN.

FORCESEEK on a column that is not an index key

SET NOCOUNT ON;
CREATE TABLE dbo.Orders (order_id INT PRIMARY KEY, customer_id INT, total DECIMAL(10,2));
INSERT INTO dbo.Orders VALUES (1, 1, 50.00), (2, 2, 250.00);

-- The only index is on order_id
SELECT order_id FROM dbo.Orders WITH (FORCESEEK) WHERE total > 100;

Msg 8622, Level 16, State 1, Line 6
Query processor could not produce a query plan because of the hints defined in this query. Resubmit the query without specifying any hints and without using SET FORCEPLAN.

HASH JOIN hint on a join with only an inequality

SET NOCOUNT ON;
CREATE TABLE dbo.Customers (customer_id INT PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR(50));
CREATE TABLE dbo.Orders (order_id INT PRIMARY KEY, customer_id INT);
INSERT INTO dbo.Customers VALUES (1, 'Sara'), (2, 'Ali');
INSERT INTO dbo.Orders VALUES (1, 1), (2, 2);

SELECT o.order_id, c.name
FROM dbo.Orders AS o
JOIN dbo.Customers AS c ON o.customer_id > c.customer_id
OPTION (HASH JOIN);

Msg 8622, Level 16, State 1, Line 7
Query processor could not produce a query plan because of the hints defined in this query. Resubmit the query without specifying any hints and without using SET FORCEPLAN.

How to prevent it

Use hints sparingly and document why each one exists, next to the query. Re-test hinted queries after index changes, because dropping or changing an index can make a FORCESEEK or index hint impossible. Keep a list of plan guides and Query Store hints and review it after schema deployments.

Prefer fixing the root cause (statistics, indexes, query shape) over forcing plans; see the advanced query optimisation lesson.

Common questions

Learn more on CodeWithSQL

• Advanced query optimisation
• SQL indexes
• SQL joins

Official documentation

• Table hints (Transact-SQL)
• Join hints (Transact-SQL)
• Query hints (Transact-SQL)
• Query Store hints

Last technically reviewed 24 October 2026; examples and diagnostics run on SQL Server 2025 (17.0.1145.4). Message text checked against the engine's sys.messages catalogue.