diff --git a/mysql-test/r/repair.result b/mysql-test/r/repair.result
index 8c0671ad740..dce37230d42 100644
--- a/mysql-test/r/repair.result
+++ b/mysql-test/r/repair.result
@@ -115,6 +115,42 @@ SET myisam_repair_threads=@@global.myisam_repair_threads;
 SET myisam_sort_buffer_size=@@global.myisam_sort_buffer_size;
 DROP TABLE t1;
 End of 4.1 tests
+# Test with a saved table from 4.1
+SHOW TABLE STATUS LIKE 't1';
+Name	Engine	Version	Row_format	Rows	Avg_row_length	Data_length	Max_data_length	Index_length	Data_free	Auto_increment	Create_time	Update_time	Check_time	Collation	Checksum	Create_options	Comment
+t1	MyISAM	9	Fixed	2	5	10	21474836479	1024	0	NULL	#	#	NULL	latin1_swedish_ci	NULL		
+SELECT * FROM t1;
+id
+1
+2
+# Run CHECK TABLE, it should indicate table need a REPAIR TABLE
+CHECK TABLE t1 FOR UPGRADE;
+Table	Op	Msg_type	Msg_text
+test.t1	check	error	Table upgrade required. Please do "REPAIR TABLE `t1`" to fix it!
+# REPAIR old table USE_FRM should fail
+REPAIR TABLE t1 USE_FRM;
+Table	Op	Msg_type	Msg_text
+t1	repair	error	Failed reparing incompatible .FRM file
+# Run REPAIR TABLE to upgrade .frm file
+REPAIR TABLE t1;
+Table	Op	Msg_type	Msg_text
+test.t1	repair	status	OK
+SHOW TABLE STATUS LIKE 't1';
+Name	Engine	Version	Row_format	Rows	Avg_row_length	Data_length	Max_data_length	Index_length	Data_free	Auto_increment	Create_time	Update_time	Check_time	Collation	Checksum	Create_options	Comment
+t1	MyISAM	10	Fixed	2	7	14	1970324836974591	1024	0	NULL	#	#	NULL	latin1_swedish_ci	NULL		
+SELECT * FROM t1;
+id
+1
+2
+REPAIR TABLE t1 USE_FRM;
+Table	Op	Msg_type	Msg_text
+test.t1	repair	warning	Number of rows changed from 0 to 2
+test.t1	repair	status	OK
+SELECT * FROM t1;
+id
+1
+2
+DROP TABLE t1;
 DROP TABLE IF EXISTS tt1;
 CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE tt1 (c1 INT);
 REPAIR TABLE tt1 USE_FRM;
diff --git a/mysql-test/std_data/bug36055.MYD b/mysql-test/std_data/bug36055.MYD
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4932a077113
Binary files /dev/null and b/mysql-test/std_data/bug36055.MYD differ
diff --git a/mysql-test/std_data/bug36055.MYI b/mysql-test/std_data/bug36055.MYI
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..531c505c102
Binary files /dev/null and b/mysql-test/std_data/bug36055.MYI differ
diff --git a/mysql-test/std_data/bug36055.frm b/mysql-test/std_data/bug36055.frm
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..11c9cb31dad
Binary files /dev/null and b/mysql-test/std_data/bug36055.frm differ
diff --git a/mysql-test/t/repair.test b/mysql-test/t/repair.test
index b433b8720b9..94a9fda6757 100644
--- a/mysql-test/t/repair.test
+++ b/mysql-test/t/repair.test
@@ -113,6 +113,36 @@ SET myisam_sort_buffer_size=@@global.myisam_sort_buffer_size;
 DROP TABLE t1;
 
 --echo End of 4.1 tests
+
+#
+# BUG#36055 - mysql_upgrade doesn't really 'upgrade' tables
+#
+
+--echo # Test with a saved table from 4.1
+--copy_file std_data/bug36055.frm $MYSQLTEST_VARDIR/master-data/test/t1.frm
+--copy_file std_data/bug36055.MYD $MYSQLTEST_VARDIR/master-data/test/t1.MYD
+--copy_file std_data/bug36055.MYI $MYSQLTEST_VARDIR/master-data/test/t1.MYI
+
+--replace_column 12 # 13 #
+SHOW TABLE STATUS LIKE 't1';
+SELECT * FROM t1;
+
+--echo # Run CHECK TABLE, it should indicate table need a REPAIR TABLE
+CHECK TABLE t1 FOR UPGRADE;
+
+--echo # REPAIR old table USE_FRM should fail
+REPAIR TABLE t1 USE_FRM;
+
+--echo # Run REPAIR TABLE to upgrade .frm file
+REPAIR TABLE t1;
+--replace_column 12 # 13 #
+SHOW TABLE STATUS LIKE 't1';
+SELECT * FROM t1;
+
+REPAIR TABLE t1 USE_FRM;
+SELECT * FROM t1;
+
+DROP TABLE t1;
 # End of 5.0 tests
 
 #
diff --git a/sql/handler.cc b/sql/handler.cc
index 6099faa929f..ebe5ea5d4fa 100644
--- a/sql/handler.cc
+++ b/sql/handler.cc
@@ -2738,6 +2738,8 @@ int handler::ha_check_for_upgrade(HA_CHECK_OPT *check_opt)
       }
     }
   }
+  if (table->s->frm_version != FRM_VER_TRUE_VARCHAR)
+    return HA_ADMIN_NEEDS_ALTER;
   return check_for_upgrade(check_opt);
 }
 
diff --git a/sql/sql_table.cc b/sql/sql_table.cc
index 714701bbf3b..3ef510b8d89 100644
--- a/sql/sql_table.cc
+++ b/sql/sql_table.cc
@@ -4021,6 +4021,13 @@ static int prepare_for_repair(THD *thd, TABLE_LIST *table_list,
     - Run a normal repair using the new index file and the old data file
   */
 
+  if (table->s->frm_version != FRM_VER_TRUE_VARCHAR)
+  {
+    error= send_check_errmsg(thd, table_list, "repair",
+                             "Failed reparing incompatible .FRM file");
+    goto end;
+  }
+
   /*
     Check if this is a table type that stores index and data separately,
     like ISAM or MyISAM. We assume fixed order of engine file name