diff --git a/mysql-test/r/user_var.result b/mysql-test/r/user_var.result
index 6fd7b39f226..431134b03c7 100644
--- a/mysql-test/r/user_var.result
+++ b/mysql-test/r/user_var.result
@@ -353,3 +353,14 @@ select @a:=f4, count(f4) from t1 group by 1 desc;
 2.6	1
 1.6	4
 drop table t1;
+create table t1(a int);
+insert into t1 values(5),(4),(4),(3),(2),(2),(2),(1);
+set @rownum := 0;
+set @rank := 0;
+set @prev_score := NULL;
+select @rownum := @rownum + 1 as row,
+@rank := IF(@prev_score!=a, @rownum, @rank) as rank,
+@prev_score := a as score
+from t1 order by score desc;
+drop table t1;
+End of 5.1 tests
diff --git a/mysql-test/t/user_var.test b/mysql-test/t/user_var.test
index 3a3e8f88f83..a2f12bb495c 100644
--- a/mysql-test/t/user_var.test
+++ b/mysql-test/t/user_var.test
@@ -237,3 +237,24 @@ select @a:=f2, count(f2) from t1 group by 1 desc;
 select @a:=f3, count(f3) from t1 group by 1 desc;
 select @a:=f4, count(f4) from t1 group by 1 desc;
 drop table t1;
+
+#
+# Bug #32260: User variables in query cause server crash
+#
+create table t1(a int);
+insert into t1 values(5),(4),(4),(3),(2),(2),(2),(1);
+set @rownum := 0;
+set @rank := 0;
+set @prev_score := NULL;
+# Disable the result log as we assign a value to a user variable in one part 
+# of a statement and use the same variable in other part of the same statement,
+# so we can get unexpected results.
+--disable_result_log
+select @rownum := @rownum + 1 as row,
+ @rank := IF(@prev_score!=a, @rownum, @rank) as rank,
+ @prev_score := a as score
+from t1 order by score desc;
+--enable_result_log
+drop table t1;
+
+--echo End of 5.1 tests
diff --git a/sql/item_func.cc b/sql/item_func.cc
index 809319d9056..3b108812127 100644
--- a/sql/item_func.cc
+++ b/sql/item_func.cc
@@ -3843,7 +3843,8 @@ Item_func_set_user_var::fix_length_and_dec()
 bool Item_func_set_user_var::register_field_in_read_map(uchar *arg)
 {
   TABLE *table= (TABLE *) arg;
-  if (result_field->table == table || !table)
+  if (result_field &&
+      (!table || result_field->table == table))
     bitmap_set_bit(result_field->table->read_set, result_field->field_index);
   return 0;
 }