diff --git a/mysql-test/r/partition.result b/mysql-test/r/partition.result
index 9643478b96b..c6d2db89ccd 100644
--- a/mysql-test/r/partition.result
+++ b/mysql-test/r/partition.result
@@ -1997,5 +1997,39 @@ CREATE TABLE t1(id INT,KEY(id)) ENGINE=MYISAM
 PARTITION BY HASH(id) PARTITIONS 2;
 DROP TABLE t1;
 SET SESSION SQL_MODE=DEFAULT;
+
+Bug#40281: partitioning the general log table crashes the server
+
+--- set up partitioned log, and switch to it
+USE mysql;
+SET GLOBAL general_log =0;
+CREATE TABLE gl_partitioned LIKE general_log;
+ALTER TABLE gl_partitioned ENGINE=myisam;
+ALTER TABLE gl_partitioned PARTITION BY HASH (thread_id) PARTITIONS 10;
+ALTER TABLE general_log RENAME TO gl_nonpartitioned;
+ALTER TABLE gl_partitioned RENAME TO general_log;
+SELECT @@global.log_output INTO @old_glo;
+SET GLOBAL log_output='table';
+SET GLOBAL general_log =1;
+--- do some things to be logged to partitioned log, should fail
+USE /* 1 */ test;
+CREATE TABLE t1 (i INT);
+INSERT INTO t1 VALUES (1);
+SELECT * FROM t1;
+i
+1
+USE mysql;
+SET GLOBAL general_log =0;
+ALTER TABLE general_log RENAME TO gl_partitioned;
+ALTER TABLE gl_nonpartitioned RENAME TO general_log;
+--- show whether we actually logged anything (no) to general_log
+SELECT COUNT(argument) FROM gl_partitioned;
+COUNT(argument)
+0
+DROP TABLE gl_partitioned;
+SET GLOBAL log_output=@old_glo;
+SET GLOBAL general_log =1;
+USE /* 2 */ test;
+DROP TABLE t1;
 End of 5.1 tests
 SET @@global.general_log= @old_general_log;
diff --git a/mysql-test/t/partition.test b/mysql-test/t/partition.test
index 18bcf84407b..54687c94466 100644
--- a/mysql-test/t/partition.test
+++ b/mysql-test/t/partition.test
@@ -1998,6 +1998,53 @@ CREATE TABLE t1(id INT,KEY(id)) ENGINE=MYISAM
 DROP TABLE t1;
 SET SESSION SQL_MODE=DEFAULT;
 
+--echo
+--echo Bug#40281: partitioning the general log table crashes the server
+--echo
+
+--echo --- set up partitioned log, and switch to it
+
+USE mysql;
+SET GLOBAL general_log =0;
+CREATE TABLE gl_partitioned LIKE general_log;
+ALTER TABLE gl_partitioned ENGINE=myisam;
+ALTER TABLE gl_partitioned PARTITION BY HASH (thread_id) PARTITIONS 10;
+ALTER TABLE general_log RENAME TO gl_nonpartitioned;
+ALTER TABLE gl_partitioned RENAME TO general_log;
+
+SELECT @@global.log_output INTO @old_glo;
+SET GLOBAL log_output='table';
+SET GLOBAL general_log =1;
+
+--echo --- do some things to be logged to partitioned log, should fail
+USE /* 1 */ test;
+
+CREATE TABLE t1 (i INT);
+
+connect (master,127.0.0.1,root,,test,$MASTER_MYPORT,);
+connection master;
+INSERT INTO t1 VALUES (1);
+SELECT * FROM t1;
+disconnect master;
+
+connection default;
+
+USE mysql;
+SET GLOBAL general_log =0;
+ALTER TABLE general_log RENAME TO gl_partitioned;
+ALTER TABLE gl_nonpartitioned RENAME TO general_log;
+
+--echo --- show whether we actually logged anything (no) to general_log
+SELECT COUNT(argument) FROM gl_partitioned;
+
+DROP TABLE gl_partitioned;
+
+SET GLOBAL log_output=@old_glo;
+SET GLOBAL general_log =1;
+
+USE /* 2 */ test;
+DROP TABLE t1;
+
 --echo End of 5.1 tests
 
 SET @@global.general_log= @old_general_log;
diff --git a/sql/ha_partition.cc b/sql/ha_partition.cc
index 06fb9e32e35..562716a7db7 100644
--- a/sql/ha_partition.cc
+++ b/sql/ha_partition.cc
@@ -5414,6 +5414,13 @@ int ha_partition::extra(enum ha_extra_function operation)
     /* Currently only NDB use the *_CANNOT_BATCH */
     break;
   }
+  /*
+    http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/partitioning-limitations.html
+    says we no longer support logging to partitioned tables, so we fail
+    here.
+  */
+  case HA_EXTRA_MARK_AS_LOG_TABLE:
+    DBUG_RETURN(ER_UNSUPORTED_LOG_ENGINE);
   default:
   {
     /* Temporary crash to discover what is wrong */
diff --git a/sql/sql_partition.cc b/sql/sql_partition.cc
index 284eaebbe87..a181a6b3f13 100644
--- a/sql/sql_partition.cc
+++ b/sql/sql_partition.cc
@@ -3824,8 +3824,13 @@ bool mysql_unpack_partition(THD *thd,
     Item_field objects.
     This is not a nice solution since if the parser uses current_select
     for anything else it will corrupt the current LEX object.
+    Also, we need to make sure there even is a select -- if the statement
+    was a "USE ...", current_select will be NULL, but we may still end up
+    here if we try to log to a partitioned table. This is currently
+    unsupported, but should still fail rather than crash!
   */
-  thd->lex->current_select= old_lex->current_select; 
+  if (!(thd->lex->current_select= old_lex->current_select))
+    goto end;
   /*
     All Items created is put into a free list on the THD object. This list
     is used to free all Item objects after completing a query. We don't