diff --git a/clients/shared/table.go b/clients/shared/table.go
index a3bde8c41..3a1fbeac7 100644
--- a/clients/shared/table.go
+++ b/clients/shared/table.go
@@ -30,21 +30,34 @@ func CreateTable(ctx context.Context, dwh destination.DataWarehouse, tableData *
 	return nil
 }
 
-func AlterTableAddColumns(ctx context.Context, dwh destination.DataWarehouse, tc *types.DwhTableConfig, tableID sql.TableIdentifier, columns []columns.Column) error {
-	if len(columns) == 0 {
+func AlterTableAddColumns(ctx context.Context, dwh destination.DataWarehouse, tc *types.DwhTableConfig, tableID sql.TableIdentifier, cols []columns.Column) error {
+	if len(cols) == 0 {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	sqlParts, addedCols := ddl.BuildAlterTableAddColumns(dwh.Dialect(), tableID, columns)
+	var colsToAdd []columns.Column
+	for _, col := range cols {
+		if col.ShouldSkip() {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		colsToAdd = append(colsToAdd, col)
+	}
+
+	sqlParts, err := ddl.BuildAlterTableAddColumns(dwh.Dialect(), tableID, colsToAdd)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to build alter table add columns: %w", err)
+	}
+
 	for _, sqlPart := range sqlParts {
 		slog.Info("[DDL] Executing query", slog.String("query", sqlPart))
-		if _, err := dwh.ExecContext(ctx, sqlPart); err != nil {
+		if _, err = dwh.ExecContext(ctx, sqlPart); err != nil {
 			if !dwh.Dialect().IsColumnAlreadyExistsErr(err) {
 				return fmt.Errorf("failed to alter table: %w", err)
 			}
 		}
 	}
 
-	tc.MutateInMemoryColumns(constants.Add, addedCols...)
+	tc.MutateInMemoryColumns(constants.Add, colsToAdd...)
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/lib/destination/ddl/ddl.go b/lib/destination/ddl/ddl.go
index caf20a477..8546f4a36 100644
--- a/lib/destination/ddl/ddl.go
+++ b/lib/destination/ddl/ddl.go
@@ -69,20 +69,18 @@ func DropTemporaryTable(dwh destination.DataWarehouse, tableIdentifier sql.Table
 	return nil
 }
 
-func BuildAlterTableAddColumns(dialect sql.Dialect, tableID sql.TableIdentifier, cols []columns.Column) ([]string, []columns.Column) {
+func BuildAlterTableAddColumns(dialect sql.Dialect, tableID sql.TableIdentifier, cols []columns.Column) ([]string, error) {
 	var parts []string
-	var addedCols []columns.Column
 	for _, col := range cols {
 		if col.ShouldSkip() {
-			continue
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("received an invalid column %q", col.Name())
 		}
 
 		sqlPart := fmt.Sprintf("%s %s", dialect.QuoteIdentifier(col.Name()), dialect.DataTypeForKind(col.KindDetails, col.PrimaryKey()))
 		parts = append(parts, dialect.BuildAlterColumnQuery(tableID, constants.Add, sqlPart))
-		addedCols = append(addedCols, col)
 	}
 
-	return parts, addedCols
+	return parts, nil
 }
 
 type AlterTableArgs struct {
diff --git a/lib/destination/ddl/ddl_test.go b/lib/destination/ddl/ddl_test.go
index 55e16cf67..102dfc4dc 100644
--- a/lib/destination/ddl/ddl_test.go
+++ b/lib/destination/ddl/ddl_test.go
@@ -79,34 +79,29 @@ func TestBuildCreateTableSQL(t *testing.T) {
 func TestBuildAlterTableAddColumns(t *testing.T) {
 	{
 		// No columns
-		sqlParts, addedCols := BuildAlterTableAddColumns(nil, nil, []columns.Column{})
+		sqlParts, err := BuildAlterTableAddColumns(nil, nil, []columns.Column{})
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.Empty(t, sqlParts)
-		assert.Empty(t, addedCols)
 	}
 	{
 		// One column to add
 		col := columns.NewColumn("dusty", typing.String)
-		sqlParts, addedCols := BuildAlterTableAddColumns(dialect.RedshiftDialect{}, dialect.NewTableIdentifier("schema", "table"), []columns.Column{col})
+		sqlParts, err := BuildAlterTableAddColumns(dialect.RedshiftDialect{}, dialect.NewTableIdentifier("schema", "table"), []columns.Column{col})
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.Len(t, sqlParts, 1)
 		assert.Equal(t, `ALTER TABLE schema."table" add COLUMN "dusty" VARCHAR(MAX)`, sqlParts[0])
-
-		assert.Len(t, addedCols, 1)
-		assert.Equal(t, col, addedCols[0])
 	}
 	{
-		// Two columns, it skips the invalid column
+		// Two columns, one invalid, it will error.
 		col := columns.NewColumn("dusty", typing.String)
-		sqlParts, addedCols := BuildAlterTableAddColumns(dialect.RedshiftDialect{}, dialect.NewTableIdentifier("schema", "table"),
+		_, err := BuildAlterTableAddColumns(dialect.RedshiftDialect{}, dialect.NewTableIdentifier("schema", "table"),
 			[]columns.Column{
 				col,
 				columns.NewColumn("invalid", typing.Invalid),
 			},
 		)
-		assert.Len(t, sqlParts, 1)
-		assert.Equal(t, `ALTER TABLE schema."table" add COLUMN "dusty" VARCHAR(MAX)`, sqlParts[0])
 
-		assert.Len(t, addedCols, 1)
-		assert.Equal(t, col, addedCols[0])
+		assert.ErrorContains(t, err, `received an invalid column "invalid"`)
 	}
 	{
 		// Three columns to add
@@ -114,16 +109,12 @@ func TestBuildAlterTableAddColumns(t *testing.T) {
 		col2 := columns.NewColumn("doge", typing.String)
 		col3 := columns.NewColumn("age", typing.Integer)
 
-		sqlParts, addedCols := BuildAlterTableAddColumns(dialect.RedshiftDialect{}, dialect.NewTableIdentifier("schema", "table"), []columns.Column{col1, col2, col3})
+		sqlParts, err := BuildAlterTableAddColumns(dialect.RedshiftDialect{}, dialect.NewTableIdentifier("schema", "table"), []columns.Column{col1, col2, col3})
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
 		assert.Len(t, sqlParts, 3)
 		assert.Equal(t, `ALTER TABLE schema."table" add COLUMN "aussie" VARCHAR(MAX)`, sqlParts[0])
 		assert.Equal(t, `ALTER TABLE schema."table" add COLUMN "doge" VARCHAR(MAX)`, sqlParts[1])
 		assert.Equal(t, `ALTER TABLE schema."table" add COLUMN "age" INT8`, sqlParts[2])
-
-		assert.Len(t, addedCols, 3)
-		assert.Equal(t, col1, addedCols[0])
-		assert.Equal(t, col2, addedCols[1])
-		assert.Equal(t, col3, addedCols[2])
 	}
 }