diff --git a/ibis/backends/__init__.py b/ibis/backends/__init__.py
index ecec01a0bb15..8b73d812a34b 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/__init__.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/__init__.py
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ def to_pyarrow(
             table = pa.Table.from_batches(reader, schema=arrow_schema)
 
         return expr.__pyarrow_result__(
-            table.rename_columns(table_expr.columns).cast(arrow_schema)
+            table.rename_columns(list(table_expr.columns)).cast(arrow_schema)
         )
 
     @util.experimental
diff --git a/ibis/backends/bigquery/tests/system/test_client.py b/ibis/backends/bigquery/tests/system/test_client.py
index 0ae05872a52e..ad837065a949 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/bigquery/tests/system/test_client.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/bigquery/tests/system/test_client.py
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ def test_parted_column(con, kind):
     table_name = f"{kind}_column_parted"
     t = con.table(table_name)
     expected_column = f"my_{kind}_parted_col"
-    assert t.columns == [expected_column, "string_col", "int_col"]
+    assert t.columns == (expected_column, "string_col", "int_col")
 
 
 def test_cross_project_query(public):
diff --git a/ibis/backends/impala/tests/test_ddl.py b/ibis/backends/impala/tests/test_ddl.py
index fd12a69a0be9..ad74932176b5 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/impala/tests/test_ddl.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/impala/tests/test_ddl.py
@@ -334,5 +334,5 @@ def test_varchar_char_support(temp_char_table):
 
 
 def test_access_kudu_table(kudu_table):
-    assert kudu_table.columns == ["a"]
+    assert kudu_table.columns == ("a",)
     assert kudu_table["a"].type() == dt.string
diff --git a/ibis/backends/impala/tests/test_exprs.py b/ibis/backends/impala/tests/test_exprs.py
index b65cde32ef3f..84949ba314be 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/impala/tests/test_exprs.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/impala/tests/test_exprs.py
@@ -667,7 +667,7 @@ def test_where_with_timestamp(snapshot):
 
 def test_filter_with_analytic(snapshot):
     x = ibis.table(ibis.schema([("col", "int32")]), "x")
-    with_filter_col = x.select(x.columns + [ibis.null().name("filter")])
+    with_filter_col = x.select(*x.columns, ibis.null().name("filter"))
     filtered = with_filter_col.filter(with_filter_col["filter"].isnull())
     subquery = filtered.select(filtered.columns)
 
diff --git a/ibis/backends/snowflake/tests/test_client.py b/ibis/backends/snowflake/tests/test_client.py
index 1b2b956e30ed..5e64c45a05bd 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/snowflake/tests/test_client.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/snowflake/tests/test_client.py
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ def test_insert(con):
             }
         ],
     )
-    assert t.columns == ["ID", "NAME", "SCORE_1", "SCORE_2", "SCORE_3", "AGE"]
+    assert t.columns == ("ID", "NAME", "SCORE_1", "SCORE_2", "SCORE_3", "AGE")
     assert t.count().execute() == 1
 
 
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/test_aggregation.py b/ibis/backends/tests/test_aggregation.py
index 6e7a29224105..08677f3c0781 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/test_aggregation.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/test_aggregation.py
@@ -1615,7 +1615,7 @@ def test_group_concat_over_window(backend, con):
 
 def test_value_counts_on_expr(backend, alltypes, df):
     expr = alltypes.bigint_col.add(1).value_counts()
-    columns = expr.columns
+    columns = list(expr.columns)
     expr = expr.order_by(columns)
     result = expr.execute().sort_values(columns).reset_index(drop=True)
     expected = df.bigint_col.add(1).value_counts().reset_index()
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/test_client.py b/ibis/backends/tests/test_client.py
index 0a0767bde68c..9ed5078b78cb 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/test_client.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/test_client.py
@@ -1687,7 +1687,7 @@ def test_cross_database_join(con_create_database, monkeypatch):
     )
 
     expr = left.join(right, "a")
-    assert expr.columns == ["a", "b", "c"]
+    assert expr.columns == ("a", "b", "c")
 
     result = expr.to_pyarrow()
     expected = pa.Table.from_pydict({"a": [1], "b": [2], "c": [3]})
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/test_examples.py b/ibis/backends/tests/test_examples.py
index e5cbf97df57e..0c8ab5e3a8fb 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/test_examples.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/test_examples.py
@@ -61,5 +61,5 @@
 )
 def test_load_examples(con, example, columns):
     t = getattr(ibis.examples, example).fetch(backend=con)
-    assert t.columns == columns
+    assert t.columns == tuple(columns)
     assert t.count().execute() > 0
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/test_generic.py b/ibis/backends/tests/test_generic.py
index d4b3c3819ebe..a42c84ba0d17 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/test_generic.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/test_generic.py
@@ -722,8 +722,8 @@ def test_order_by_two_cols_nulls(con, op1, nf1, nf2, op2, expected):
 def test_table_info(alltypes):
     expr = alltypes.info()
     df = expr.execute()
-    assert alltypes.columns == list(df.name)
-    assert expr.columns == [
+    assert alltypes.columns == tuple(df.name)
+    assert expr.columns == (
         "name",
         "type",
         "nullable",
@@ -731,8 +731,8 @@ def test_table_info(alltypes):
         "non_nulls",
         "null_frac",
         "pos",
-    ]
-    assert expr.columns == list(df.columns)
+    )
+    assert expr.columns == tuple(df.columns)
 
 
 @pytest.mark.notyet(
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/test_join.py b/ibis/backends/tests/test_join.py
index c36001f2b37b..bb7b1c9915d4 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/test_join.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/test_join.py
@@ -73,10 +73,11 @@ def test_mutating_join(backend, batting, awards_players, how):
     result_order = ["playerID", "yearID", "lgID", "stint"]
 
     expr = left.join(right, predicate, how=how)
+    cols = list(left.columns)
     if how == "inner":
         result = (
             expr.execute()
-            .fillna(np.nan)[left.columns]
+            .fillna(np.nan)[cols]
             .sort_values(result_order)
             .reset_index(drop=True)
         )
@@ -86,23 +87,16 @@ def test_mutating_join(backend, batting, awards_players, how):
             .fillna(np.nan)
             .assign(
                 playerID=lambda df: df.playerID.where(
-                    df.playerID.notnull(),
-                    df.playerID_right,
+                    df.playerID.notnull(), df.playerID_right
                 )
             )
-            .drop(["playerID_right"], axis=1)[left.columns]
+            .drop(["playerID_right"], axis=1)[cols]
             .sort_values(result_order)
             .reset_index(drop=True)
         )
 
     expected = (
-        check_eq(
-            left_df,
-            right_df,
-            how=how,
-            on=predicate,
-            suffixes=("_x", "_y"),
-        )[left.columns]
+        check_eq(left_df, right_df, how=how, on=predicate, suffixes=("_x", "_y"))[cols]
         .sort_values(result_order)
         .reset_index(drop=True)
     )
@@ -123,20 +117,17 @@ def test_filtering_join(backend, batting, awards_players, how):
     result_order = ["playerID", "yearID", "lgID", "stint"]
 
     expr = left.join(right, predicate, how=how)
+    cols = list(left.columns)
     result = (
         expr.execute()
         .fillna(np.nan)
-        .sort_values(result_order)[left.columns]
+        .sort_values(result_order)[cols]
         .reset_index(drop=True)
     )
 
     expected = check_eq(
-        left_df,
-        right_df,
-        how=how,
-        on=predicate,
-        suffixes=("", "_y"),
-    ).sort_values(result_order)[list(left.columns)]
+        left_df, right_df, how=how, on=predicate, suffixes=("", "_y")
+    ).sort_values(result_order)[cols]
 
     backend.assert_frame_equal(result, expected, check_like=True)
 
diff --git a/ibis/backends/tests/test_set_ops.py b/ibis/backends/tests/test_set_ops.py
index 60391f983525..64467b067012 100644
--- a/ibis/backends/tests/test_set_ops.py
+++ b/ibis/backends/tests/test_set_ops.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def union_subsets(alltypes, df):
-    cols_a, cols_b, cols_c = (alltypes.columns.copy() for _ in range(3))
+    cols_a, cols_b, cols_c = (list(alltypes.columns) for _ in range(3))
 
     random.seed(89)
     random.shuffle(cols_a)
diff --git a/ibis/expr/types/dataframe_interchange.py b/ibis/expr/types/dataframe_interchange.py
index 7be679265993..0bca5ea65780 100644
--- a/ibis/expr/types/dataframe_interchange.py
+++ b/ibis/expr/types/dataframe_interchange.py
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ def num_columns(self):
         return len(self._table.columns)
 
     def column_names(self):
-        return self._table.columns
+        return list(self._table.columns)
 
     def get_column(self, i: int) -> IbisColumn:
         name = self._table.columns[i]
diff --git a/ibis/expr/types/relations.py b/ibis/expr/types/relations.py
index 3891c1e69a76..0a6dd1f364be 100644
--- a/ibis/expr/types/relations.py
+++ b/ibis/expr/types/relations.py
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ def cast(self, schema: SchemaLike) -> Table:
         Columns not present in the input schema will be passed through unchanged
 
         >>> t.columns
-        ['species', 'island', 'bill_length_mm', 'bill_depth_mm', 'flipper_length_mm', 'body_mass_g', 'sex', 'year']
+        ('species', 'island', 'bill_length_mm', 'bill_depth_mm', 'flipper_length_mm', 'body_mass_g', 'sex', 'year')
         >>> expr = t.cast({"body_mass_g": "float64", "bill_length_mm": "int"})
         >>> expr.select(*cols).head()
         ┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━┳━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
@@ -3263,7 +3263,7 @@ def cross_join(
         │ …       │ …         │              … │             … │                 … │ … │
         └─────────┴───────────┴────────────────┴───────────────┴───────────────────┴───┘
         >>> expr.columns
-        ['species',
+        ('species',
          'island',
          'bill_length_mm',
          'bill_depth_mm',
@@ -3274,7 +3274,7 @@ def cross_join(
          'bill_length_mm_right',
          'bill_depth_mm_right',
          'flipper_length_mm_right',
-         'body_mass_g_right']
+         'body_mass_g_right')
         >>> expr.count()
         ┌─────┐
         │ 344 │
diff --git a/ibis/selectors.py b/ibis/selectors.py
index 3e0acf0da4bd..ea818e63e7e1 100644
--- a/ibis/selectors.py
+++ b/ibis/selectors.py
@@ -19,14 +19,14 @@
 >>> t = ibis.table(dict(a="int", b="string", c="array<int>", abcd="float"))
 >>> expr = t.select([t[c] for c in t.columns if t[c].type().is_numeric()])
 >>> expr.columns
-['a', 'abcd']
+('a', 'abcd')
 
 Compare that to the [`numeric`](#ibis.selectors.numeric) selector:
 
 >>> import ibis.selectors as s
 >>> expr = t.select(s.numeric())
 >>> expr.columns
-['a', 'abcd']
+('a', 'abcd')
 
 When there are multiple properties to check it gets worse:
 
@@ -39,13 +39,13 @@
 ...     ]
 ... )
 >>> expr.columns
-['a', 'b', 'abcd']
+('a', 'b', 'abcd')
 
 Using a composition of selectors this is much less tiresome:
 
 >>> expr = t.select((s.numeric() | s.of_type("string")) & s.contains(("a", "b", "cd")))
 >>> expr.columns
-['a', 'b', 'abcd']
+('a', 'b', 'abcd')
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ def where(predicate: Callable[[ir.Value], bool]) -> Selector:
     >>> t = ibis.table(dict(a="float32"), name="t")
     >>> expr = t.select(s.where(lambda col: col.get_name() == "a"))
     >>> expr.columns
-    ['a']
+    ('a',)
 
     """
     return Where(predicate)
@@ -128,10 +128,10 @@ def numeric() -> Selector:
     >>> import ibis.selectors as s
     >>> t = ibis.table(dict(a="int", b="string", c="array<string>"), name="t")
     >>> t.columns
-    ['a', 'b', 'c']
+    ('a', 'b', 'c')
     >>> expr = t.select(s.numeric())  # `a` has integer type, so it's numeric
     >>> expr.columns
-    ['a']
+    ('a',)
 
     See Also
     --------
@@ -168,13 +168,13 @@ def of_type(dtype: dt.DataType | str | type[dt.DataType]) -> Selector:
     >>> t = ibis.table(dict(name="string", siblings="array<string>", parents="array<int64>"))
     >>> expr = t.select(s.of_type(dt.Array(dt.string)))
     >>> expr.columns
-    ['siblings']
+    ('siblings',)
 
     Strings are also accepted
 
     >>> expr = t.select(s.of_type("array<string>"))
     >>> expr.columns
-    ['siblings']
+    ('siblings',)
 
     Abstract/unparametrized types may also be specified by their string name
     (e.g. "integer" for any integer type), or by passing in a `DataType` class
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ def of_type(dtype: dt.DataType | str | type[dt.DataType]) -> Selector:
     >>> expr1.equals(expr2)
     True
     >>> expr2.columns
-    ['siblings', 'parents']
+    ('siblings', 'parents')
 
     See Also
     --------
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ def startswith(prefixes: str | tuple[str, ...]) -> Selector:
     >>> t = ibis.table(dict(apples="int", oranges="float", bananas="bool"), name="t")
     >>> expr = t.select(s.startswith(("a", "b")))
     >>> expr.columns
-    ['apples', 'bananas']
+    ('apples', 'bananas')
 
     See Also
     --------
@@ -319,14 +319,14 @@ def contains(
     ... )
     >>> expr = t.select(s.contains(("a", "b")))
     >>> expr.columns
-    ['a', 'b', 'ab']
+    ('a', 'b', 'ab')
 
     Select columns that contain all of `"a"` and `"b"`, that is, both `"a"` and
     `"b"` must be in each column's name to match.
 
     >>> expr = t.select(s.contains(("a", "b"), how=all))
     >>> expr.columns
-    ['ab']
+    ('ab',)
 
     See Also
     --------
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@ def matches(regex: str | re.Pattern) -> Selector:
     >>> t = ibis.table(dict(ab="string", abd="int", be="array<string>"))
     >>> expr = t.select(s.matches(r"ab+"))
     >>> expr.columns
-    ['ab', 'abd']
+    ('ab', 'abd')
 
     See Also
     --------
@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@ def cols(*names: str | ir.Column) -> Selector:
     >>> t = ibis.table({"a": "int", "b": "int", "c": "int"})
     >>> expr = t.select(s.cols("a", "b"))
     >>> expr.columns
-    ['a', 'b']
+    ('a', 'b')
 
     See Also
     --------
diff --git a/ibis/tests/expr/test_analytics.py b/ibis/tests/expr/test_analytics.py
index 348d04f1f01a..007c4e945efb 100644
--- a/ibis/tests/expr/test_analytics.py
+++ b/ibis/tests/expr/test_analytics.py
@@ -116,10 +116,10 @@ def test_topk_function_late_bind(airlines):
 def test_topk_name(airlines):
     expr1 = airlines.dest.topk(5, name="mycol")
     expr2 = airlines.dest.topk(5, by=_.count().name("mycol"))
-    assert expr1.columns == ["dest", "mycol"]
+    assert expr1.columns == ("dest", "mycol")
     assert_equal(expr1, expr2)
 
     expr3 = airlines.dest.topk(5, by=_.arrdelay.mean(), name="mycol")
     expr4 = airlines.dest.topk(5, by=_.arrdelay.mean().name("mycol"))
-    assert expr3.columns == ["dest", "mycol"]
+    assert expr3.columns == ("dest", "mycol")
     assert_equal(expr3, expr4)
diff --git a/ibis/tests/expr/test_table.py b/ibis/tests/expr/test_table.py
index 329975dbdc41..2b117cbb93ab 100644
--- a/ibis/tests/expr/test_table.py
+++ b/ibis/tests/expr/test_table.py
@@ -874,18 +874,18 @@ def test_group_by_column_select_api(table):
 def test_value_counts(table):
     expr1 = table.g.value_counts()
     expr2 = table[["g"]].group_by("g").aggregate(g_count=_.count())
-    assert expr1.columns == ["g", "g_count"]
+    assert expr1.columns == ("g", "g_count")
     assert_equal(expr1, expr2)
 
     expr3 = table.g.value_counts(name="freq")
     expr4 = table[["g"]].group_by("g").aggregate(freq=_.count())
-    assert expr3.columns == ["g", "freq"]
+    assert expr3.columns == ("g", "freq")
     assert_equal(expr3, expr4)
 
 
 def test_value_counts_on_window_function(table):
     expr = (table.a - table.a.mean()).name("x").value_counts(name="count")
-    assert expr.columns == ["x", "count"]
+    assert expr.columns == ("x", "count")
 
 
 def test_value_counts_unnamed_expr(con):