diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/schema_statements.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/schema_statements.rb
index c7aff63228a44d6f42097376816c3a329808d7bc..efa427fa88adb2b83e9450e1333686c5c7e7a599 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/schema_statements.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/schema_statements.rb
@@ -92,7 +92,9 @@ def index_exists?(table_name, column_name, options = {})
 
       # Returns an array of Column objects for the table specified by +table_name+.
       # See the concrete implementation for details on the expected parameter values.
-      def columns(table_name) end
+      def columns(table_name)
+        raise NotImplementedError, "#columns is not implemented"
+      end
 
       # Checks to see if a column exists in a given table.
       #