diff --git a/storage/innobase/dict/dict0dict.cc b/storage/innobase/dict/dict0dict.cc
index ecd8839c36e26..a36aabd181061 100644
--- a/storage/innobase/dict/dict0dict.cc
+++ b/storage/innobase/dict/dict0dict.cc
@@ -1236,8 +1236,7 @@ dict_table_add_system_columns(
 	mem_heap_t*	heap)	/*!< in: temporary heap */
 {
 	ut_ad(table);
-	ut_ad(table->n_def ==
-	      (table->n_cols - dict_table_get_n_sys_cols(table)));
+	ut_ad(table->n_def == (table->n_cols - DATA_N_SYS_COLS));
 	ut_ad(table->magic_n == DICT_TABLE_MAGIC_N);
 	ut_ad(!table->cached);
 
@@ -3170,8 +3169,7 @@ dict_index_build_internal_clust(
 
 	/* Add to new_index non-system columns of table not yet included
 	there */
-	ulint n_sys_cols = dict_table_get_n_sys_cols(table);
-	for (i = 0; i + n_sys_cols < (ulint) table->n_cols; i++) {
+	for (i = 0; i + DATA_N_SYS_COLS < ulint(table->n_cols); i++) {
 
 		dict_col_t*	col = dict_table_get_nth_col(table, i);
 		ut_ad(col->mtype != DATA_SYS);
@@ -6571,15 +6569,13 @@ dict_table_schema_check(
 		return(DB_TABLE_NOT_FOUND);
 	}
 
-	ulint n_sys_cols = dict_table_get_n_sys_cols(table);
-	if ((ulint) table->n_def - n_sys_cols != req_schema->n_cols) {
+	if (ulint(table->n_def - DATA_N_SYS_COLS) != req_schema->n_cols) {
 		/* the table has a different number of columns than required */
 		ut_snprintf(errstr, errstr_sz,
-			    "%s has " ULINTPF " columns but should have "
-			    ULINTPF ".",
+			    "%s has %d columns but should have " ULINTPF ".",
 			    ut_format_name(req_schema->table_name,
 					   buf, sizeof(buf)),
-			    table->n_def - n_sys_cols,
+			    table->n_def - DATA_N_SYS_COLS,
 			    req_schema->n_cols);
 
 		return(DB_ERROR);
diff --git a/storage/innobase/dict/dict0mem.cc b/storage/innobase/dict/dict0mem.cc
index 230706976dc99..3666443c1de44 100644
--- a/storage/innobase/dict/dict0mem.cc
+++ b/storage/innobase/dict/dict0mem.cc
@@ -128,8 +128,7 @@ dict_mem_table_create(
 	table->name.m_name = mem_strdup(name);
 	table->is_system_db = dict_mem_table_is_system(table->name.m_name);
 	table->space = (unsigned int) space;
-	table->n_t_cols = (unsigned int) (n_cols +
-			dict_table_get_n_sys_cols(table));
+	table->n_t_cols = unsigned(n_cols + DATA_N_SYS_COLS);
 	table->n_v_cols = (unsigned int) (n_v_cols);
 	table->n_cols = table->n_t_cols - table->n_v_cols;
 
diff --git a/storage/innobase/handler/handler0alter.cc b/storage/innobase/handler/handler0alter.cc
index 2fa38b24ad918..bd241f6db8208 100644
--- a/storage/innobase/handler/handler0alter.cc
+++ b/storage/innobase/handler/handler0alter.cc
@@ -3970,17 +3970,11 @@ innobase_add_virtual_try(
 	}
 
 
-	ulint	n_col = user_table->n_cols;
-	ulint	n_v_col = user_table->n_v_cols;
-
-	n_v_col +=  ctx->num_to_add_vcol;
-
-	n_col -= dict_table_get_n_sys_cols(user_table);
-
-	n_v_col -= ctx->num_to_drop_vcol;
-
+	ulint	n_col = user_table->n_cols - DATA_N_SYS_COLS;
+	ulint	n_v_col = user_table->n_v_cols
+		+ ctx->num_to_add_vcol - ctx->num_to_drop_vcol;
 	ulint	new_n = dict_table_encode_n_col(n_col, n_v_col)
-			+ ((user_table->flags & DICT_TF_COMPACT) << 31);
+		+ ((user_table->flags & DICT_TF_COMPACT) << 31);
 
 	err = innobase_update_n_virtual(user_table, new_n, trx);
 
@@ -4204,15 +4198,10 @@ innobase_drop_virtual_try(
 	}
 
 
-	ulint	n_col = user_table->n_cols;
-	ulint	n_v_col = user_table->n_v_cols;
-
-	n_v_col -=  ctx->num_to_drop_vcol;
-
-	n_col -= dict_table_get_n_sys_cols(user_table);
-
+	ulint	n_col = user_table->n_cols - DATA_N_SYS_COLS;
+	ulint	n_v_col = user_table->n_v_cols - ctx->num_to_drop_vcol;
 	ulint	new_n = dict_table_encode_n_col(n_col, n_v_col)
-			+ ((user_table->flags & DICT_TF_COMPACT) << 31);
+		+ ((user_table->flags & DICT_TF_COMPACT) << 31);
 
 	err = innobase_update_n_virtual(user_table, new_n, trx);
 
diff --git a/storage/innobase/include/data0type.h b/storage/innobase/include/data0type.h
index 35dcf2f3397f8..a7c7bc92ee954 100644
--- a/storage/innobase/include/data0type.h
+++ b/storage/innobase/include/data0type.h
@@ -183,8 +183,6 @@ be less than 256 */
 				for shorter VARCHARs MySQL uses only 1 byte */
 #define	DATA_VIRTUAL	8192U	/* Virtual column */
 
-/** Get the number of system columns in a table. */
-#define dict_table_get_n_sys_cols(table) DATA_N_SYS_COLS
 /** Check whether locking is disabled (never). */
 #define dict_table_is_locking_disabled(table) false
 
diff --git a/storage/innobase/include/dict0dict.h b/storage/innobase/include/dict0dict.h
index ace0029e63218..57b625f317cd4 100644
--- a/storage/innobase/include/dict0dict.h
+++ b/storage/innobase/include/dict0dict.h
@@ -920,13 +920,12 @@ dict_table_get_sys_col(
 	ulint			sys)	/*!< in: DATA_ROW_ID, ... */
 	MY_ATTRIBUTE((nonnull, warn_unused_result));
 #else /* UNIV_DEBUG */
-#define dict_table_get_nth_col(table, pos)	\
-((table)->cols + (pos))
-#define dict_table_get_sys_col(table, sys)	\
-((table)->cols + (table)->n_cols + (sys)	\
- - (dict_table_get_n_sys_cols(table)))
+#define dict_table_get_nth_col(table, pos)				\
+	(&(table)->cols[pos])
+#define dict_table_get_sys_col(table, sys)				\
+	(&(table)->cols[(table)->n_cols + (sys) - DATA_N_SYS_COLS])
 /* Get nth virtual columns */
-#define dict_table_get_nth_v_col(table, pos)	((table)->v_cols + (pos))
+#define dict_table_get_nth_v_col(table, pos)	(&(table)->v_cols[pos])
 #endif /* UNIV_DEBUG */
 /********************************************************************//**
 Gets the given system column number of a table.
diff --git a/storage/innobase/include/dict0dict.ic b/storage/innobase/include/dict0dict.ic
index 62561c8af4fb2..2ed64b0939794 100644
--- a/storage/innobase/include/dict0dict.ic
+++ b/storage/innobase/include/dict0dict.ic
@@ -396,8 +396,8 @@ dict_table_get_n_user_cols(
 	const dict_table_t*	table)	/*!< in: table */
 {
 	ut_ad(table->magic_n == DICT_TABLE_MAGIC_N);
-
-	return(table->n_cols - dict_table_get_n_sys_cols(table));
+	ut_ad(table->n_cols > DATA_N_SYS_COLS);
+	return(table->n_cols - DATA_N_SYS_COLS);
 }
 
 /** Gets the number of user-defined virtual and non-virtual columns in a table
@@ -562,11 +562,10 @@ dict_table_get_sys_col(
 	dict_col_t*	col;
 
 	ut_ad(table);
-	ut_ad(sys < dict_table_get_n_sys_cols(table));
+	ut_ad(sys < DATA_N_SYS_COLS);
 	ut_ad(table->magic_n == DICT_TABLE_MAGIC_N);
 
-	col = dict_table_get_nth_col(table, table->n_cols
-				     - dict_table_get_n_sys_cols(table)
+	col = dict_table_get_nth_col(table, table->n_cols - DATA_N_SYS_COLS
 				     + sys);
 	ut_ad(col->mtype == DATA_SYS);
 	ut_ad(col->prtype == (sys | DATA_NOT_NULL));
@@ -586,10 +585,10 @@ dict_table_get_sys_col_no(
 	ulint			sys)	/*!< in: DATA_ROW_ID, ... */
 {
 	ut_ad(table);
-	ut_ad(sys < dict_table_get_n_sys_cols(table));
+	ut_ad(sys < DATA_N_SYS_COLS);
 	ut_ad(table->magic_n == DICT_TABLE_MAGIC_N);
 
-	return(table->n_cols - dict_table_get_n_sys_cols(table) + sys);
+	return(table->n_cols - DATA_N_SYS_COLS + sys);
 }
 
 /********************************************************************//**
diff --git a/storage/innobase/row/row0merge.cc b/storage/innobase/row/row0merge.cc
index b2e4657476c83..0cf34d8fb38f7 100644
--- a/storage/innobase/row/row0merge.cc
+++ b/storage/innobase/row/row0merge.cc
@@ -1843,8 +1843,8 @@ row_merge_read_clustered_index(
 	based on that. */
 
 	clust_index = dict_table_get_first_index(old_table);
-	const ulint old_trx_id_col = old_table->n_cols + DATA_TRX_ID
-		- dict_table_get_n_sys_cols(table);
+	const ulint old_trx_id_col = DATA_TRX_ID - DATA_N_SYS_COLS
+		+ old_table->n_cols;
 	ut_ad(old_table->cols[old_trx_id_col].mtype == DATA_SYS);
 	ut_ad(old_table->cols[old_trx_id_col].prtype
 	      == (DATA_TRX_ID | DATA_NOT_NULL));