diff --git a/datafusion/physical-expr/src/expressions/column.rs b/datafusion/physical-expr/src/expressions/column.rs
index 3def89f78501..63f8c405308e 100644
--- a/datafusion/physical-expr/src/expressions/column.rs
+++ b/datafusion/physical-expr/src/expressions/column.rs
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ use arrow::{
 };
 
 use crate::PhysicalExpr;
-use datafusion_common::Result;
+use datafusion_common::{DataFusionError, Result};
 use datafusion_expr::ColumnarValue;
 
 /// Represents the column at a given index in a RecordBatch
@@ -74,21 +74,84 @@ impl PhysicalExpr for Column {
 
     /// Get the data type of this expression, given the schema of the input
     fn data_type(&self, input_schema: &Schema) -> Result<DataType> {
+        self.bounds_check(input_schema)?;
         Ok(input_schema.field(self.index).data_type().clone())
     }
 
     /// Decide whehter this expression is nullable, given the schema of the input
     fn nullable(&self, input_schema: &Schema) -> Result<bool> {
+        self.bounds_check(input_schema)?;
         Ok(input_schema.field(self.index).is_nullable())
     }
 
     /// Evaluate the expression
     fn evaluate(&self, batch: &RecordBatch) -> Result<ColumnarValue> {
+        self.bounds_check(batch.schema().as_ref())?;
         Ok(ColumnarValue::Array(batch.column(self.index).clone()))
     }
 }
 
+impl Column {
+    fn bounds_check(&self, input_schema: &Schema) -> Result<()> {
+        if self.index < input_schema.fields.len() {
+            Ok(())
+        } else {
+            Err(DataFusionError::Internal(format!(
+                "PhysicalExpr Column references column '{}' at index {} (zero-based) but input schema only has {} columns: {:?}",
+                self.name,
+                self.index, input_schema.fields.len(), input_schema.fields().iter().map(|f| f.name().clone()).collect::<Vec<String>>())))
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 /// Create a column expression
 pub fn col(name: &str, schema: &Schema) -> Result<Arc<dyn PhysicalExpr>> {
     Ok(Arc::new(Column::new_with_schema(name, schema)?))
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test {
+    use crate::expressions::Column;
+    use crate::PhysicalExpr;
+    use arrow::array::StringArray;
+    use arrow::datatypes::{DataType, Field, Schema};
+    use arrow::record_batch::RecordBatch;
+    use datafusion_common::Result;
+    use std::sync::Arc;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn out_of_bounds_data_type() {
+        let schema = Schema::new(vec![Field::new("foo", DataType::Utf8, true)]);
+        let col = Column::new("id", 9);
+        let error = col.data_type(&schema).expect_err("error");
+        assert_eq!("Internal error: PhysicalExpr Column references column 'id' at index 9 (zero-based) \
+            but input schema only has 1 columns: [\"foo\"]. This was likely caused by a bug in \
+            DataFusion's code and we would welcome that you file an bug report in our issue tracker",
+           &format!("{}", error))
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn out_of_bounds_nullable() {
+        let schema = Schema::new(vec![Field::new("foo", DataType::Utf8, true)]);
+        let col = Column::new("id", 9);
+        let error = col.nullable(&schema).expect_err("error");
+        assert_eq!("Internal error: PhysicalExpr Column references column 'id' at index 9 (zero-based) \
+            but input schema only has 1 columns: [\"foo\"]. This was likely caused by a bug in \
+            DataFusion's code and we would welcome that you file an bug report in our issue tracker",
+                   &format!("{}", error))
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn out_of_bounds_evaluate() -> Result<()> {
+        let schema = Schema::new(vec![Field::new("foo", DataType::Utf8, true)]);
+        let data: StringArray = vec!["data"].into();
+        let batch = RecordBatch::try_new(Arc::new(schema), vec![Arc::new(data)])?;
+        let col = Column::new("id", 9);
+        let error = col.evaluate(&batch).expect_err("error");
+        assert_eq!("Internal error: PhysicalExpr Column references column 'id' at index 9 (zero-based) \
+            but input schema only has 1 columns: [\"foo\"]. This was likely caused by a bug in \
+            DataFusion's code and we would welcome that you file an bug report in our issue tracker",
+                   &format!("{}", error));
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}