diff --git a/protos/perfetto/perfetto_sql/structured_query.proto b/protos/perfetto/perfetto_sql/structured_query.proto
index 5b4870f67b..4034be437f 100644
--- a/protos/perfetto/perfetto_sql/structured_query.proto
+++ b/protos/perfetto/perfetto_sql/structured_query.proto
@@ -268,7 +268,8 @@ message PerfettoSqlStructuredQuery {
     // The existing name of the column from the source. Required.
     optional string column_name = 1;
 
-    // The new name of the column. Required.
+    // The new name of the column. If not set, the name of the column is
+    // `column_name`. Optional.
     optional string alias = 2;
   }
   repeated SelectColumn select_columns = 10;
diff --git a/src/trace_processor/perfetto_sql/generator/structured_query_generator.cc b/src/trace_processor/perfetto_sql/generator/structured_query_generator.cc
index db0257e822..dd29eb0261 100644
--- a/src/trace_processor/perfetto_sql/generator/structured_query_generator.cc
+++ b/src/trace_processor/perfetto_sql/generator/structured_query_generator.cc
@@ -428,12 +428,16 @@ base::StatusOr<std::string> GeneratorImpl::SelectColumnsNoAggregates(
   }
   std::string sql;
   for (auto it = select_columns; it; ++it) {
-    StructuredQuery::SelectColumn::Decoder alias(*it);
+    StructuredQuery::SelectColumn::Decoder column(*it);
     if (!sql.empty()) {
       sql += ", ";
     }
-    sql += alias.column_name().ToStdString() + " AS " +
-           alias.alias().ToStdString();
+    if (column.has_alias()) {
+      sql += column.column_name().ToStdString() + " AS " +
+             column.alias().ToStdString();
+    } else {
+      sql += column.column_name().ToStdString();
+    }
   }
   return sql;
 }
diff --git a/src/trace_processor/perfetto_sql/generator/structured_query_generator_unittest.cc b/src/trace_processor/perfetto_sql/generator/structured_query_generator_unittest.cc
index 8b4fc45b30..a13b0cd720 100644
--- a/src/trace_processor/perfetto_sql/generator/structured_query_generator_unittest.cc
+++ b/src/trace_processor/perfetto_sql/generator/structured_query_generator_unittest.cc
@@ -156,5 +156,36 @@ TEST(StructuredQueryGeneratorTest, Smoke2) {
                                    "linux.memory.process", "slices.slices"));
 }
 
+TEST(StructuredQueryGeneratorTest, ColumnSelection) {
+  StructuredQueryGenerator gen;
+  auto proto = ToProto(R"(
+    id: "table_source_thread_slice"
+    table: {
+      table_name: "thread_slice"
+      module_name: "slices.with_context"
+      column_names: "id"
+      column_names: "ts"
+      column_names: "dur"
+    }
+    select_columns: {column_name: "id"}
+    select_columns: {
+      column_name: "dur"
+      alias: "cheese"
+    }
+    select_columns: {column_name: "ts"}
+  )");
+  auto ret = gen.Generate(proto.data(), proto.size());
+  ASSERT_OK_AND_ASSIGN(std::string res, ret);
+  ASSERT_THAT(res.c_str(), EqualsIgnoringWhitespace(R"(
+    WITH sq_table_source_thread_slice AS
+      (SELECT
+        id,
+        dur AS cheese,
+        ts
+      FROM thread_slice)
+    SELECT * FROM sq_table_source_thread_slice
+  )"));
+}
+
 }  // namespace
 }  // namespace perfetto::trace_processor::perfetto_sql::generator