diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-lang-sqlpp/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/lang/sqlpp/visitor/SqlppAstPrintVisitor.java b/asterixdb/asterix-lang-sqlpp/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/lang/sqlpp/visitor/SqlppAstPrintVisitor.java
index 908f799..3880fa1 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-lang-sqlpp/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/lang/sqlpp/visitor/SqlppAstPrintVisitor.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-lang-sqlpp/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/lang/sqlpp/visitor/SqlppAstPrintVisitor.java
@@ -132,9 +132,10 @@
     public Void visit(Projection projection, Integer step) throws AsterixException {
         if (projection.star()) {
             out.println(skip(step) + "*");
+        } else {
+            projection.getExpression().accept(this, step);
+            out.println(skip(step) + projection.getName());
         }
-        projection.getExpression().accept(this, step);
-        out.println(skip(step) + projection.getName());
         return null;
     }