diff --git a/packages/mosaic/sql/src/ast/join.ts b/packages/mosaic/sql/src/ast/join.ts
index 8445200c7..760dac9d1 100644
--- a/packages/mosaic/sql/src/ast/join.ts
+++ b/packages/mosaic/sql/src/ast/join.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import { JOIN_CLAUSE } from '../constants.js';
 import { ColumnRefNode } from './column-ref.js';
 import { FromNode } from './from.js';
 import { ExprNode } from './node.js';
-import { TableRefNode } from './table-ref.js';
 
 /** The join variant. Determines what kind of join is performed. */
 export type JoinVariant = 'REGULAR' | 'CROSS' | 'NATURAL' | 'POSITIONAL' | 'ASOF';
@@ -13,9 +12,9 @@ export type JoinType = 'INNER' | 'LEFT' | 'RIGHT' | 'FULL' | 'SEMI' | 'ANTI';
 
 export class JoinNode extends FromNode {
   /** The left table to join. */
-  readonly left: FromNode | TableRefNode;
+  readonly left: FromNode;
   /** The right table to join. */
-  readonly right: FromNode | TableRefNode;
+  readonly right: FromNode;
   /** The join variant (REGULAR, CROSS, NATURAL, POSITIONAL, ASOF). */
   readonly joinVariant: JoinVariant;
   /** The join type (INNER, LEFT, RIGHT, FULL, SEMI, ANTI). */
@@ -46,8 +45,8 @@ export class JoinNode extends FromNode {
    * @param sample A table sample to apply to join output.
    */
   constructor(
-    left: FromNode | TableRefNode,
-    right: FromNode | TableRefNode,
+    left: FromNode,
+    right: FromNode,
     variant: JoinVariant = 'NATURAL',
     type: JoinType = 'INNER',
     condition?: ExprNode,
diff --git a/packages/mosaic/sql/src/functions/join.ts b/packages/mosaic/sql/src/functions/join.ts
index c86b358cb..58d0c717b 100644
--- a/packages/mosaic/sql/src/functions/join.ts
+++ b/packages/mosaic/sql/src/functions/join.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { ColumnRefNode } from '../ast/column-ref.js';
 import { FromNode } from '../ast/from.js';
 import { JoinNode, type JoinType, type JoinVariant } from '../ast/join.js';
 import { ExprNode } from '../ast/node.js';
-import { asNode, asTableRef } from '../util/ast.js';
+import { asFrom, asNode } from '../util/ast.js';
 
 type TableArg = string | string[] | FromNode;
 
@@ -23,9 +23,6 @@ interface JoinOptions {
   using?: (string | ColumnRefNode)[];
 }
 
-function tableRef(x: TableArg) {
-  return x instanceof FromNode ? x : asTableRef(x)!;
-}
 
 function makeJoin(
   left: TableArg,
@@ -37,8 +34,8 @@ function makeJoin(
     throw new Error('Only one join condition (on or using) can be applied.');
   }
   return new JoinNode(
-    tableRef(left),
-    tableRef(right),
+    asFrom(left),
+    asFrom(right),
     variant,
     options.type,
     options.on,
diff --git a/packages/mosaic/sql/src/index.ts b/packages/mosaic/sql/src/index.ts
index be97b5b7f..a86aad36d 100644
--- a/packages/mosaic/sql/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/mosaic/sql/src/index.ts
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ export { lineDensity } from './transforms/line-density.js';
 export { m4 } from './transforms/m4.js';
 export { scaleTransform, type Scale, type ScaleDomain, type ScaleOptions, type ScaleTransform, type ScaleType } from './transforms/scales.js';
 
-export { asLiteral, asNode, asTableRef, asVerbatim, parseColumnRef, parseTableRef, over } from './util/ast.js';
+export { asFrom, asLiteral, asNode, asTableRef, asVerbatim, parseColumnRef, parseTableRef, over } from './util/ast.js';
 export { isParamLike } from './util/type-check.js';
 
 export { binSpec, binStep, type BinOptions } from './transforms/util/bin-step.js';
diff --git a/packages/mosaic/sql/src/transforms/filter-query.ts b/packages/mosaic/sql/src/transforms/filter-query.ts
index e8a0f955c..474b70f94 100644
--- a/packages/mosaic/sql/src/transforms/filter-query.ts
+++ b/packages/mosaic/sql/src/transforms/filter-query.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import { SCALAR_SUBQUERY } from '../constants.js';
 import type { FilterExpr } from '../types.js';
 import { ColumnRefNode } from '../ast/column-ref.js';
 import { FromClauseNode } from '../ast/from.js';
-import { JoinNode } from '../ast/join.js';
 import { Query } from '../ast/query.js';
 import { isTableRef, type TableRefNode } from '../ast/table-ref.js';
 import { asTableRef } from '../util/ast.js';
@@ -63,16 +62,9 @@ export function filterPushdown(
     }
     // @ts-expect-error set read-only property
     node.table = [filteredName];
-    if (parent instanceof FromClauseNode) {
-      if (!parent.alias) {
-        // @ts-expect-error set read-only property
-        parent.alias = visibleName;
-      }
-    } else if (parent instanceof JoinNode) {
-      // a bare join operand can not carry an alias, so wrap it in one
-      const side = parent.left === node ? 'left' : 'right';
+    if (parent instanceof FromClauseNode && !parent.alias) {
       // @ts-expect-error set read-only property
-      parent[side] = new FromClauseNode(node, visibleName);
+      parent.alias = visibleName;
     }
   });
 
diff --git a/packages/mosaic/sql/src/util/ast.ts b/packages/mosaic/sql/src/util/ast.ts
index 38d3150c6..61e93c692 100644
--- a/packages/mosaic/sql/src/util/ast.ts
+++ b/packages/mosaic/sql/src/util/ast.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import type { ColumnRefNode } from '../ast/column-ref.js';
 import type { TableRefNode } from '../ast/table-ref.js';
+import { FromClauseNode, FromNode } from '../ast/from.js';
 import { ExprNode, type SQLNode } from '../ast/node.js';
 import { ParamNode } from '../ast/param.js';
 import { WindowDefNode } from '../ast/window.js';
@@ -71,6 +72,18 @@ function getTableRef<T>(value?: string | string[] | T): TableRefNode | T | undef
     : value;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Interpret a value as a FROM clause AST node. Table names and references
+ * are wrapped in a clause aliased by the table name, as in `Query.from`.
+ * Existing FROM nodes are left as-is.
+ * @param value The value to interpret as a FROM clause AST node.
+ */
+export function asFrom(value: string | string[] | TableRefNode | FromNode): FromNode {
+  if (value instanceof FromNode) return value;
+  const ref = asTableRef(value)!;
+  return new FromClauseNode(ref, ref.name);
+}
+
 /**
  * Parse a string as a column reference, potentially with
  * dot ('.') delimited table, schema, and database references.
diff --git a/packages/mosaic/sql/src/visit/codegen/duckdb.ts b/packages/mosaic/sql/src/visit/codegen/duckdb.ts
index 2a3d5467c..017502fd8 100644
--- a/packages/mosaic/sql/src/visit/codegen/duckdb.ts
+++ b/packages/mosaic/sql/src/visit/codegen/duckdb.ts
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ export class DuckDBCodeGenerator extends SQLCodeGenerator {
     const ref = isQuery(expr) ? `(${this.toString(expr)})` : `${this.toString(expr)}`;
 
     let from: string;
-    if (alias && (columnNames?.length || !(isTableRef(expr) && expr.table?.join('.') === alias))) {
+    if (alias && (columnNames?.length || !(isTableRef(expr) && expr.name === alias))) {
       const names = columnNames?.length
         ? `(${columnNames.map(v => quoteIdentifier(v)).join(', ')})`
         : '';
diff --git a/packages/mosaic/sql/test/join.test.ts b/packages/mosaic/sql/test/join.test.ts
index 22a9d5959..a9c977041 100644
--- a/packages/mosaic/sql/test/join.test.ts
+++ b/packages/mosaic/sql/test/join.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { expect, describe, it } from 'vitest';
 import { asof_join, column, cross_join, eq, from, join, JoinNode, positional_join, walk } from '../src/index.js';
-import { JOIN_CLAUSE, TABLE_REF } from '../src/constants.js';
+import { FROM_CLAUSE, JOIN_CLAUSE, TABLE_REF } from '../src/constants.js';
 import { validateQuery } from './util/validate.js';
 
 /** Validate a join clause fragment by wrapping it in a SELECT. */
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ describe('Join functions', () => {
     await validateJoin(join('t1', 't2', { type: 'SEMI', using }), '"t1" SEMI JOIN "t2" USING ("num1")');
     await validateJoin(join('t1', 't2', { type: 'ANTI', using }), '"t1" ANTI JOIN "t2" USING ("num1")');
 
+    // redundant aliases on schema-qualified operands are not serialized
+    expect(String(join(['s', 't1'], 't2'))).toBe('"s"."t1" NATURAL JOIN "t2"');
+
     // handles from clauses
     const X = from('t1').as('X');
     const Y = from('t2').as('Y');
@@ -76,7 +79,7 @@ describe('Join functions', () => {
     expect(() => walk(
       join('t1', 't2'),
       (x) => {
-        if (x.type !== JOIN_CLAUSE && x.type !== TABLE_REF) {
+        if (x.type !== JOIN_CLAUSE && x.type !== FROM_CLAUSE && x.type !== TABLE_REF) {
           throw new Error('Unexpected node type.');
         }
       }