diff --git a/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/dbmigration/migration/CreateTable.java b/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/dbmigration/migration/CreateTable.java
index 421e5fb90..dac8198b0 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/dbmigration/migration/CreateTable.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/dbmigration/migration/CreateTable.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlType;
  *       <attGroup ref="{http://ebean-orm.github.io/xml/ns/dbmigration}tablespaceAttributes"/>
  *       <attribute name="name" use="required" type="{http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema}string" />
  *       <attribute name="withHistory" type="{http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema}boolean" />
+ *       <attribute name="draft" type="{http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema}boolean" />
  *       <attribute name="identityType" type="{http://ebean-orm.github.io/xml/ns/dbmigration}identityType" />
  *       <attribute name="sequenceName" type="{http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema}string" />
  *       <attribute name="sequenceInitial" type="{http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema}positiveInteger" />
@@ -59,6 +60,8 @@ public class CreateTable {
     protected String name;
     @XmlAttribute(name = "withHistory")
     protected Boolean withHistory;
+    @XmlAttribute(name = "draft")
+    protected Boolean draft;
     @XmlAttribute(name = "identityType")
     protected IdentityType identityType;
     @XmlAttribute(name = "sequenceName")
@@ -213,6 +216,30 @@ public class CreateTable {
         this.withHistory = value;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Gets the value of the draft property.
+     * 
+     * @return
+     *     possible object is
+     *     {@link Boolean }
+     *     
+     */
+    public Boolean isDraft() {
+        return draft;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets the value of the draft property.
+     * 
+     * @param value
+     *     allowed object is
+     *     {@link Boolean }
+     *     
+     */
+    public void setDraft(Boolean value) {
+        this.draft = value;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Gets the value of the identityType property.
      * 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/dbmigration/model/MTable.java b/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/dbmigration/model/MTable.java
index e608a5b5e..4c412d4cc 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/dbmigration/model/MTable.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/dbmigration/model/MTable.java
@@ -10,13 +10,14 @@ import com.avaje.ebean.dbmigration.migration.DropHistoryTable;
 import com.avaje.ebean.dbmigration.migration.DropTable;
 import com.avaje.ebean.dbmigration.migration.IdentityType;
 import com.avaje.ebean.dbmigration.migration.UniqueConstraint;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import java.math.BigInteger;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
-import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
@@ -38,6 +39,8 @@ import java.util.Set;
  */
 public class MTable {
 
+  private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(MTable.class);
+
   /**
    * Table name.
    */
@@ -150,6 +153,7 @@ public class MTable {
     this.tablespace = createTable.getTablespace();
     this.indexTablespace = createTable.getIndexTablespace();
     this.withHistory = Boolean.TRUE.equals(createTable.isWithHistory());
+    this.draft = Boolean.TRUE.equals(createTable.isDraft());
     this.sequenceName = createTable.getSequenceName();
     this.sequenceInitial = toInt(createTable.getSequenceInitial());
     this.sequenceAllocate = toInt(createTable.getSequenceAllocate());
@@ -194,6 +198,9 @@ public class MTable {
     if (withHistory) {
       createTable.setWithHistory(Boolean.TRUE);
     }
+    if (draft) {
+      createTable.setDraft(Boolean.TRUE);
+    }
 
     for (MColumn column : this.columns.values()) {
       // filter out draftOnly columns from the base table
@@ -244,24 +251,29 @@ public class MTable {
 
     addColumn = null;
 
-    Set<String> mappedColumns = new LinkedHashSet<String>();
+    Map<String, MColumn> newColumnMap = newTable.getColumns();
 
-    Collection<MColumn> newColumns = newTable.getColumns().values();
-    for (MColumn newColumn : newColumns) {
-      MColumn localColumn = columns.get(newColumn.getName());
+    // compare newColumns to existing columns (look for new and diff columns)
+    for (MColumn newColumn : newColumnMap.values()) {
+      MColumn localColumn = this.columns.get(newColumn.getName());
       if (localColumn == null) {
-        diffNewColumn(newColumn);
+        // can ignore if draftOnly column and non-draft table
+        if (!newColumn.isDraftOnly() || draft) {
+          diffNewColumn(newColumn);
+        }
       } else {
-        // note that if there are alter column changes in here then
-        // the table withHistory is taken into account
         localColumn.compare(modelDiff, this, newColumn);
-        mappedColumns.add(newColumn.getName());
       }
     }
 
-    Collection<MColumn> existingColumns = columns.values();
-    for (MColumn existingColumn : existingColumns) {
-      if (!mappedColumns.contains(existingColumn.getName())) {
+    // compare existing columns (look for dropped columns)
+    for (MColumn existingColumn : columns.values()) {
+      MColumn newColumn = newColumnMap.get(existingColumn.getName());
+      if (newColumn == null) {
+        diffDropColumn(modelDiff, existingColumn);
+      } else if (newColumn.isDraftOnly() && !draft) {
+        // effectively a drop column (draft only column on a non-draft table)
+        logger.trace("... drop column {} from table {} as now draftOnly", newColumn.getName(), name);
         diffDropColumn(modelDiff, existingColumn);
       }
     }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/ebean-dbmigration-1.0.xsd b/src/main/resources/ebean-dbmigration-1.0.xsd
index b0a9e8275..d33e3570b 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/ebean-dbmigration-1.0.xsd
+++ b/src/main/resources/ebean-dbmigration-1.0.xsd
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@
       </xsd:sequence>
       <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" use="required"/>
       <xsd:attribute name="withHistory" type="xsd:boolean"/>
+      <xsd:attribute name="draft" type="xsd:boolean"/>
       <xsd:attribute name="identityType" type="identityType"/>
       <xsd:attribute name="sequenceName" type="xsd:string"/>
       <xsd:attribute name="sequenceInitial" type="xsd:positiveInteger"/>