This query:

SELECT MAX( f1 ) FROM t1 WHERE ( 5 , 9 ) IN ( SELECT 3 , 5 );

returns no rows even though it should return NULL (the where clause is false).

Repeatable in maria-5.3,maria-5.2,mysql-5.5

explain:

explain extended:

select max(`test`.`t1`.`f1`) AS `MAX( f1 )` from `test`.`t1` where <in_optimizer>((5,9),<exists>(select 3,5 having (((5 = 3) or isnull(3)) and ((9 = 5) or isnull(5)) and <is_not_null_test>(3) and <is_not_null_test>(5))))

test case:

CREATE TABLE t1 (f1 integer, key(f1)) engine=myisam;
insert into t1 values (1),(2);
SELECT MAX( f1 ) FROM t1 WHERE ( 5 , 9 ) IN ( SELECT 3 , 5 );