my @values = (undef, $var1, $var2, $var3); my @where; my $sql = 'select * from table'; my @defined_values; foreach my idx (1..3) { if defined $values[$idx] { push @where, qq(column$dx = ?); push @defined_values, $values[$idx]; } } $sql = $sql . ' where ' . join(' and ', @where); my $sth = $dbh->prepare_cached($sql); $sth->execute(@defined_values);