A mixed join between database column and row tables employs an algorithm that recognizes both row and column store, and is executable upon the data in its native form (row or column) without requiring conversion between orientations. The native mixed join algorithm accesses the column dictionary of the column table for efficient join processing. The native mixed join algorithm may also exploit an inverted index (if present) to search a record (e.g. docid) with a given value. In particular, the native mixed join algorithm looks up a column dictionary for a join condition, while iterating the row table and returning matched records in a pipelined manner.