sqlcode 37000 preparing statement with "like"

Hi, I am coding with esql and try to feed informix with queries read from a file. The problem is when describing a statement like follows: select firstname from users where last like 'Smith%'; where the "%" is at the end of the pattern, sqlcode would be set to 37000 and fail to describe the statement. But it doesn't complain if I have something like this: select firstname from users where last like '%Smith'; Does this error condition ring a bell to anybody? Any help would be appreciated. Muqu