I get the error: Msg 2714, Level 16, State 1, Line 16 There is already an object named '#mytemptable' in the database.

There are ways around it, but wonder why this happens. Seems like SQL Server is verifying both blocks of the if/else statement?

declare @choice int
select @choice = 1

if @choice = 1
    begin
        select 'MyValue = 1' AS Pick into #my_temp_table
    end
else
    begin
        select 'MyValue <> 1' AS Pick into #my_temp_table
    end

select * from #temptable

drop table #temptable

If the tables have different names, it works. Or if I create the temp table and use Insert Into... statements that works as well.