diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_logical_optimizer.c b/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_logical_optimizer.c
index 744e851f6..916c0500b 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_logical_optimizer.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_logical_optimizer.c
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ static bool JoinOnPartitionColumn(Query *query);
 static void ErrorIfUnsupportedShardDistribution(Query *query);
 static List * RelationIdList(Query *query);
 static bool CoPartitionedTables(Oid firstRelationId, Oid secondRelationId);
-static bool ShardIntervalsEqual(FmgrInfo* comparisonFunction, ShardInterval *firstInterval,
+static bool ShardIntervalsEqual(FmgrInfo *comparisonFunction, ShardInterval *firstInterval,
 								ShardInterval *secondInterval);
 static void ErrorIfUnsupportedFilters(Query *subquery);
 static bool EqualOpExpressionLists(List *firstOpExpressionList,
@@ -3515,8 +3515,8 @@ CoPartitionedTables(Oid firstRelationId, Oid secondRelationId)
 		ShardInterval *secondInterval = &sortedSecondIntervalArray[intervalIndex];
 
 		bool shardIntervalsEqual = ShardIntervalsEqual(comparisonFunction,
-													firstInterval,
-													secondInterval);
+													   firstInterval,
+													   secondInterval);
 		if (!shardIntervalsEqual)
 		{
 			coPartitionedTables = false;
@@ -3529,11 +3529,12 @@ CoPartitionedTables(Oid firstRelationId, Oid secondRelationId)
 
 
 /*
- * ShardIntervalsEqual checks if given shard intervals have equal min/max values.
+ * ShardIntervalsEqual checks if given shard intervals have equal min/max values under
+ * some comparison function
  */
 static bool
-ShardIntervalsEqual(FmgrInfo* comparisonFunction, ShardInterval *firstInterval,
-		ShardInterval *secondInterval)
+ShardIntervalsEqual(FmgrInfo *comparisonFunction, ShardInterval *firstInterval,
+					ShardInterval *secondInterval)
 {
 	bool shardIntervalsEqual = false;
 	Datum firstMin = 0;
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_physical_planner.c b/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_physical_planner.c
index 47208225c..41689c466 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_physical_planner.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_physical_planner.c
@@ -2003,7 +2003,7 @@ SubquerySqlTaskList(Job *job)
 	uint32 anchorRangeTableId = 0;
 	uint32 rangeTableIndex = 0;
 	const uint32 fragmentSize = sizeof(RangeTableFragment);
-	uint64 maxTableSize = 0;
+	uint64 maxPrunedTableSize = 0;
 
 	/* find filters on partition columns */
 	ExtractQueryWalker((Node *) subquery, &queryList);
@@ -2045,7 +2045,7 @@ SubquerySqlTaskList(Job *job)
 		uint32 tableId = rangeTableIndex + 1; /* tableId starts from 1 */
 		uint32 finalShardCount = 0;
 		uint32 shardIndex = 0;
-		uint64 tableSize = 0;
+		uint64 prunedTableSize = 0;
 
 		if (opExpressionList != NIL)
 		{
@@ -2073,9 +2073,6 @@ SubquerySqlTaskList(Job *job)
 		for (shardIndex = 0; shardIndex < finalShardCount; shardIndex++)
 		{
 			ShardInterval *shardInterval = sortedIntervalArray[shardIndex];
-
-			tableSize += ShardLength(shardInterval->shardId);
-
 			RangeTableFragment *shardFragment = palloc0(fragmentSize);
 			shardFragment->fragmentReference = &(shardInterval->shardId);
 			shardFragment->fragmentType = CITUS_RTE_RELATION;
@@ -2095,10 +2092,17 @@ SubquerySqlTaskList(Job *job)
 				/* get next fragment for the first relation list */
 				fragmentCombinationCell = lnext(fragmentCombinationCell);
 			}
+
+			prunedTableSize += ShardLength(shardInterval->shardId);
 		}
 
-		if (anchorRangeTableId == 0 || tableSize > maxTableSize){
-			maxTableSize = tableSize;
+		/*
+		 * The shards of the anchor table are not shipped between workers if it can be
+		 * avoided. By picking the largest table to be the anchor we're reducing network
+		 * traffic.
+		 */
+		if (anchorRangeTableId == 0 || prunedTableSize > maxPrunedTableSize){
+			maxTableSize = prunedTableSize;
 			anchorRangeTableId = tableId;
 		}