diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/metadata/metadata_utility.c b/src/backend/distributed/metadata/metadata_utility.c
index 70dea09fc..e32337fe2 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/metadata/metadata_utility.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/metadata/metadata_utility.c
@@ -2546,7 +2546,7 @@ DeformBackgroundTaskHeapTuple(TupleDesc tupleDescriptor, HeapTuple taskTuple)
 	task->taskid = DatumGetInt64(values[Anum_pg_dist_background_tasks_task_id - 1]);
 	if (!nulls[Anum_pg_dist_background_tasks_pid - 1])
 	{
-		task->pid = palloc0(sizeof(task->pid));
+		task->pid = palloc0(sizeof(int32));
 		*(task->pid) = DatumGetInt32(values[Anum_pg_dist_background_tasks_pid - 1]);
 	}
 	task->status = BackgroundTaskStatusByOid(
@@ -2557,7 +2557,7 @@ DeformBackgroundTaskHeapTuple(TupleDesc tupleDescriptor, HeapTuple taskTuple)
 
 	if (!nulls[Anum_pg_dist_background_tasks_retry_count - 1])
 	{
-		task->retry_count = palloc0(sizeof(task->retry_count));
+		task->retry_count = palloc0(sizeof(int32));
 		*(task->retry_count) = DatumGetInt32(
 			values[Anum_pg_dist_background_tasks_retry_count - 1]);
 	}
@@ -2718,8 +2718,7 @@ GetBackgroundTaskByTaskId(int64 taskId)
 
 
 void
-UpdateJobStatus(int64 taskId, const pid_t *pid, BackgroundTaskStatus status,
-				const int32 *retry_count, char *message)
+UpdateBackgroundTask(BackgroundTask *task)
 {
 	Relation pgDistBackgroundTasks =
 		table_open(DistBackgroundTasksRelationId(), RowExclusiveLock);
@@ -2729,9 +2728,9 @@ UpdateJobStatus(int64 taskId, const pid_t *pid, BackgroundTaskStatus status,
 	ScanKeyData scanKey[1] = { 0 };
 	const bool indexOK = true;
 
-	/* WHERE task_id = $taskId */
+	/* WHERE task_id = $task->taskid */
 	ScanKeyInit(&scanKey[0], Anum_pg_dist_background_tasks_task_id,
-				BTEqualStrategyNumber, F_INT8EQ, Int64GetDatum(taskId));
+				BTEqualStrategyNumber, F_INT8EQ, Int64GetDatum(task->taskid));
 
 	SysScanDesc scanDescriptor =
 		systable_beginscan(pgDistBackgroundTasks,
@@ -2742,7 +2741,7 @@ UpdateJobStatus(int64 taskId, const pid_t *pid, BackgroundTaskStatus status,
 	if (!HeapTupleIsValid(heapTuple))
 	{
 		ereport(ERROR, (errmsg("could not find background task entry for task_id: "
-							   UINT64_FORMAT, taskId)));
+							   UINT64_FORMAT, task->taskid)));
 	}
 
 	Datum values[Natts_pg_dist_background_tasks] = { 0 };
@@ -2751,37 +2750,40 @@ UpdateJobStatus(int64 taskId, const pid_t *pid, BackgroundTaskStatus status,
 
 	heap_deform_tuple(heapTuple, tupleDescriptor, values, isnull);
 
+	bool updated = false;
+
 #define UPDATE_FIELD(field, newNull, newValue) \
 	replace[(field - 1)] = (((newNull) != isnull[(field - 1)]) \
 							|| (values[(field - 1)] != (newValue))); \
 	isnull[(field - 1)] = (newNull); \
-	values[(field - 1)] = (newValue);
+	values[(field - 1)] = (newValue); \
+	updated |= replace[(field - 1)]
 
-	if (pid)
+	if (task->pid)
 	{
-		UPDATE_FIELD(Anum_pg_dist_background_tasks_pid, false, Int32GetDatum(*pid));
+		UPDATE_FIELD(Anum_pg_dist_background_tasks_pid, false, Int32GetDatum(*task->pid));
 	}
 	else
 	{
 		UPDATE_FIELD(Anum_pg_dist_background_tasks_pid, true, InvalidOid);
 	}
 
-	Oid statusOid = ObjectIdGetDatum(CitusTaskStatusOid(status));
+	Oid statusOid = ObjectIdGetDatum(CitusTaskStatusOid(task->status));
 	UPDATE_FIELD(Anum_pg_dist_background_tasks_status, false, statusOid);
 
-	if (retry_count)
+	if (task->retry_count)
 	{
-		UPDATE_FIELD(Anum_pg_dist_background_tasks_retry_count, false, Int32GetDatum(
-						 *retry_count));
+		UPDATE_FIELD(Anum_pg_dist_background_tasks_retry_count, false,
+					 Int32GetDatum(*task->retry_count));
 	}
 	else
 	{
 		UPDATE_FIELD(Anum_pg_dist_background_tasks_retry_count, true, InvalidOid);
 	}
 
-	if (message)
+	if (task->message)
 	{
-		Oid messageOid = CStringGetTextDatum(message);
+		Oid messageOid = CStringGetTextDatum(task->message);
 		UPDATE_FIELD(Anum_pg_dist_background_tasks_message, false, messageOid);
 	}
 	else
@@ -2791,11 +2793,15 @@ UpdateJobStatus(int64 taskId, const pid_t *pid, BackgroundTaskStatus status,
 
 #undef UPDATE_FIELD
 
-	heapTuple = heap_modify_tuple(heapTuple, tupleDescriptor, values, isnull, replace);
+	if (updated)
+	{
+		heapTuple = heap_modify_tuple(heapTuple, tupleDescriptor, values, isnull,
+									  replace);
 
-	CatalogTupleUpdate(pgDistBackgroundTasks, &heapTuple->t_self, heapTuple);
+		CatalogTupleUpdate(pgDistBackgroundTasks, &heapTuple->t_self, heapTuple);
 
-	CommandCounterIncrement();
+		CommandCounterIncrement();
+	}
 
 	systable_endscan(scanDescriptor);
 	table_close(pgDistBackgroundTasks, NoLock);
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/utils/background_jobs.c b/src/backend/distributed/utils/background_jobs.c
index 4f7a76783..49dbfb280 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/utils/background_jobs.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/utils/background_jobs.c
@@ -44,6 +44,30 @@ static BackgroundWorkerHandle * StartCitusBackgroundJobExecuter(char *database,
 																char *command);
 static void ExecuteSqlString(const char *sql);
 
+static void
+BackgroundTaskUpdatePid(BackgroundTask *task, pid_t *pid)
+{
+	if (pid)
+	{
+		if (!task->pid)
+		{
+			MemoryContext taskContext = GetMemoryChunkContext(task);
+			task->pid = MemoryContextAlloc(taskContext, sizeof(int32));
+		}
+		*task->pid = *pid;
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		/* clear any existing pid */
+		if (task->pid)
+		{
+			pfree(task->pid);
+		}
+		task->pid = NULL;
+	}
+}
+
+
 BackgroundWorkerHandle *
 StartCitusBackgroundTaskMonitorWorker(Oid database, Oid extensionOwner)
 {
@@ -144,14 +168,14 @@ CitusBackgroundTaskMonitorMain(Datum arg)
 		PushActiveSnapshot(GetTransactionSnapshot());
 
 		/*
-		 * We need to load the job into the perTaskContext as we will switch contexts
+		 * We need to load the task into the perTaskContext as we will switch contexts
 		 * later due to the committing and starting of new transactions
 		 */
 		MemoryContext oldContext = MemoryContextSwitchTo(perTaskContext);
-		BackgroundTask *job = GetRunnableBackgroundTask();
+		BackgroundTask *task = GetRunnableBackgroundTask();
 		MemoryContextSwitchTo(oldContext);
 
-		if (!job)
+		if (!task)
 		{
 			PopActiveSnapshot();
 			CommitTransactionCommand();
@@ -167,7 +191,7 @@ CitusBackgroundTaskMonitorMain(Datum arg)
 
 		/* TODO find the actual database and username */
 		BackgroundWorkerHandle *handle =
-			StartCitusBackgroundJobExecuter("postgres", "nilsdijk", job->command);
+			StartCitusBackgroundJobExecuter("postgres", "nilsdijk", task->command);
 
 		if (handle == NULL)
 		{
@@ -178,20 +202,23 @@ CitusBackgroundTaskMonitorMain(Datum arg)
 		pid_t pid = 0;
 		GetBackgroundWorkerPid(handle, &pid);
 
-		ereport(LOG, (errmsg("found job with jobid: %ld", job->taskid)));
+		ereport(LOG, (errmsg("found task with jobid: %ld", task->taskid)));
 
 		StartTransactionCommand();
 		PushActiveSnapshot(GetTransactionSnapshot());
 
-		/* Update job status to indicate it is running */
-		UpdateJobStatus(job->taskid, &pid, BACKGROUND_TASK_STATUS_RUNNING, NULL, NULL);
+		task->status = BACKGROUND_TASK_STATUS_RUNNING;
+		BackgroundTaskUpdatePid(task, &pid);
+
+		/* Update task status to indicate it is running */
+		UpdateBackgroundTask(task);
 
 		PopActiveSnapshot();
 		CommitTransactionCommand();
 
 		MemoryContextSwitchTo(perTaskContext);
 
-		/* TODO keep polling the job */
+		/* TODO keep polling the task */
 		while (GetBackgroundWorkerPid(handle, &pid) != BGWH_STOPPED)
 		{
 			int latchFlags = WL_LATCH_SET | WL_TIMEOUT | WL_POSTMASTER_DEATH;
@@ -213,8 +240,10 @@ CitusBackgroundTaskMonitorMain(Datum arg)
 		StartTransactionCommand();
 		PushActiveSnapshot(GetTransactionSnapshot());
 
-		/* TODO job can actually also have failed*/
-		UpdateJobStatus(job->taskid, NULL, BACKGROUND_TASK_STATUS_DONE, NULL, NULL);
+		/* TODO task can actually also have failed*/
+		task->status = BACKGROUND_TASK_STATUS_DONE;
+		BackgroundTaskUpdatePid(task, NULL);
+		UpdateBackgroundTask(task);
 
 		PopActiveSnapshot();
 		CommitTransactionCommand();
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/metadata_utility.h b/src/include/distributed/metadata_utility.h
index 1265f5a84..2c48f7a50 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/metadata_utility.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/metadata_utility.h
@@ -341,6 +341,7 @@ extern bool BackgroundTaskHasUmnetDependencies(int64 taskId);
 extern BackgroundTask * GetRunnableBackgroundTask(void);
 extern void ResetRunningBackgroundTasks(void);
 extern BackgroundTask * GetBackgroundTaskByTaskId(int64 taskId);
+extern void UpdateBackgroundTask(BackgroundTask *task);
 extern void UpdateJobStatus(int64 taskId, const pid_t *pid, BackgroundTaskStatus status,
 							const int32 *retry_count, char *message);
 extern bool UpdateJobError(BackgroundTask *job, ErrorData *edata);