diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/commands/table.c b/src/backend/distributed/commands/table.c
index 0c9e3d552..635909fd2 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/commands/table.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/commands/table.c
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@
 #include "utils/lsyscache.h"
 #include "utils/syscache.h"
 
-
 /* Local functions forward declarations for unsupported command checks */
 static void ErrorIfUnsupportedAlterTableStmt(AlterTableStmt *alterTableStatement);
 static List * InterShardDDLTaskList(Oid leftRelationId, Oid rightRelationId,
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/master/master_metadata_utility.c b/src/backend/distributed/master/master_metadata_utility.c
index 196a33b97..6f1c6fdf9 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/master/master_metadata_utility.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/master/master_metadata_utility.c
@@ -503,6 +503,35 @@ LoadShardIntervalList(Oid relationId)
 }
 
 
+/*
+ * GetOnlyShardOidOfReferenceTable returns OID of the one and only placement
+ * of the given reference table. Caller of this function must ensure that
+ * referenceTableOid is owned by a reference table.
+ */
+Oid
+GetOnlyShardOidOfReferenceTable(Oid referenceTableOid)
+{
+	DistTableCacheEntry *cacheEntry = DistributedTableCacheEntry(referenceTableOid);
+
+	/* assert that it is a "valid" "reference table" */
+	Assert(cacheEntry != NULL && cacheEntry->shardIntervalArrayLength == 1);
+
+	const ShardInterval *shardInterval = cacheEntry->sortedShardIntervalArray[0];
+	uint64 referenceTableShardId = shardInterval->shardId;
+
+	/* construct reference table's one & only placement's relation name */
+	char *referenceTableShardName = get_rel_name(referenceTableOid);
+	AppendShardIdToName(&referenceTableShardName, referenceTableShardId);
+
+	Oid referenceTableSchemaOid = get_rel_namespace(referenceTableOid);
+
+	Oid referenceTableShardOid = get_relname_relid(referenceTableShardName,
+												   referenceTableSchemaOid);
+
+	return referenceTableShardOid;
+}
+
+
 /*
  * ShardIntervalCount returns number of shard intervals for a given distributed table.
  * The function returns 0 if table is not distributed, or no shards can be found for
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/planner/distributed_planner.c b/src/backend/distributed/planner/distributed_planner.c
index c552da1f2..76276be36 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/planner/distributed_planner.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/planner/distributed_planner.c
@@ -2503,14 +2503,7 @@ UpdateReferenceTablesWithShard(Node *node, void *context)
 		return false;
 	}
 
-	ShardInterval *shardInterval = cacheEntry->sortedShardIntervalArray[0];
-	uint64 shardId = shardInterval->shardId;
-
-	char *relationName = get_rel_name(relationId);
-	AppendShardIdToName(&relationName, shardId);
-
-	Oid schemaId = get_rel_namespace(relationId);
-	newRte->relid = get_relname_relid(relationName, schemaId);
+	newRte->relid = GetOnlyShardOidOfReferenceTable(relationId);
 
 	/*
 	 * Parser locks relations in addRangeTableEntry(). So we should lock the
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/master_metadata_utility.h b/src/include/distributed/master_metadata_utility.h
index ca0d60f7c..72db1df10 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/master_metadata_utility.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/master_metadata_utility.h
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ extern Datum citus_relation_size(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 /* Function declarations to read shard and shard placement data */
 extern uint32 TableShardReplicationFactor(Oid relationId);
 extern List * LoadShardIntervalList(Oid relationId);
+extern Oid GetOnlyShardOidOfReferenceTable(Oid referenceTableOid);
 extern int ShardIntervalCount(Oid relationId);
 extern List * LoadShardList(Oid relationId);
 extern void CopyShardInterval(ShardInterval *srcInterval, ShardInterval *destInterval);