diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_rebalancer.c b/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_rebalancer.c
index baed8b0d5..c5282202e 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_rebalancer.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_rebalancer.c
@@ -1818,10 +1818,10 @@ static void
 RebalanceTableShards(RebalanceOptions *options, Oid shardReplicationModeOid)
 {
 	char transferMode = LookupShardTransferMode(shardReplicationModeOid);
-	EnsureReferenceTablesExistOnAllNodesExtended(transferMode);
 
 	if (list_length(options->relationIdList) == 0)
 	{
+		EnsureReferenceTablesExistOnAllNodesExtended(transferMode);
 		return;
 	}
 
@@ -1836,6 +1836,25 @@ RebalanceTableShards(RebalanceOptions *options, Oid shardReplicationModeOid)
 
 	List *placementUpdateList = GetRebalanceSteps(options);
 
+	if (transferMode == TRANSFER_MODE_AUTOMATIC)
+	{
+		/*
+		 * If the shard transfer mode is set to auto, we should check beforehand
+		 * if we are able to use logical replication to transfer shards or not.
+		 * We throw an error if any of the tables do not have a replica identity, which
+		 * is required for logical replication to replicate UPDATE and DELETE commands.
+		 */
+		PlacementUpdateEvent *placementUpdate = NULL;
+		foreach_ptr(placementUpdate, placementUpdateList)
+		{
+			Oid relationId = RelationIdForShard(placementUpdate->shardId);
+			List *colocatedTableList = ColocatedTableList(relationId);
+			VerifyTablesHaveReplicaIdentity(colocatedTableList);
+		}
+	}
+
+	EnsureReferenceTablesExistOnAllNodesExtended(transferMode);
+
 	if (list_length(placementUpdateList) == 0)
 	{
 		return;
@@ -1916,12 +1935,6 @@ RebalanceTableShardsBackground(RebalanceOptions *options, Oid shardReplicationMo
 		EnsureTableOwner(colocatedTableId);
 	}
 
-	if (shardTransferMode == TRANSFER_MODE_AUTOMATIC)
-	{
-		/* make sure that all tables included in the rebalance have a replica identity*/
-		VerifyTablesHaveReplicaIdentity(colocatedTableList);
-	}
-
 	List *placementUpdateList = GetRebalanceSteps(options);
 
 	if (list_length(placementUpdateList) == 0)
@@ -1930,6 +1943,23 @@ RebalanceTableShardsBackground(RebalanceOptions *options, Oid shardReplicationMo
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	if (shardTransferMode == TRANSFER_MODE_AUTOMATIC)
+	{
+		/*
+		 * If the shard transfer mode is set to auto, we should check beforehand
+		 * if we are able to use logical replication to transfer shards or not.
+		 * We throw an error if any of the tables do not have a replica identity, which
+		 * is required for logical replication to replicate UPDATE and DELETE commands.
+		 */
+		PlacementUpdateEvent *placementUpdate = NULL;
+		foreach_ptr(placementUpdate, placementUpdateList)
+		{
+			relationId = RelationIdForShard(placementUpdate->shardId);
+			List *colocatedTables = ColocatedTableList(relationId);
+			VerifyTablesHaveReplicaIdentity(colocatedTables);
+		}
+	}
+
 	DropOrphanedResourcesInSeparateTransaction();
 
 	/* find the name of the shard transfer mode to interpolate in the scheduled command */
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/shard_rebalancer.out b/src/test/regress/expected/shard_rebalancer.out
index 2146d67f1..1dea3b442 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/shard_rebalancer.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/shard_rebalancer.out
@@ -1482,7 +1482,6 @@ SELECT * from master_drain_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
 ERROR:  cannot use logical replication to transfer shards of the relation colocated_rebalance_test since it doesn't have a REPLICA IDENTITY or PRIMARY KEY
 DETAIL:  UPDATE and DELETE commands on the shard will error out during logical replication unless there is a REPLICA IDENTITY or PRIMARY KEY.
 HINT:  If you wish to continue without a replica identity set the shard_transfer_mode to 'force_logical' or 'block_writes'.
-CONTEXT:  while executing command on localhost:xxxxx
 -- Make sure shouldhaveshards is false
 select shouldhaveshards from pg_dist_node where nodeport = :worker_2_port;
  shouldhaveshards
@@ -2714,6 +2713,39 @@ SELECT sh.logicalrelid, pl.nodeport
 (5 rows)
 
 DROP TABLE single_shard_colocation_1a, single_shard_colocation_1b, single_shard_colocation_1c, single_shard_colocation_2a, single_shard_colocation_2b CASCADE;
+-- verify we detect if one of the tables do not have a replica identity or primary key
+-- and error out in case of shard transfer mode = auto
+SELECT 1 FROM citus_remove_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
+ ?column?
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+        1
+(1 row)
+
+create table table_with_primary_key (a int primary key);
+select create_distributed_table('table_with_primary_key','a');
+ create_distributed_table
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+(1 row)
+
+create table table_without_primary_key (a bigint);
+select create_distributed_table('table_without_primary_key','a');
+ create_distributed_table
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+(1 row)
+
+-- add the second node back, then rebalance
+ALTER SEQUENCE pg_dist_groupid_seq RESTART WITH 16;
+select 1 from citus_add_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
+ ?column?
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+        1
+(1 row)
+
+select rebalance_table_shards();
+ERROR:  cannot use logical replication to transfer shards of the relation table_without_primary_key since it doesn't have a REPLICA IDENTITY or PRIMARY KEY
+DROP TABLE table_with_primary_key, table_without_primary_key;
 \c - - - :worker_1_port
 SET citus.enable_ddl_propagation TO OFF;
 REVOKE ALL ON SCHEMA public FROM testrole;
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/shard_rebalancer.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/shard_rebalancer.sql
index dbbc94732..da4259f5b 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/shard_rebalancer.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/shard_rebalancer.sql
@@ -1497,6 +1497,21 @@ SELECT sh.logicalrelid, pl.nodeport
 
 DROP TABLE single_shard_colocation_1a, single_shard_colocation_1b, single_shard_colocation_1c, single_shard_colocation_2a, single_shard_colocation_2b CASCADE;
 
+-- verify we detect if one of the tables do not have a replica identity or primary key
+-- and error out in case of shard transfer mode = auto
+SELECT 1 FROM citus_remove_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
+
+create table table_with_primary_key (a int primary key);
+select create_distributed_table('table_with_primary_key','a');
+create table table_without_primary_key (a bigint);
+select create_distributed_table('table_without_primary_key','a');
+
+-- add the second node back, then rebalance
+ALTER SEQUENCE pg_dist_groupid_seq RESTART WITH 16;
+select 1 from citus_add_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
+select rebalance_table_shards();
+
+DROP TABLE table_with_primary_key, table_without_primary_key;
 \c - - - :worker_1_port
 SET citus.enable_ddl_propagation TO OFF;
 REVOKE ALL ON SCHEMA public FROM testrole;