diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/commands/create_distributed_table.c b/src/backend/distributed/commands/create_distributed_table.c
index 43dd3a7ee..4198837b2 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/commands/create_distributed_table.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/commands/create_distributed_table.c
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
  */
 
 #include "postgres.h"
+#include "miscadmin.h"
 
 #include "access/genam.h"
 #include "access/hash.h"
@@ -39,11 +40,14 @@
 #include "distributed/master_protocol.h"
 #include "distributed/metadata_cache.h"
 #include "distributed/metadata_sync.h"
+#include "distributed/multi_copy.h"
 #include "distributed/multi_logical_planner.h"
 #include "distributed/pg_dist_colocation.h"
 #include "distributed/pg_dist_partition.h"
 #include "distributed/reference_table_utils.h"
+#include "distributed/worker_protocol.h"
 #include "distributed/worker_transaction.h"
+#include "executor/executor.h"
 #include "executor/spi.h"
 #include "nodes/execnodes.h"
 #include "nodes/nodeFuncs.h"
@@ -52,10 +56,14 @@
 #include "parser/parse_node.h"
 #include "parser/parse_relation.h"
 #include "parser/parser.h"
+#include "tcop/pquery.h"
+#include "tcop/tcopprot.h"
 #include "utils/builtins.h"
 #include "utils/fmgroids.h"
 #include "utils/lsyscache.h"
+#include "utils/memutils.h"
 #include "utils/rel.h"
+#include "utils/snapmgr.h"
 #include "utils/syscache.h"
 #include "utils/inval.h"
 
@@ -65,10 +73,10 @@ int ReplicationModel = REPLICATION_MODEL_COORDINATOR;
 
 
 /* local function forward declarations */
-static void CreateReferenceTable(Oid relationId);
+static void CreateReferenceTable(Oid distributedRelationId);
 static void ConvertToDistributedTable(Oid relationId, char *distributionColumnName,
 									  char distributionMethod, char replicationModel,
-									  uint32 colocationId);
+									  uint32 colocationId, bool requireEmpty);
 static char LookupDistributionMethod(Oid distributionMethodOid);
 static Oid SupportFunctionForColumn(Var *partitionColumn, Oid accessMethodId,
 									int16 supportFunctionNumber);
@@ -83,6 +91,8 @@ static void CreateHashDistributedTable(Oid relationId, char *distributionColumnN
 									   char *colocateWithTableName,
 									   int shardCount, int replicationFactor);
 static Oid ColumnType(Oid relationId, char *columnName);
+static void CopyLocalDataIntoShards(Oid relationId);
+static List * TupleDescColumnNameList(TupleDesc tupleDescriptor);
 
 /* exports for SQL callable functions */
 PG_FUNCTION_INFO_V1(master_create_distributed_table);
@@ -106,6 +116,7 @@ master_create_distributed_table(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 
 	char *distributionColumnName = text_to_cstring(distributionColumnText);
 	char distributionMethod = LookupDistributionMethod(distributionMethodOid);
+	bool requireEmpty = true;
 
 	EnsureCoordinator();
 
@@ -121,7 +132,7 @@ master_create_distributed_table(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 
 	ConvertToDistributedTable(distributedRelationId, distributionColumnName,
 							  distributionMethod, REPLICATION_MODEL_COORDINATOR,
-							  INVALID_COLOCATION_ID);
+							  INVALID_COLOCATION_ID, requireEmpty);
 
 	PG_RETURN_VOID();
 }
@@ -177,6 +188,8 @@ create_distributed_table(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 	/* if distribution method is not hash, just create partition metadata */
 	if (distributionMethod != DISTRIBUTE_BY_HASH)
 	{
+		bool requireEmpty = true;
+
 		if (ReplicationModel != REPLICATION_MODEL_COORDINATOR)
 		{
 			ereport(NOTICE, (errmsg("using statement-based replication"),
@@ -186,7 +199,7 @@ create_distributed_table(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 
 		ConvertToDistributedTable(relationId, distributionColumnName,
 								  distributionMethod, REPLICATION_MODEL_COORDINATOR,
-								  INVALID_COLOCATION_ID);
+								  INVALID_COLOCATION_ID, requireEmpty);
 		PG_RETURN_VOID();
 	}
 
@@ -232,6 +245,8 @@ CreateReferenceTable(Oid relationId)
 	List *workerNodeList = WorkerNodeList();
 	int replicationFactor = list_length(workerNodeList);
 	char *distributionColumnName = NULL;
+	bool requireEmpty = true;
+	char relationKind = 0;
 
 	EnsureCoordinator();
 
@@ -245,23 +260,38 @@ CreateReferenceTable(Oid relationId)
 						errdetail("There are no active worker nodes.")));
 	}
 
+	/* relax empty table requirement for regular (non-foreign) tables */
+	relationKind = get_rel_relkind(relationId);
+	if (relationKind == RELKIND_RELATION)
+	{
+		requireEmpty = false;
+	}
+
 	colocationId = CreateReferenceTableColocationId();
 
 	/* first, convert the relation into distributed relation */
 	ConvertToDistributedTable(relationId, distributionColumnName,
-							  DISTRIBUTE_BY_NONE, REPLICATION_MODEL_2PC, colocationId);
+							  DISTRIBUTE_BY_NONE, REPLICATION_MODEL_2PC, colocationId,
+							  requireEmpty);
 
 	/* now, create the single shard replicated to all nodes */
 	CreateReferenceTableShard(relationId);
 
 	CreateTableMetadataOnWorkers(relationId);
+
+	/* copy over data for regular relations */
+	if (relationKind == RELKIND_RELATION)
+	{
+		CopyLocalDataIntoShards(relationId);
+	}
 }
 
 
 /*
  * ConvertToDistributedTable converts the given regular PostgreSQL table into a
  * distributed table. First, it checks if the given table can be distributed,
- * then it creates related tuple in pg_dist_partition.
+ * then it creates related tuple in pg_dist_partition. If requireEmpty is true,
+ * this function errors out when presented with a relation containing rows.
  *
  * XXX: We should perform more checks here to see if this table is fit for
  * partitioning. At a minimum, we should validate the following: (i) this node
@@ -272,7 +302,7 @@ CreateReferenceTable(Oid relationId)
 static void
 ConvertToDistributedTable(Oid relationId, char *distributionColumnName,
 						  char distributionMethod, char replicationModel,
-						  uint32 colocationId)
+						  uint32 colocationId, bool requireEmpty)
 {
 	Relation relation = NULL;
 	TupleDesc relationDesc = NULL;
@@ -322,8 +352,8 @@ ConvertToDistributedTable(Oid relationId, char *distributionColumnName,
 								  "foreign tables.")));
 	}
 
-	/* check that the relation does not contain any rows */
-	if (!LocalTableEmpty(relationId))
+	/* check that table is empty if that is required */
+	if (requireEmpty && !LocalTableEmpty(relationId))
 	{
 		ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_INVALID_TABLE_DEFINITION),
 						errmsg("cannot distribute relation \"%s\"",
@@ -915,6 +945,8 @@ CreateHashDistributedTable(Oid relationId, char *distributionColumnName,
 	uint32 colocationId = INVALID_COLOCATION_ID;
 	Oid sourceRelationId = InvalidOid;
 	Oid distributionColumnType = InvalidOid;
+	bool requireEmpty = true;
+	char relationKind = 0;
 
 	/* get an access lock on the relation to prevent DROP TABLE and ALTER TABLE */
 	distributedRelation = relation_open(relationId, AccessShareLock);
@@ -957,9 +989,16 @@ CreateHashDistributedTable(Oid relationId, char *distributionColumnName,
 		colocationId = TableColocationId(sourceRelationId);
 	}
 
+	/* relax empty table requirement for regular (non-foreign) tables */
+	relationKind = get_rel_relkind(relationId);
+	if (relationKind == RELKIND_RELATION)
+	{
+		requireEmpty = false;
+	}
+
 	/* create distributed table metadata */
 	ConvertToDistributedTable(relationId, distributionColumnName, DISTRIBUTE_BY_HASH,
-							  ReplicationModel, colocationId);
+							  ReplicationModel, colocationId, requireEmpty);
 
 	/* create shards */
 	if (sourceRelationId != InvalidOid)
@@ -976,6 +1015,12 @@ CreateHashDistributedTable(Oid relationId, char *distributionColumnName,
 		CreateShardsWithRoundRobinPolicy(relationId, shardCount, replicationFactor);
 	}
 
+	/* copy over data for regular relations */
+	if (relationKind == RELKIND_RELATION)
+	{
+		CopyLocalDataIntoShards(relationId);
+	}
+
 	heap_close(pgDistColocation, NoLock);
 	relation_close(distributedRelation, NoLock);
 }
@@ -1021,3 +1066,143 @@ EnsureReplicationSettings(Oid relationId, char replicationModel)
 								"factor\" to one%s.", extraHint)));
 	}
 }
+
+
+/*
+ * CopyLocalDataIntoShards copies data from the local table, which is hidden
+ * after converting it to a distributed table, into the shards of the distributed
+ * table.
+ *
+ * This function uses CitusCopyDestReceiver to invoke the distributed COPY logic.
+ * We cannot use a regular COPY here since that cannot read from a table. Instead
+ * we read from the table and pass each tuple to the CitusCopyDestReceiver which
+ * opens a connection and starts a COPY for each shard placement that will have
+ * data.
+ *
+ * We could call the planner and executor here and send the output to the
+ * DestReceiver, but we are in a tricky spot here since Citus is already
+ * intercepting queries on this table in the planner and executor hooks and we
+ * want to read from the local table. To keep it simple, we perform a heap scan
+ * directly on the table.
+ *
+ * Any writes on the table that are started during this operation will be handled
+ * as distributed queries once the current transaction commits. SELECTs will
+ * continue to read from the local table until the current transaction commits,
+ * after which new SELECTs will be handled as distributed queries.
+ *
+ * After copying local data into the distributed table, the local data remains
+ * in place and should be truncated at a later time.
+ */
+static void
+CopyLocalDataIntoShards(Oid distributedRelationId)
+{
+	DestReceiver *copyDest = NULL;
+	List *columnNameList = NIL;
+	Relation distributedRelation = NULL;
+	TupleDesc tupleDescriptor = NULL;
+	bool stopOnFailure = true;
+
+	EState *estate = NULL;
+	HeapScanDesc scan = NULL;
+	HeapTuple tuple = NULL;
+	ExprContext *econtext = NULL;
+	MemoryContext oldContext = NULL;
+	TupleTableSlot *slot = NULL;
+	uint64 rowsCopied = 0;
+
+	/* take an ExclusiveLock to block all operations except SELECT */
+	distributedRelation = heap_open(distributedRelationId, ExclusiveLock);
+
+	/* get the table columns */
+	tupleDescriptor = RelationGetDescr(distributedRelation);
+	slot = MakeSingleTupleTableSlot(tupleDescriptor);
+	columnNameList = TupleDescColumnNameList(tupleDescriptor);
+
+	/* initialise per-tuple memory context */
+	estate = CreateExecutorState();
+	econtext = GetPerTupleExprContext(estate);
+	econtext->ecxt_scantuple = slot;
+
+	copyDest =
+		(DestReceiver *) CreateCitusCopyDestReceiver(distributedRelationId,
+													 columnNameList, estate,
+													 stopOnFailure);
+
+	/* initialise state for writing to shards, we'll open connections on demand */
+	copyDest->rStartup(copyDest, 0, tupleDescriptor);
+
+	/* begin reading from local table */
+	scan = heap_beginscan(distributedRelation, GetActiveSnapshot(), 0, NULL);
+
+	oldContext = MemoryContextSwitchTo(GetPerTupleMemoryContext(estate));
+
+	while ((tuple = heap_getnext(scan, ForwardScanDirection)) != NULL)
+	{
+		/* materialize tuple and send it to a shard */
+		ExecStoreTuple(tuple, slot, InvalidBuffer, false);
+		copyDest->receiveSlot(slot, copyDest);
+
+		/* clear tuple memory */
+		ResetPerTupleExprContext(estate);
+
+		/* make sure we roll back on cancellation */
+		CHECK_FOR_INTERRUPTS();
+
+		if (rowsCopied == 0)
+		{
+			ereport(NOTICE, (errmsg("Copying data from local table...")));
+		}
+
+		rowsCopied++;
+
+		if (rowsCopied % 1000000 == 0)
+		{
+			ereport(DEBUG1, (errmsg("Copied %ld rows", rowsCopied)));
+		}
+	}
+
+	if (rowsCopied % 1000000 != 0)
+	{
+		ereport(DEBUG1, (errmsg("Copied %ld rows", rowsCopied)));
+	}
+
+	MemoryContextSwitchTo(oldContext);
+
+	/* finish reading from the local table */
+	heap_endscan(scan);
+
+	/* finish writing into the shards */
+	copyDest->rShutdown(copyDest);
+
+	/* free memory and close the relation */
+	ExecDropSingleTupleTableSlot(slot);
+	FreeExecutorState(estate);
+	heap_close(distributedRelation, NoLock);
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * TupleDescColumnNameList returns a list of column names for the given tuple
+ * descriptor as plain strings.
+ */
+static List *
+TupleDescColumnNameList(TupleDesc tupleDescriptor)
+{
+	List *columnNameList = NIL;
+	int columnIndex = 0;
+
+	for (columnIndex = 0; columnIndex < tupleDescriptor->natts; columnIndex++)
+	{
+		Form_pg_attribute currentColumn = tupleDescriptor->attrs[columnIndex];
+		char *columnName = NameStr(currentColumn->attname);
+
+		if (currentColumn->attisdropped)
+		{
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		columnNameList = lappend(columnNameList, columnName);
+	}
+
+	return columnNameList;
+}
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/commands/multi_copy.c b/src/backend/distributed/commands/multi_copy.c
index bfc73c676..68fc0b848 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/commands/multi_copy.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/commands/multi_copy.c
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
 #include "distributed/remote_commands.h"
 #include "distributed/resource_lock.h"
 #include "executor/executor.h"
+#include "nodes/makefuncs.h"
 #include "tsearch/ts_locale.h"
 #include "utils/builtins.h"
 #include "utils/lsyscache.h"
@@ -127,6 +128,19 @@ static void CopySendInt16(CopyOutState outputState, int16 val);
 static void CopyAttributeOutText(CopyOutState outputState, char *string);
 static inline void CopyFlushOutput(CopyOutState outputState, char *start, char *pointer);
 
+/* CitusCopyDestReceiver functions */
+static void CitusCopyDestReceiverStartup(DestReceiver *copyDest, int operation,
+										 TupleDesc inputTupleDesc);
+#if PG_VERSION_NUM >= 90600
+static bool CitusCopyDestReceiverReceive(TupleTableSlot *slot,
+										 DestReceiver *copyDest);
+#else
+static void CitusCopyDestReceiverReceive(TupleTableSlot *slot,
+										 DestReceiver *copyDest);
+#endif
+static void CitusCopyDestReceiverShutdown(DestReceiver *destReceiver);
+static void CitusCopyDestReceiverDestroy(DestReceiver *destReceiver);
+
 
 /*
  * CitusCopyFrom implements the COPY table_name FROM. It dispacthes the copy
@@ -273,49 +287,31 @@ static void
 CopyToExistingShards(CopyStmt *copyStatement, char *completionTag)
 {
 	Oid tableId = RangeVarGetRelid(copyStatement->relation, NoLock, false);
-	char *relationName = get_rel_name(tableId);
+
+	CitusCopyDestReceiver *copyDest = NULL;
+	DestReceiver *dest = NULL;
+
 	Relation distributedRelation = NULL;
 	TupleDesc tupleDescriptor = NULL;
 	uint32 columnCount = 0;
 	Datum *columnValues = NULL;
 	bool *columnNulls = NULL;
-	FmgrInfo *hashFunction = NULL;
-	FmgrInfo *compareFunction = NULL;
-	bool hasUniformHashDistribution = false;
-	DistTableCacheEntry *cacheEntry = DistributedTableCacheEntry(tableId);
-	const char *delimiterCharacter = "\t";
-	const char *nullPrintCharacter = "\\N";
-
-	int shardCount = 0;
-	List *shardIntervalList = NULL;
-	ShardInterval **shardIntervalCache = NULL;
-	bool useBinarySearch = false;
-
-	HTAB *shardConnectionHash = NULL;
-	ShardConnections *shardConnections = NULL;
-	List *shardConnectionsList = NIL;
-	ListCell *shardConnectionsCell = NULL;
+	int columnIndex = 0;
+	List *columnNameList = NIL;
+	TupleTableSlot *tupleTableSlot = NULL;
 
 	EState *executorState = NULL;
 	MemoryContext executorTupleContext = NULL;
 	ExprContext *executorExpressionContext = NULL;
 
+	char partitionMethod = 0;
+	bool stopOnFailure = false;
+
 	CopyState copyState = NULL;
-	CopyOutState copyOutState = NULL;
-	FmgrInfo *columnOutputFunctions = NULL;
 	uint64 processedRowCount = 0;
 
-	Var *partitionColumn = PartitionColumn(tableId, 0);
-	char partitionMethod = PartitionMethod(tableId);
-
 	ErrorContextCallback errorCallback;
 
-	/* get hash function for partition column */
-	hashFunction = cacheEntry->hashFunction;
-
-	/* get compare function for shard intervals */
-	compareFunction = cacheEntry->shardIntervalCompareFunction;
-
 	/* allocate column values and nulls arrays */
 	distributedRelation = heap_open(tableId, RowExclusiveLock);
 	tupleDescriptor = RelationGetDescr(distributedRelation);
@@ -323,64 +319,40 @@ CopyToExistingShards(CopyStmt *copyStatement, char *completionTag)
 	columnValues = palloc0(columnCount * sizeof(Datum));
 	columnNulls = palloc0(columnCount * sizeof(bool));
 
-	/* we don't support copy to reference tables from workers */
+	/* set up a virtual tuple table slot */
+	tupleTableSlot = MakeSingleTupleTableSlot(tupleDescriptor);
+	tupleTableSlot->tts_nvalid = columnCount;
+	tupleTableSlot->tts_values = columnValues;
+	tupleTableSlot->tts_isnull = columnNulls;
+
+	for (columnIndex = 0; columnIndex < columnCount; columnIndex++)
+	{
+		Form_pg_attribute currentColumn = tupleDescriptor->attrs[columnIndex];
+		char *columnName = NameStr(currentColumn->attname);
+
+		if (currentColumn->attisdropped)
+		{
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		columnNameList = lappend(columnNameList, columnName);
+	}
+
+	executorState = CreateExecutorState();
+	executorTupleContext = GetPerTupleMemoryContext(executorState);
+	executorExpressionContext = GetPerTupleExprContext(executorState);
+
+	partitionMethod = PartitionMethod(tableId);
 	if (partitionMethod == DISTRIBUTE_BY_NONE)
 	{
-		EnsureCoordinator();
+		stopOnFailure = true;
 	}
 
-	/* load the list of shards and verify that we have shards to copy into */
-	shardIntervalList = LoadShardIntervalList(tableId);
-	if (shardIntervalList == NIL)
-	{
-		if (partitionMethod == DISTRIBUTE_BY_HASH)
-		{
-			ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_OBJECT_NOT_IN_PREREQUISITE_STATE),
-							errmsg("could not find any shards into which to copy"),
-							errdetail("No shards exist for distributed table \"%s\".",
-									  relationName),
-							errhint("Run master_create_worker_shards to create shards "
-									"and try again.")));
-		}
-		else
-		{
-			ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_OBJECT_NOT_IN_PREREQUISITE_STATE),
-							errmsg("could not find any shards into which to copy"),
-							errdetail("No shards exist for distributed table \"%s\".",
-									  relationName)));
-		}
-	}
-
-	/* error if any shard missing min/max values for non reference tables */
-	if (partitionMethod != DISTRIBUTE_BY_NONE &&
-		cacheEntry->hasUninitializedShardInterval)
-	{
-		ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_OBJECT_NOT_IN_PREREQUISITE_STATE),
-						errmsg("could not start copy"),
-						errdetail("Distributed relation \"%s\" has shards "
-								  "with missing shardminvalue/shardmaxvalue.",
-								  relationName)));
-	}
-
-	/* prevent concurrent placement changes and non-commutative DML statements */
-	LockShardListMetadata(shardIntervalList, ShareLock);
-	LockShardListResources(shardIntervalList, ShareLock);
-
-	/* initialize the shard interval cache */
-	shardCount = cacheEntry->shardIntervalArrayLength;
-	shardIntervalCache = cacheEntry->sortedShardIntervalArray;
-	hasUniformHashDistribution = cacheEntry->hasUniformHashDistribution;
-
-	/* determine whether to use binary search */
-	if (partitionMethod != DISTRIBUTE_BY_HASH || !hasUniformHashDistribution)
-	{
-		useBinarySearch = true;
-	}
-
-	if (cacheEntry->replicationModel == REPLICATION_MODEL_2PC)
-	{
-		CoordinatedTransactionUse2PC();
-	}
+	/* set up the destination for the COPY */
+	copyDest = CreateCitusCopyDestReceiver(tableId, columnNameList, executorState,
+										   stopOnFailure);
+	dest = (DestReceiver *) copyDest;
+	dest->rStartup(dest, 0, tupleDescriptor);
 
 	/* initialize copy state to read from COPY data source */
 	copyState = BeginCopyFrom(distributedRelation,
@@ -389,23 +361,6 @@ CopyToExistingShards(CopyStmt *copyStatement, char *completionTag)
 							  copyStatement->attlist,
 							  copyStatement->options);
 
-	executorState = CreateExecutorState();
-	executorTupleContext = GetPerTupleMemoryContext(executorState);
-	executorExpressionContext = GetPerTupleExprContext(executorState);
-
-	copyOutState = (CopyOutState) palloc0(sizeof(CopyOutStateData));
-	copyOutState->delim = (char *) delimiterCharacter;
-	copyOutState->null_print = (char *) nullPrintCharacter;
-	copyOutState->null_print_client = (char *) nullPrintCharacter;
-	copyOutState->binary = CanUseBinaryCopyFormat(tupleDescriptor, copyOutState);
-	copyOutState->fe_msgbuf = makeStringInfo();
-	copyOutState->rowcontext = executorTupleContext;
-
-	columnOutputFunctions = ColumnOutputFunctions(tupleDescriptor, copyOutState->binary);
-
-	/* create a mapping of shard id to a connection for each of its placements */
-	shardConnectionHash = CreateShardConnectionHash(TopTransactionContext);
-
 	/* set up callback to identify error line number */
 	errorCallback.callback = CopyFromErrorCallback;
 	errorCallback.arg = (void *) copyState;
@@ -415,10 +370,6 @@ CopyToExistingShards(CopyStmt *copyStatement, char *completionTag)
 	while (true)
 	{
 		bool nextRowFound = false;
-		Datum partitionColumnValue = 0;
-		ShardInterval *shardInterval = NULL;
-		int64 shardId = 0;
-		bool shardConnectionsFound = false;
 		MemoryContext oldContext = NULL;
 
 		ResetPerTupleExprContext(executorState);
@@ -437,103 +388,23 @@ CopyToExistingShards(CopyStmt *copyStatement, char *completionTag)
 
 		CHECK_FOR_INTERRUPTS();
 
-		/*
-		 * Find the partition column value and corresponding shard interval
-		 * for non-reference tables.
-		 * Get the existing (and only a single) shard interval for the reference
-		 * tables. Note that, reference tables has NULL partition column values so
-		 * skip the check.
-		 */
-		if (partitionColumn != NULL)
-		{
-			if (columnNulls[partitionColumn->varattno - 1])
-			{
-				ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_NULL_VALUE_NOT_ALLOWED),
-								errmsg("cannot copy row with NULL value "
-									   "in partition column")));
-			}
-
-			partitionColumnValue = columnValues[partitionColumn->varattno - 1];
-		}
-
-		/*
-		 * Find the shard interval and id for the partition column value for
-		 * non-reference tables.
-		 * For reference table, this function blindly returns the tables single
-		 * shard.
-		 */
-		shardInterval = FindShardInterval(partitionColumnValue,
-										  shardIntervalCache,
-										  shardCount, partitionMethod,
-										  compareFunction, hashFunction,
-										  useBinarySearch);
-
-		if (shardInterval == NULL)
-		{
-			ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_OBJECT_NOT_IN_PREREQUISITE_STATE),
-							errmsg("could not find shard for partition column "
-								   "value")));
-		}
-
-		shardId = shardInterval->shardId;
-
 		MemoryContextSwitchTo(oldContext);
 
-		/* get existing connections to the shard placements, if any */
-		shardConnections = GetShardHashConnections(shardConnectionHash, shardId,
-												   &shardConnectionsFound);
-		if (!shardConnectionsFound)
-		{
-			bool stopOnFailure = false;
-
-			if (cacheEntry->partitionMethod == DISTRIBUTE_BY_NONE)
-			{
-				stopOnFailure = true;
-			}
-
-			/* open connections and initiate COPY on shard placements */
-			OpenCopyConnections(copyStatement, shardConnections, stopOnFailure,
-								copyOutState->binary);
-
-			/* send copy binary headers to shard placements */
-			if (copyOutState->binary)
-			{
-				SendCopyBinaryHeaders(copyOutState, shardId,
-									  shardConnections->connectionList);
-			}
-		}
-
-		/* replicate row to shard placements */
-		resetStringInfo(copyOutState->fe_msgbuf);
-		AppendCopyRowData(columnValues, columnNulls, tupleDescriptor,
-						  copyOutState, columnOutputFunctions);
-		SendCopyDataToAll(copyOutState->fe_msgbuf, shardId,
-						  shardConnections->connectionList);
+		dest->receiveSlot(tupleTableSlot, dest);
 
 		processedRowCount += 1;
 	}
 
+	EndCopyFrom(copyState);
+
 	/* all lines have been copied, stop showing line number in errors */
 	error_context_stack = errorCallback.previous;
 
-	shardConnectionsList = ShardConnectionList(shardConnectionHash);
-	foreach(shardConnectionsCell, shardConnectionsList)
-	{
-		ShardConnections *shardConnections = (ShardConnections *) lfirst(
-			shardConnectionsCell);
+	/* finish the COPY commands */
+	dest->rShutdown(dest);
 
-		/* send copy binary footers to all shard placements */
-		if (copyOutState->binary)
-		{
-			SendCopyBinaryFooters(copyOutState, shardConnections->shardId,
-								  shardConnections->connectionList);
-		}
-
-		/* close the COPY input on all shard placements */
-		EndRemoteCopy(shardConnections->shardId, shardConnections->connectionList, true);
-	}
-
-	EndCopyFrom(copyState);
+	ExecDropSingleTupleTableSlot(tupleTableSlot);
+	FreeExecutorState(executorState);
 	heap_close(distributedRelation, NoLock);
 
 	/* mark failed placements as inactive */
@@ -604,6 +475,13 @@ CopyToNewShards(CopyStmt *copyStatement, char *completionTag, Oid relationId)
 	errorCallback.arg = (void *) copyState;
 	errorCallback.previous = error_context_stack;
 
+	/*
+	 * From here on we use copyStatement as the template for the command
+	 * that we send to workers. This command does not have an attribute
+	 * list since NextCopyFrom will generate a value for all columns.
+	 */
+	copyStatement->attlist = NIL;
+
 	while (true)
 	{
 		bool nextRowFound = false;
@@ -1074,22 +952,46 @@ ConstructCopyStatement(CopyStmt *copyStatement, int64 shardId, bool useBinaryCop
 
 	char *shardName = pstrdup(relationName);
 	char *shardQualifiedName = NULL;
-	const char *copyFormat = NULL;
 
 	AppendShardIdToName(&shardName, shardId);
 
 	shardQualifiedName = quote_qualified_identifier(schemaName, shardName);
 
+	appendStringInfo(command, "COPY %s ", shardQualifiedName);
+
+	if (copyStatement->attlist != NIL)
+	{
+		ListCell *columnNameCell = NULL;
+		bool appendedFirstName = false;
+
+		foreach(columnNameCell, copyStatement->attlist)
+		{
+			char *columnName = (char *) lfirst(columnNameCell);
+
+			if (!appendedFirstName)
+			{
+				appendStringInfo(command, "(%s", columnName);
+				appendedFirstName = true;
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				appendStringInfo(command, ", %s", columnName);
+			}
+		}
+
+		appendStringInfoString(command, ") ");
+	}
+
+	appendStringInfo(command, "FROM STDIN WITH ");
+
 	if (useBinaryCopyFormat)
 	{
-		copyFormat = "BINARY";
+		appendStringInfoString(command, "(FORMAT BINARY)");
 	}
 	else
 	{
-		copyFormat = "TEXT";
+		appendStringInfoString(command, "(FORMAT TEXT)");
 	}
-	appendStringInfo(command, "COPY %s FROM STDIN WITH (FORMAT %s)", shardQualifiedName,
-					 copyFormat);
 
 	return command;
 }
@@ -1277,7 +1179,6 @@ AppendCopyRowData(Datum *valueArray, bool *isNullArray, TupleDesc rowDescriptor,
 	{
 		CopySendInt16(rowOutputState, availableColumnCount);
 	}
-
 	for (columnIndex = 0; columnIndex < totalColumnCount; columnIndex++)
 	{
 		Form_pg_attribute currentColumn = rowDescriptor->attrs[columnIndex];
@@ -1694,3 +1595,379 @@ CopyFlushOutput(CopyOutState cstate, char *start, char *pointer)
 		CopySendData(cstate, start, pointer - start);
 	}
 }
+
+
+/*
+ * CreateCitusCopyDestReceiver creates a DestReceiver that copies into
+ * a distributed table.
+ */
+CitusCopyDestReceiver *
+CreateCitusCopyDestReceiver(Oid tableId, List *columnNameList, EState *executorState,
+							bool stopOnFailure)
+{
+	CitusCopyDestReceiver *copyDest = NULL;
+
+	copyDest = (CitusCopyDestReceiver *) palloc0(sizeof(CitusCopyDestReceiver));
+
+	/* set up the DestReceiver function pointers */
+	copyDest->pub.receiveSlot = CitusCopyDestReceiverReceive;
+	copyDest->pub.rStartup = CitusCopyDestReceiverStartup;
+	copyDest->pub.rShutdown = CitusCopyDestReceiverShutdown;
+	copyDest->pub.rDestroy = CitusCopyDestReceiverDestroy;
+	copyDest->pub.mydest = DestCopyOut;
+
+	/* set up output parameters */
+	copyDest->distributedRelationId = tableId;
+	copyDest->columnNameList = columnNameList;
+	copyDest->executorState = executorState;
+	copyDest->stopOnFailure = stopOnFailure;
+	copyDest->memoryContext = CurrentMemoryContext;
+
+	return copyDest;
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * CitusCopyDestReceiverStartup implements the rStartup interface of
+ * CitusCopyDestReceiver. It opens the relation
+ */
+static void
+CitusCopyDestReceiverStartup(DestReceiver *dest, int operation,
+							 TupleDesc inputTupleDescriptor)
+{
+	CitusCopyDestReceiver *copyDest = (CitusCopyDestReceiver *) dest;
+
+	Oid tableId = copyDest->distributedRelationId;
+
+	char *relationName = get_rel_name(tableId);
+	Oid schemaOid = get_rel_namespace(tableId);
+	char *schemaName = get_namespace_name(schemaOid);
+
+	Relation distributedRelation = NULL;
+	int columnIndex = 0;
+	List *columnNameList = copyDest->columnNameList;
+
+	ListCell *columnNameCell = NULL;
+
+	char partitionMethod = '\0';
+	Var *partitionColumn = PartitionColumn(tableId, 0);
+	int partitionColumnIndex = -1;
+	DistTableCacheEntry *cacheEntry = NULL;
+
+	CopyStmt *copyStatement = NULL;
+
+	List *shardIntervalList = NULL;
+
+	CopyOutState copyOutState = NULL;
+	const char *delimiterCharacter = "\t";
+	const char *nullPrintCharacter = "\\N";
+
+	/* look up table properties */
+	distributedRelation = heap_open(tableId, RowExclusiveLock);
+	cacheEntry = DistributedTableCacheEntry(tableId);
+	partitionMethod = cacheEntry->partitionMethod;
+
+	copyDest->distributedRelation = distributedRelation;
+	copyDest->tupleDescriptor = inputTupleDescriptor;
+
+	/* we don't support copy to reference tables from workers */
+	if (partitionMethod == DISTRIBUTE_BY_NONE)
+	{
+		EnsureCoordinator();
+	}
+
+	/* load the list of shards and verify that we have shards to copy into */
+	shardIntervalList = LoadShardIntervalList(tableId);
+	if (shardIntervalList == NIL)
+	{
+		if (partitionMethod == DISTRIBUTE_BY_HASH)
+		{
+			ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_OBJECT_NOT_IN_PREREQUISITE_STATE),
+							errmsg("could not find any shards into which to copy"),
+							errdetail("No shards exist for distributed table \"%s\".",
+									  relationName),
+							errhint("Run master_create_worker_shards to create shards "
+									"and try again.")));
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_OBJECT_NOT_IN_PREREQUISITE_STATE),
+							errmsg("could not find any shards into which to copy"),
+							errdetail("No shards exist for distributed table \"%s\".",
+									  relationName)));
+		}
+	}
+
+	/* error if any shard missing min/max values */
+	if (partitionMethod != DISTRIBUTE_BY_NONE &&
+		cacheEntry->hasUninitializedShardInterval)
+	{
+		ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_OBJECT_NOT_IN_PREREQUISITE_STATE),
+						errmsg("could not start copy"),
+						errdetail("Distributed relation \"%s\" has shards "
+								  "with missing shardminvalue/shardmaxvalue.",
+								  relationName)));
+	}
+
+	/* prevent concurrent placement changes and non-commutative DML statements */
+	LockShardListMetadata(shardIntervalList, ShareLock);
+	LockShardListResources(shardIntervalList, ShareLock);
+
+	/* keep the table metadata to avoid looking it up for every tuple */
+	copyDest->tableMetadata = cacheEntry;
+
+	/* determine whether to use binary search */
+	if (partitionMethod != DISTRIBUTE_BY_HASH || !cacheEntry->hasUniformHashDistribution)
+	{
+		copyDest->useBinarySearch = true;
+	}
+
+	if (cacheEntry->replicationModel == REPLICATION_MODEL_2PC)
+	{
+		CoordinatedTransactionUse2PC();
+	}
+
+	/* define how tuples will be serialised */
+	copyOutState = (CopyOutState) palloc0(sizeof(CopyOutStateData));
+	copyOutState->delim = (char *) delimiterCharacter;
+	copyOutState->null_print = (char *) nullPrintCharacter;
+	copyOutState->null_print_client = (char *) nullPrintCharacter;
+	copyOutState->binary = CanUseBinaryCopyFormat(inputTupleDescriptor, copyOutState);
+	copyOutState->fe_msgbuf = makeStringInfo();
+	copyOutState->rowcontext = GetPerTupleMemoryContext(copyDest->executorState);
+	copyDest->copyOutState = copyOutState;
+
+	/* prepare output functions */
+	copyDest->columnOutputFunctions =
+		ColumnOutputFunctions(inputTupleDescriptor, copyOutState->binary);
+
+	/* find the partition column index in the column list */
+	foreach(columnNameCell, columnNameList)
+	{
+		char *columnName = (char *) lfirst(columnNameCell);
+
+		/* load the column information from pg_attribute */
+		AttrNumber attrNumber = get_attnum(tableId, columnName);
+
+		/* check whether this is the partition column */
+		if (partitionColumn != NULL && attrNumber == partitionColumn->varattno)
+		{
+			Assert(partitionColumnIndex == -1);
+
+			partitionColumnIndex = columnIndex;
+		}
+
+		columnIndex++;
+	}
+
+	if (partitionMethod != DISTRIBUTE_BY_NONE && partitionColumnIndex == -1)
+	{
+		ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_NULL_VALUE_NOT_ALLOWED),
+						errmsg("the partition column of table %s should have a value",
+							   quote_qualified_identifier(schemaName, relationName))));
+	}
+
+	copyDest->partitionColumnIndex = partitionColumnIndex;
+
+	/* define the template for the COPY statement that is sent to workers */
+	copyStatement = makeNode(CopyStmt);
+	copyStatement->relation = makeRangeVar(schemaName, relationName, -1);
+	copyStatement->query = NULL;
+	copyStatement->attlist = columnNameList;
+	copyStatement->is_from = true;
+	copyStatement->is_program = false;
+	copyStatement->filename = NULL;
+	copyStatement->options = NIL;
+	copyDest->copyStatement = copyStatement;
+
+	copyDest->shardConnectionHash = CreateShardConnectionHash(TopTransactionContext);
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * CitusCopyDestReceiverReceive implements the receiveSlot function of
+ * CitusCopyDestReceiver. It takes a TupleTableSlot and sends the contents to
+ * the appropriate shard placement(s).
+ */
+#if PG_VERSION_NUM >= 90600
+static bool
+#else
+static void
+#endif
+CitusCopyDestReceiverReceive(TupleTableSlot *slot, DestReceiver *dest)
+{
+	CitusCopyDestReceiver *copyDest = (CitusCopyDestReceiver *) dest;
+
+	DistTableCacheEntry *tableMetadata = copyDest->tableMetadata;
+	char partitionMethod = tableMetadata->partitionMethod;
+	int partitionColumnIndex = copyDest->partitionColumnIndex;
+	TupleDesc tupleDescriptor = copyDest->tupleDescriptor;
+	CopyStmt *copyStatement = copyDest->copyStatement;
+
+	int shardCount = tableMetadata->shardIntervalArrayLength;
+	ShardInterval **shardIntervalCache = tableMetadata->sortedShardIntervalArray;
+
+	bool useBinarySearch = copyDest->useBinarySearch;
+	FmgrInfo *hashFunction = tableMetadata->hashFunction;
+	FmgrInfo *compareFunction = tableMetadata->shardIntervalCompareFunction;
+
+	HTAB *shardConnectionHash = copyDest->shardConnectionHash;
+	CopyOutState copyOutState = copyDest->copyOutState;
+	FmgrInfo *columnOutputFunctions = copyDest->columnOutputFunctions;
+
+	bool stopOnFailure = copyDest->stopOnFailure;
+
+	Datum *columnValues = NULL;
+	bool *columnNulls = NULL;
+
+	Datum partitionColumnValue = 0;
+	ShardInterval *shardInterval = NULL;
+	int64 shardId = 0;
+
+	bool shardConnectionsFound = false;
+	ShardConnections *shardConnections = NULL;
+
+	EState *executorState = copyDest->executorState;
+	MemoryContext executorTupleContext = GetPerTupleMemoryContext(executorState);
+	MemoryContext oldContext = MemoryContextSwitchTo(executorTupleContext);
+
+	slot_getallattrs(slot);
+
+	columnValues = slot->tts_values;
+	columnNulls = slot->tts_isnull;
+
+	/*
+	 * Find the partition column value and corresponding shard interval
+	 * for non-reference tables.
+	 * Get the existing (and only a single) shard interval for the reference
+	 * tables. Note that, reference tables has NULL partition column values so
+	 * skip the check.
+	 */
+	if (partitionColumnIndex >= 0)
+	{
+		if (columnNulls[partitionColumnIndex])
+		{
+			Oid relationId = copyDest->distributedRelationId;
+			char *relationName = get_rel_name(relationId);
+			Oid schemaOid = get_rel_namespace(relationId);
+			char *schemaName = get_namespace_name(schemaOid);
+			char *qualifiedTableName = quote_qualified_identifier(schemaName,
+																  relationName);
+
+			ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_NULL_VALUE_NOT_ALLOWED),
+							errmsg("the partition column of table %s should have a value",
+								   qualifiedTableName)));
+		}
+
+		/* find the partition column value */
+		partitionColumnValue = columnValues[partitionColumnIndex];
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * Find the shard interval and id for the partition column value for
+	 * non-reference tables.
+	 *
+	 * For reference table, this function blindly returns the tables single
+	 * shard.
+	 */
+	shardInterval = FindShardInterval(partitionColumnValue, shardIntervalCache,
+									  shardCount, partitionMethod,
+									  compareFunction, hashFunction,
+									  useBinarySearch);
+	if (shardInterval == NULL)
+	{
+		ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_OBJECT_NOT_IN_PREREQUISITE_STATE),
+						errmsg("could not find shard for partition column "
+							   "value")));
+	}
+
+	shardId = shardInterval->shardId;
+
+	/* connections hash is kept in memory context */
+	MemoryContextSwitchTo(copyDest->memoryContext);
+
+	/* get existing connections to the shard placements, if any */
+	shardConnections = GetShardHashConnections(shardConnectionHash, shardId,
+											   &shardConnectionsFound);
+	if (!shardConnectionsFound)
+	{
+		/* open connections and initiate COPY on shard placements */
+		OpenCopyConnections(copyStatement, shardConnections, stopOnFailure,
+							copyOutState->binary);
+
+		/* send copy binary headers to shard placements */
+		if (copyOutState->binary)
+		{
+			SendCopyBinaryHeaders(copyOutState, shardId,
+								  shardConnections->connectionList);
+		}
+	}
+
+	/* replicate row to shard placements */
+	resetStringInfo(copyOutState->fe_msgbuf);
+	AppendCopyRowData(columnValues, columnNulls, tupleDescriptor,
+					  copyOutState, columnOutputFunctions);
+	SendCopyDataToAll(copyOutState->fe_msgbuf, shardId, shardConnections->connectionList);
+
+	MemoryContextSwitchTo(oldContext);
+
+#if PG_VERSION_NUM >= 90600
+	return true;
+#endif
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * CitusCopyDestReceiverShutdown implements the rShutdown interface of
+ * CitusCopyDestReceiver. It ends the COPY on all the open connections and closes
+ * the relation.
+ */
+static void
+CitusCopyDestReceiverShutdown(DestReceiver *destReceiver)
+{
+	CitusCopyDestReceiver *copyDest = (CitusCopyDestReceiver *) destReceiver;
+
+	HTAB *shardConnectionHash = copyDest->shardConnectionHash;
+	List *shardConnectionsList = NIL;
+	ListCell *shardConnectionsCell = NULL;
+	CopyOutState copyOutState = copyDest->copyOutState;
+	Relation distributedRelation = copyDest->distributedRelation;
+
+	shardConnectionsList = ShardConnectionList(shardConnectionHash);
+	foreach(shardConnectionsCell, shardConnectionsList)
+	{
+		ShardConnections *shardConnections = (ShardConnections *) lfirst(
+			shardConnectionsCell);
+
+		/* send copy binary footers to all shard placements */
+		if (copyOutState->binary)
+		{
+			SendCopyBinaryFooters(copyOutState, shardConnections->shardId,
+								  shardConnections->connectionList);
+		}
+
+		/* close the COPY input on all shard placements */
+		EndRemoteCopy(shardConnections->shardId, shardConnections->connectionList, true);
+	}
+
+	heap_close(distributedRelation, NoLock);
+}
+
+
+static void
+CitusCopyDestReceiverDestroy(DestReceiver *destReceiver)
+{
+	CitusCopyDestReceiver *copyDest = (CitusCopyDestReceiver *) destReceiver;
+
+	if (copyDest->copyOutState)
+	{
+		pfree(copyDest->copyOutState);
+	}
+
+	if (copyDest->columnOutputFunctions)
+	{
+		pfree(copyDest->columnOutputFunctions);
+	}
+
+	pfree(copyDest);
+}
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/multi_copy.h b/src/include/distributed/multi_copy.h
index d27926bbf..cd3b56b73 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/multi_copy.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/multi_copy.h
@@ -13,7 +13,12 @@
 #define MULTI_COPY_H
 
 
+#include "distributed/master_metadata_utility.h"
+#include "distributed/metadata_cache.h"
+#include "nodes/execnodes.h"
 #include "nodes/parsenodes.h"
+#include "tcop/dest.h"
+
 
 /*
  * A smaller version of copy.c's CopyStateData, trimmed to the elements
@@ -43,8 +48,51 @@ typedef struct NodeAddress
 	int32 nodePort;
 } NodeAddress;
 
+/* CopyDestReceiver can be used to stream results into a distributed table */
+typedef struct CitusCopyDestReceiver
+{
+	/* public DestReceiver interface */
+	DestReceiver pub;
+
+	/* relation and columns to which to copy */
+	Oid distributedRelationId;
+	List *columnNameList;
+	int partitionColumnIndex;
+
+	/* distributed table metadata */
+	DistTableCacheEntry *tableMetadata;
+	bool useBinarySearch;
+
+	/* open relation handle */
+	Relation distributedRelation;
+
+	/* descriptor of the tuples that are sent to the worker */
+	TupleDesc tupleDescriptor;
+
+	/* EState for per-tuple memory allocation */
+	EState *executorState;
+
+	/* MemoryContext for DestReceiver session */
+	MemoryContext memoryContext;
+
+	/* template for COPY statement to send to workers */
+	CopyStmt *copyStatement;
+
+	/* cached shard metadata for pruning */
+	HTAB *shardConnectionHash;
+	bool stopOnFailure;
+
+	/* state on how to copy out data types */
+	CopyOutState copyOutState;
+	FmgrInfo *columnOutputFunctions;
+} CitusCopyDestReceiver;
+
 
 /* function declarations for copying into a distributed table */
+extern CitusCopyDestReceiver * CreateCitusCopyDestReceiver(Oid relationId,
+														   List *columnNameList,
+														   EState *executorState,
+														   bool stopOnFailure);
 extern FmgrInfo * ColumnOutputFunctions(TupleDesc rowDescriptor, bool binaryFormat);
 extern void AppendCopyRowData(Datum *valueArray, bool *isNullArray,
 							  TupleDesc rowDescriptor,
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/multi_create_table.out b/src/test/regress/expected/multi_create_table.out
index b23c2d26b..8529d01d4 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/multi_create_table.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/multi_create_table.out
@@ -75,12 +75,6 @@ CREATE TABLE nation (
 	n_name char(25) not null,
 	n_regionkey integer not null,
 	n_comment varchar(152));
-\COPY nation FROM STDIN WITH CSV
-SELECT master_create_distributed_table('nation', 'n_nationkey', 'append');
-ERROR:  cannot distribute relation "nation"
-DETAIL:  Relation "nation" contains data.
-HINT:  Empty your table before distributing it.
-TRUNCATE nation;
 SELECT create_reference_table('nation');
  create_reference_table 
 ------------------------
@@ -360,6 +354,155 @@ SELECT repmodel FROM pg_dist_partition WHERE logicalrelid='repmodel_test'::regcl
 
 DROP TABLE repmodel_test;
 RESET citus.replication_model;
+-- Test initial data loading
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test (col1 int, col2 text, col3 serial);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (132, 'hello');
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (243, 'world');
+-- table must be empty when using append- or range-partitioning
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1', 'append');
+ERROR:  cannot distribute relation "data_load_test"
+DETAIL:  Relation "data_load_test" contains data.
+HINT:  Empty your table before distributing it.
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1', 'range');
+ERROR:  cannot distribute relation "data_load_test"
+DETAIL:  Relation "data_load_test" contains data.
+HINT:  Empty your table before distributing it.
+-- table must be empty when using master_create_distributed_table (no shards created)
+SELECT master_create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1', 'hash');
+ERROR:  cannot distribute relation "data_load_test"
+DETAIL:  Relation "data_load_test" contains data.
+HINT:  Empty your table before distributing it.
+-- create_distributed_table creates shards and copies data into the distributed table
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1');
+NOTICE:  Copying data from local table...
+ create_distributed_table 
+--------------------------
+ 
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT * FROM data_load_test ORDER BY col1;
+ col1 | col2  | col3 
+------+-------+------
+  132 | hello |    1
+  243 | world |    2
+(2 rows)
+
+DROP TABLE data_load_test;
+-- ensure writes in the same transaction as create_distributed_table are visible
+BEGIN;
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test (col1 int, col2 text, col3 serial);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (132, 'hello');
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1');
+NOTICE:  Copying data from local table...
+ create_distributed_table 
+--------------------------
+ 
+(1 row)
+
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (243, 'world');
+END;
+SELECT * FROM data_load_test ORDER BY col1;
+ col1 | col2  | col3 
+------+-------+------
+  132 | hello |    1
+  243 | world |    2
+(2 rows)
+
+DROP TABLE data_load_test;
+-- creating co-located distributed tables in the same transaction works
+BEGIN;
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test1 (col1 int, col2 text, col3 serial);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test1 VALUES (132, 'hello');
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test1', 'col1');
+NOTICE:  Copying data from local table...
+ create_distributed_table 
+--------------------------
+ 
+(1 row)
+
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test2 (col1 int, col2 text, col3 serial);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test2 VALUES (132, 'world');
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test2', 'col1');
+NOTICE:  Copying data from local table...
+ create_distributed_table 
+--------------------------
+ 
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT a.col2 ||' '|| b.col2
+FROM data_load_test1 a JOIN data_load_test2 b USING (col1)
+WHERE col1 = 132;
+  ?column?   
+-------------
+ hello world
+(1 row)
+
+DROP TABLE data_load_test1, data_load_test2;
+END;
+-- creating an index after loading data works
+BEGIN;
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test (col1 int, col2 text, col3 serial);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (132, 'hello');
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1');
+NOTICE:  Copying data from local table...
+ create_distributed_table 
+--------------------------
+ 
+(1 row)
+
+CREATE INDEX data_load_test_idx ON data_load_test (col2);
+END;
+DROP TABLE data_load_test;
+-- popping in and out of existence in the same transaction works
+BEGIN;
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test (col1 int, col2 text, col3 serial);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (132, 'hello');
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1');
+NOTICE:  Copying data from local table...
+ create_distributed_table 
+--------------------------
+ 
+(1 row)
+
+DROP TABLE data_load_test;
+END;
+-- but dropping after a write on the distributed table is currently disallowed
+BEGIN;
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test (col1 int, col2 text, col3 serial);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (132, 'hello');
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1');
+NOTICE:  Copying data from local table...
+ create_distributed_table 
+--------------------------
+ 
+(1 row)
+
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (243, 'world');
+DROP TABLE data_load_test;
+ERROR:  shard drop operations must not appear in transaction blocks containing other distributed modifications
+CONTEXT:  SQL statement "SELECT master_drop_all_shards(v_obj.objid, v_obj.schema_name, v_obj.object_name)"
+PL/pgSQL function citus_drop_trigger() line 21 at PERFORM
+END;
+-- Test data loading after dropping a column
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test (col1 int, col2 text, col3 text);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (132, 'hello', 'world');
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (243, 'world', 'hello');
+ALTER TABLE data_load_test DROP COLUMN col2;
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1');
+NOTICE:  Copying data from local table...
+ create_distributed_table 
+--------------------------
+ 
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT * FROM data_load_test;
+ col1 | col3  
+------+-------
+  132 | world
+  243 | hello
+(2 rows)
+
+DROP TABLE data_load_test;
 SET citus.shard_replication_factor TO default;
 SET citus.shard_count to 4;
 CREATE TABLE lineitem_hash_part (like lineitem);
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/multi_reference_table.out b/src/test/regress/expected/multi_reference_table.out
index 7ff726ce1..6544b9f40 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/multi_reference_table.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/multi_reference_table.out
@@ -2,15 +2,10 @@ ALTER SEQUENCE pg_catalog.pg_dist_shardid_seq RESTART 1250000;
 ALTER SEQUENCE pg_catalog.pg_dist_jobid_seq RESTART 1250000;
 CREATE TABLE reference_table_test (value_1 int, value_2 float, value_3 text, value_4 timestamp);
 -- insert some data, and make sure that cannot be create_distributed_table
-INSERT INTO reference_table_test VALUES (1, 1.0, '1', '2016-12-05');
--- should error out given that there exists data
-SELECT create_reference_table('reference_table_test');
-ERROR:  cannot distribute relation "reference_table_test"
-DETAIL:  Relation "reference_table_test" contains data.
-HINT:  Empty your table before distributing it.
-TRUNCATE reference_table_test;
--- now should be able to create the reference table
+INSERT INTO reference_table_test VALUES (1, 1.0, '1', '2016-12-01');
+-- create the reference table
 SELECT create_reference_table('reference_table_test');
+NOTICE:  Copying data from local table...
  create_reference_table 
 ------------------------
  
@@ -52,8 +47,14 @@ WHERE
  1250000 |          1 | localhost |    57638
 (2 rows)
 
+-- check whether data was copied into distributed table
+SELECT * FROM reference_table_test;
+ value_1 | value_2 | value_3 |         value_4          
+---------+---------+---------+--------------------------
+       1 |       1 | 1       | Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 2016
+(1 row)
+
 -- now, execute some modification queries
-INSERT INTO reference_table_test VALUES (1, 1.0, '1', '2016-12-01');
 INSERT INTO reference_table_test VALUES (2, 2.0, '2', '2016-12-02');
 INSERT INTO reference_table_test VALUES (3, 3.0, '3', '2016-12-03');
 INSERT INTO reference_table_test VALUES (4, 4.0, '4', '2016-12-04');
diff --git a/src/test/regress/input/multi_copy.source b/src/test/regress/input/multi_copy.source
index 16703c580..f96e53361 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/input/multi_copy.source
+++ b/src/test/regress/input/multi_copy.source
@@ -723,7 +723,7 @@ CREATE TABLE numbers_hash(a int, b int);
 SELECT create_distributed_table('numbers_hash', 'a');
 
 \c - - - :worker_1_port
-ALTER TABLE numbers_hash_560180 ADD COLUMN c int;
+ALTER TABLE numbers_hash_560180 DROP COLUMN b;
 \c - - - :master_port
 
 -- operation will fail to modify a shard and roll back
@@ -739,7 +739,7 @@ COPY numbers_hash FROM STDIN WITH (FORMAT 'csv');
 \.
 
 -- verify no row is inserted
-SELECT * FROM numbers_hash;
+SELECT count(a) FROM numbers_hash;
 
 -- verify shard is still marked as valid
 SELECT shardid, shardstate, nodename, nodeport
diff --git a/src/test/regress/output/multi_copy.source b/src/test/regress/output/multi_copy.source
index 9b02124f6..e04c99149 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/output/multi_copy.source
+++ b/src/test/regress/output/multi_copy.source
@@ -978,17 +978,19 @@ SELECT create_distributed_table('numbers_hash', 'a');
 (1 row)
 
 \c - - - :worker_1_port
-ALTER TABLE numbers_hash_560180 ADD COLUMN c int;
+ALTER TABLE numbers_hash_560180 DROP COLUMN b;
 \c - - - :master_port
 -- operation will fail to modify a shard and roll back
 COPY numbers_hash FROM STDIN WITH (FORMAT 'csv');
-ERROR:  row field count is 2, expected 3
-DETAIL:  (null)
+ERROR:  column "b" of relation "numbers_hash_560180" does not exist
+CONTEXT:  while executing command on localhost:57637
+COPY numbers_hash, line 1: "1,1"
 -- verify no row is inserted
-SELECT * FROM numbers_hash;
- a | b 
----+---
-(0 rows)
+SELECT count(a) FROM numbers_hash;
+ count 
+-------
+     0
+(1 row)
 
 -- verify shard is still marked as valid
 SELECT shardid, shardstate, nodename, nodeport
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/multi_create_table.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/multi_create_table.sql
index 2aa46b9a4..da20b263e 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/multi_create_table.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/multi_create_table.sql
@@ -60,18 +60,6 @@ CREATE TABLE nation (
 	n_regionkey integer not null,
 	n_comment varchar(152));
 
-\COPY nation FROM STDIN WITH CSV
-1,'name',1,'comment_1'
-2,'name',2,'comment_2'
-3,'name',3,'comment_3'
-4,'name',4,'comment_4'
-5,'name',5,'comment_5'
-\.
-
-SELECT master_create_distributed_table('nation', 'n_nationkey', 'append');
-
-TRUNCATE nation;
-
 SELECT create_reference_table('nation');
 
 CREATE TABLE part (
@@ -201,6 +189,86 @@ SELECT repmodel FROM pg_dist_partition WHERE logicalrelid='repmodel_test'::regcl
 DROP TABLE repmodel_test;
 
 RESET citus.replication_model;
+
+-- Test initial data loading
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test (col1 int, col2 text, col3 serial);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (132, 'hello');
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (243, 'world');
+
+-- table must be empty when using append- or range-partitioning
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1', 'append');
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1', 'range');
+
+-- table must be empty when using master_create_distributed_table (no shards created)
+SELECT master_create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1', 'hash');
+
+-- create_distributed_table creates shards and copies data into the distributed table
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1');
+SELECT * FROM data_load_test ORDER BY col1;
+DROP TABLE data_load_test;
+
+-- ensure writes in the same transaction as create_distributed_table are visible
+BEGIN;
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test (col1 int, col2 text, col3 serial);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (132, 'hello');
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1');
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (243, 'world');
+END;
+SELECT * FROM data_load_test ORDER BY col1;
+DROP TABLE data_load_test;
+
+-- creating co-located distributed tables in the same transaction works
+BEGIN;
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test1 (col1 int, col2 text, col3 serial);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test1 VALUES (132, 'hello');
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test1', 'col1');
+
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test2 (col1 int, col2 text, col3 serial);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test2 VALUES (132, 'world');
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test2', 'col1');
+
+SELECT a.col2 ||' '|| b.col2
+FROM data_load_test1 a JOIN data_load_test2 b USING (col1)
+WHERE col1 = 132;
+
+DROP TABLE data_load_test1, data_load_test2;
+END;
+
+-- creating an index after loading data works
+BEGIN;
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test (col1 int, col2 text, col3 serial);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (132, 'hello');
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1');
+CREATE INDEX data_load_test_idx ON data_load_test (col2);
+END;
+DROP TABLE data_load_test;
+
+-- popping in and out of existence in the same transaction works
+BEGIN;
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test (col1 int, col2 text, col3 serial);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (132, 'hello');
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1');
+DROP TABLE data_load_test;
+END;
+
+-- but dropping after a write on the distributed table is currently disallowed
+BEGIN;
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test (col1 int, col2 text, col3 serial);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (132, 'hello');
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1');
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (243, 'world');
+DROP TABLE data_load_test;
+END;
+
+-- Test data loading after dropping a column
+CREATE TABLE data_load_test (col1 int, col2 text, col3 text);
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (132, 'hello', 'world');
+INSERT INTO data_load_test VALUES (243, 'world', 'hello');
+ALTER TABLE data_load_test DROP COLUMN col2;
+SELECT create_distributed_table('data_load_test', 'col1');
+SELECT * FROM data_load_test;
+DROP TABLE data_load_test;
+
 SET citus.shard_replication_factor TO default;
 
 SET citus.shard_count to 4;
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/multi_reference_table.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/multi_reference_table.sql
index ddae075a7..96af1c710 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/multi_reference_table.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/multi_reference_table.sql
@@ -4,14 +4,9 @@ ALTER SEQUENCE pg_catalog.pg_dist_jobid_seq RESTART 1250000;
 CREATE TABLE reference_table_test (value_1 int, value_2 float, value_3 text, value_4 timestamp);
 
 -- insert some data, and make sure that cannot be create_distributed_table
-INSERT INTO reference_table_test VALUES (1, 1.0, '1', '2016-12-05');
+INSERT INTO reference_table_test VALUES (1, 1.0, '1', '2016-12-01');
 
--- should error out given that there exists data
-SELECT create_reference_table('reference_table_test');
-
-TRUNCATE reference_table_test;
-
--- now should be able to create the reference table
+-- create the reference table
 SELECT create_reference_table('reference_table_test');
 
 -- see that partkey is NULL
@@ -36,8 +31,10 @@ FROM
 WHERE
 	shardid IN (SELECT shardid FROM pg_dist_shard WHERE logicalrelid = 'reference_table_test'::regclass);
 
+-- check whether data was copied into distributed table
+SELECT * FROM reference_table_test;
+
 -- now, execute some modification queries
-INSERT INTO reference_table_test VALUES (1, 1.0, '1', '2016-12-01');
 INSERT INTO reference_table_test VALUES (2, 2.0, '2', '2016-12-02');
 INSERT INTO reference_table_test VALUES (3, 3.0, '3', '2016-12-03');
 INSERT INTO reference_table_test VALUES (4, 4.0, '4', '2016-12-04');