diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c b/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c
index f2e75291a..6be2ba898 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c
@@ -266,6 +266,16 @@ RegisterCitusConfigVariables(void)
 		GUC_NO_SHOW_ALL,
 		NULL, NULL, NULL);
 
+	DefineCustomBoolVariable(
+		"citus.log_remote_commands",
+		gettext_noop("Log queries sent to other nodes in the server log"),
+		NULL,
+		&LogRemoteCommands,
+		false,
+		PGC_USERSET,
+		0,
+		NULL, NULL, NULL);
+
 	DefineCustomBoolVariable(
 		"citus.explain_multi_logical_plan",
 		gettext_noop("Enables Explain to print out distributed logical plans."),
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/utils/remote_commands.c b/src/backend/distributed/utils/remote_commands.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cdafaa161
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/utils/remote_commands.c
@@ -0,0 +1,195 @@
+/*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *
+ * remote_commands.c
+ *   Helpers to make it easier to execute command on remote nodes.
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2016, Citus Data, Inc.
+ *
+ *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+#include "postgres.h"
+
+#include "libpq-fe.h"
+
+#include "distributed/connection_management.h"
+#include "distributed/remote_commands.h"
+
+
+/* GUC, determining whether statements sent to remote nodes are logged */
+bool LogRemoteCommands = false;
+
+
+/* simple helpers */
+
+/*
+ * IsResponseOK checks whether the result is a successful one.
+ */
+bool
+IsResponseOK(PGresult *result)
+{
+	ExecStatusType resultStatus = PQresultStatus(result);
+
+	if (resultStatus == PGRES_SINGLE_TUPLE || resultStatus == PGRES_TUPLES_OK ||
+		resultStatus == PGRES_COMMAND_OK)
+	{
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	return false;
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * Clear connection from current activity.
+ *
+ * FIXME: This probably should use PQcancel() if results would require network
+ * IO.
+ */
+void
+ForgetResults(MultiConnection *connection)
+{
+	while (true)
+	{
+		PGresult *result = NULL;
+		result = PQgetResult(connection->conn);
+		if (result == NULL)
+		{
+			break;
+		}
+		if (PQresultStatus(result) == PGRES_COPY_IN)
+		{
+			PQputCopyEnd(connection->conn, NULL);
+
+			/* FIXME: mark connection as failed? */
+		}
+		PQclear(result);
+	}
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * SqlStateMatchesCategory returns true if the given sql state (which may be
+ * NULL if unknown) is in the given error category. Note that we use
+ * ERRCODE_TO_CATEGORY macro to determine error category of the sql state and
+ * expect the caller to use the same macro for the error category.
+ */
+bool
+SqlStateMatchesCategory(char *sqlStateString, int category)
+{
+	bool sqlStateMatchesCategory = false;
+	int sqlState = 0;
+	int sqlStateCategory = 0;
+
+	if (sqlStateString == NULL)
+	{
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	sqlState = MAKE_SQLSTATE(sqlStateString[0], sqlStateString[1], sqlStateString[2],
+							 sqlStateString[3], sqlStateString[4]);
+
+	sqlStateCategory = ERRCODE_TO_CATEGORY(sqlState);
+	if (sqlStateCategory == category)
+	{
+		sqlStateMatchesCategory = true;
+	}
+
+	return sqlStateMatchesCategory;
+}
+
+
+/* report errors & warnings */
+
+/*
+ * Report libpq failure that's not associated with a result.
+ */
+void
+ReportConnectionError(MultiConnection *connection, int elevel)
+{
+	char *nodeName = connection->hostname;
+	int nodePort = connection->port;
+
+	ereport(elevel, (errmsg("connection error: %s:%d", nodeName, nodePort),
+					 errdetail("%s", PQerrorMessage(connection->conn))));
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * Report libpq failure associated with a result.
+ */
+void
+ReportResultError(MultiConnection *connection, PGresult *result, int elevel)
+{
+	char *sqlStateString = PQresultErrorField(result, PG_DIAG_SQLSTATE);
+	char *messagePrimary = PQresultErrorField(result, PG_DIAG_MESSAGE_PRIMARY);
+	char *messageDetail = PQresultErrorField(result, PG_DIAG_MESSAGE_DETAIL);
+	char *messageHint = PQresultErrorField(result, PG_DIAG_MESSAGE_HINT);
+	char *messageContext = PQresultErrorField(result, PG_DIAG_CONTEXT);
+
+	char *nodeName = connection->hostname;
+	int nodePort = connection->port;
+	int sqlState = ERRCODE_INTERNAL_ERROR;
+
+	if (sqlStateString != NULL)
+	{
+		sqlState = MAKE_SQLSTATE(sqlStateString[0], sqlStateString[1], sqlStateString[2],
+								 sqlStateString[3], sqlStateString[4]);
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * If the PGresult did not contain a message, the connection may provide a
+	 * suitable top level one. At worst, this is an empty string.
+	 */
+	if (messagePrimary == NULL)
+	{
+		char *lastNewlineIndex = NULL;
+
+		messagePrimary = PQerrorMessage(connection->conn);
+		lastNewlineIndex = strrchr(messagePrimary, '\n');
+
+		/* trim trailing newline, if any */
+		if (lastNewlineIndex != NULL)
+		{
+			*lastNewlineIndex = '\0';
+		}
+	}
+
+	ereport(elevel, (errcode(sqlState), errmsg("%s", messagePrimary),
+					 messageDetail ? errdetail("%s", messageDetail) : 0,
+					 messageHint ? errhint("%s", messageHint) : 0,
+					 messageContext ? errcontext("%s", messageContext) : 0,
+					 errcontext("while executing command on %s:%d",
+								nodeName, nodePort)));
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * Log commands send to remote nodes if citus.log_remote_commands wants us to
+ * do so.
+ */
+void
+LogRemoteCommand(MultiConnection *connection, const char *command)
+{
+	if (!LogRemoteCommands)
+	{
+		return;
+	}
+
+	ereport(LOG, (errmsg("issuing %s", command),
+				  errdetail("on server %s:%d", connection->hostname, connection->port)));
+}
+
+
+/* wrappers around libpq functions, with command logging support */
+
+/*
+ * Tiny PQsendQuery wrapper that logs remote commands, and accepts a
+ * MultiConnection instead of a plain PGconn.
+ */
+int
+SendRemoteCommand(MultiConnection *connection, const char *command)
+{
+	LogRemoteCommand(connection, command);
+	return PQsendQuery(connection->conn, command);
+}
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/remote_commands.h b/src/include/distributed/remote_commands.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6ce25ccfd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/include/distributed/remote_commands.h
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *
+ * remote_commands.h
+ *	  Helpers to execute commands on remote nodes, over libpq.
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2016, Citus Data, Inc.
+ *
+ *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+#ifndef REMOTE_COMMAND_H
+#define REMOTE_COMMAND_H
+
+#include "distributed/connection_management.h"
+
+
+/* GUC, determining whether statements sent to remote nodes are logged */
+extern bool LogRemoteCommands;
+
+
+/* simple helpers */
+extern bool IsResponseOK(struct pg_result *result);
+extern void ForgetResults(MultiConnection *connection);
+extern bool SqlStateMatchesCategory(char *sqlStateString, int category);
+
+/* report errors & warnings */
+extern void ReportConnectionError(MultiConnection *connection, int elevel);
+extern void ReportResultError(MultiConnection *connection, struct pg_result *result,
+							  int elevel);
+extern void LogRemoteCommand(MultiConnection *connection, const char *command);
+
+/* wrappers around libpq functions, with command logging support */
+extern int SendRemoteCommand(MultiConnection *connection, const char *command);
+
+
+#endif /* REMOTE_COMMAND_H */