diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/operations/repair_shards.c b/src/backend/distributed/operations/repair_shards.c
index 7938a954f..121b0afdc 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/operations/repair_shards.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/operations/repair_shards.c
@@ -1067,7 +1067,7 @@ EnsureShardCanBeCopied(int64 shardId, const char *sourceNodeName, int32 sourceNo
 			 * Trigger deletion of orphaned shards and hope that this removes
 			 * the shard.
 			 */
-			DropMarkedShardsInDifferentTransaction();
+			DropMarkedShardsInSeparateTransaction();
 			shardPlacementList = ShardPlacementList(shardId);
 			targetPlacement = SearchShardPlacementInList(shardPlacementList,
 														 targetNodeName,
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_cleaner.c b/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_cleaner.c
index d01fd6eb3..bbd6a666c 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_cleaner.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_cleaner.c
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #include "distributed/coordinator_protocol.h"
 #include "distributed/metadata_cache.h"
 #include "distributed/shard_cleaner.h"
+#include "distributed/shard_rebalancer.h"
 #include "distributed/remote_commands.h"
 #include "distributed/resource_lock.h"
 #include "distributed/worker_transaction.h"
@@ -88,18 +89,14 @@ isolation_cleanup_orphaned_shards(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 
 
 /*
- * DropMarkedShardsInDifferentTransaction cleans up orphaned shards by
+ * DropMarkedShardsInSeparateTransaction cleans up orphaned shards by
  * connecting to localhost. This is done, so that the locks that
  * DropMarkedShards takes are only held for a short time.
  */
 void
-DropMarkedShardsInDifferentTransaction(void)
+DropMarkedShardsInSeparateTransaction(void)
 {
-	int connectionFlag = FORCE_NEW_CONNECTION;
-	MultiConnection *connection = GetNodeConnection(connectionFlag, LocalHostName,
-													PostPortNumber);
-	ExecuteCriticalRemoteCommand(connection, "CALL citus_cleanup_orphaned_shards();");
-	CloseConnection(connection);
+	ExecuteCriticalCommandInSeparateTransaction("CALL citus_cleanup_orphaned_shards()");
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_rebalancer.c b/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_rebalancer.c
index d9832f306..93716e624 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_rebalancer.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_rebalancer.c
@@ -701,7 +701,7 @@ ExecutePlacementUpdates(List *placementUpdateList, Oid shardReplicationModeOid,
 							   "unsupported")));
 	}
 
-	DropMarkedShardsInDifferentTransaction();
+	DropMarkedShardsInSeparateTransaction();
 
 	foreach(placementUpdateCell, placementUpdateList)
 	{
@@ -913,17 +913,15 @@ citus_drain_node(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 	};
 
 	char *nodeName = text_to_cstring(nodeNameText);
-	int connectionFlag = FORCE_NEW_CONNECTION;
-	MultiConnection *connection = GetNodeConnection(connectionFlag, LocalHostName,
-													PostPortNumber);
 
 	/*
 	 * This is done in a separate session. This way it's not undone if the
 	 * draining fails midway through.
 	 */
-	ExecuteCriticalRemoteCommand(connection, psprintf(
-									 "SELECT master_set_node_property(%s, %i, 'shouldhaveshards', false)",
-									 quote_literal_cstr(nodeName), nodePort));
+	ExecuteCriticalCommandInSeparateTransaction(psprintf(
+													"SELECT master_set_node_property(%s, %i, 'shouldhaveshards', false)",
+													quote_literal_cstr(nodeName),
+													nodePort));
 
 	RebalanceTableShards(&options, shardTransferModeOid);
 
@@ -1695,20 +1693,32 @@ UpdateShardPlacement(PlacementUpdateEvent *placementUpdateEvent,
 										  REBALANCE_PROGRESS_MOVING);
 
 	ConflictShardPlacementUpdateOnlyWithIsolationTesting(shardId);
-	int connectionFlag = FORCE_NEW_CONNECTION;
-	MultiConnection *connection = GetNodeConnection(connectionFlag, LocalHostName,
-													PostPortNumber);
 
 	/*
 	 * In case of failure, we throw an error such that rebalance_table_shards
 	 * fails early.
 	 */
-	ExecuteCriticalRemoteCommand(connection, placementUpdateCommand->data);
+	ExecuteCriticalCommandInSeparateTransaction(placementUpdateCommand->data);
 
 	UpdateColocatedShardPlacementProgress(shardId,
 										  sourceNode->workerName,
 										  sourceNode->workerPort,
 										  REBALANCE_PROGRESS_MOVED);
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * ExecuteCriticalCommandInSeparateTransaction runs a command in a separate
+ * transaction that is commited right away. This is useful for things that you
+ * don't want to rollback when the current transaction is rolled back.
+ */
+void
+ExecuteCriticalCommandInSeparateTransaction(char *command)
+{
+	int connectionFlag = FORCE_NEW_CONNECTION;
+	MultiConnection *connection = GetNodeConnection(connectionFlag, LocalHostName,
+													PostPortNumber);
+	ExecuteCriticalRemoteCommand(connection, command);
 	CloseConnection(connection);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/shard_cleaner.h b/src/include/distributed/shard_cleaner.h
index 103097397..83daf5cff 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/shard_cleaner.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/shard_cleaner.h
@@ -19,6 +19,6 @@ extern bool CheckAvailableSpaceBeforeMove;
 
 extern int TryDropMarkedShards(bool waitForLocks);
 extern int DropMarkedShards(bool waitForLocks);
-extern void DropMarkedShardsInDifferentTransaction(void);
+extern void DropMarkedShardsInSeparateTransaction(void);
 
 #endif /*CITUS_SHARD_CLEANER_H */
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/shard_rebalancer.h b/src/include/distributed/shard_rebalancer.h
index 096af4a58..de0684d68 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/shard_rebalancer.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/shard_rebalancer.h
@@ -190,6 +190,7 @@ extern List * RebalancePlacementUpdates(List *workerNodeList, List *shardPlaceme
 										RebalancePlanFunctions *rebalancePlanFunctions);
 extern List * ReplicationPlacementUpdates(List *workerNodeList, List *shardPlacementList,
 										  int shardReplicationFactor);
+extern void ExecuteCriticalCommandInSeparateTransaction(char *command);
 
 
 #endif   /* SHARD_REBALANCER_H */