diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/operations/repair_shards.c b/src/backend/distributed/operations/repair_shards.c
index 59e87f74a..7938a954f 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/operations/repair_shards.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/operations/repair_shards.c
@@ -1063,12 +1063,29 @@ EnsureShardCanBeCopied(int64 shardId, const char *sourceNodeName, int32 sourceNo
 	{
 		if (targetPlacement->shardState == SHARD_STATE_TO_DELETE)
 		{
-			ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE),
-							errmsg(
-								"shard " INT64_FORMAT " already exists in the target node",
-								shardId),
-							errdetail(
-								"The existing shard is marked for deletion, but could not be deleted because there are still active queries on it")));
+			/*
+			 * Trigger deletion of orphaned shards and hope that this removes
+			 * the shard.
+			 */
+			DropMarkedShardsInDifferentTransaction();
+			shardPlacementList = ShardPlacementList(shardId);
+			targetPlacement = SearchShardPlacementInList(shardPlacementList,
+														 targetNodeName,
+														 targetNodePort);
+
+			/*
+			 * If it still doesn't remove the shard, then we error.
+			 */
+			if (targetPlacement != NULL)
+			{
+				ereport(ERROR, (errcode(ERRCODE_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE),
+								errmsg(
+									"shard " INT64_FORMAT
+									" still exists on the target node as an orphaned shard",
+									shardId),
+								errdetail(
+									"The existing shard is orphaned, but could not be deleted because there are still active queries on it")));
+			}
 		}
 		else
 		{
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/isolation_rebalancer_deferred_drop.out b/src/test/regress/expected/isolation_rebalancer_deferred_drop.out
index 187d33632..0a982936e 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/isolation_rebalancer_deferred_drop.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/isolation_rebalancer_deferred_drop.out
@@ -90,6 +90,57 @@ stop_session_level_connection_to_node
 
 
 
+starting permutation: s1-begin s1-move-placement s2-start-session-level-connection s2-lock-table-on-worker s1-commit s1-begin s1-move-placement-back s1-commit s2-stop-connection
+step s1-begin:
+    BEGIN;
+
+step s1-move-placement:
+    SELECT master_move_shard_placement((SELECT * FROM selected_shard), 'localhost', 57637, 'localhost', 57638);
+
+master_move_shard_placement
+
+
+step s2-start-session-level-connection:
+        SELECT start_session_level_connection_to_node('localhost', 57637);
+
+start_session_level_connection_to_node
+
+
+step s2-lock-table-on-worker:
+    SELECT run_commands_on_session_level_connection_to_node('BEGIN;');
+    SELECT run_commands_on_session_level_connection_to_node('LOCK TABLE t1_120000');
+
+run_commands_on_session_level_connection_to_node
+
+
+run_commands_on_session_level_connection_to_node
+
+
+step s1-commit:
+    COMMIT;
+
+step s1-begin:
+    BEGIN;
+
+step s1-move-placement-back:
+    SET client_min_messages to NOTICE;
+    SHOW log_error_verbosity;
+    SELECT master_move_shard_placement((SELECT * FROM selected_shard), 'localhost', 57638, 'localhost', 57637);
+
+log_error_verbosity
+
+verbose
+ERROR:  shard xxxxx still exists on the target node as an orphaned shard
+step s1-commit:
+    COMMIT;
+
+step s2-stop-connection:
+ SELECT stop_session_level_connection_to_node();
+
+stop_session_level_connection_to_node
+
+
+
 starting permutation: s1-begin s1-lock-pg-dist-placement s2-drop-old-shards s1-commit
 step s1-begin:
     BEGIN;
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/shard_move_deferred_delete.out b/src/test/regress/expected/shard_move_deferred_delete.out
index ae3fbfa00..ed0d46500 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/shard_move_deferred_delete.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/shard_move_deferred_delete.out
@@ -134,10 +134,14 @@ $cmd$);
  (localhost,57638,t,1)
 (2 rows)
 
--- we expect to get an error since the old placement is still there
+-- master_move_shard_placement automatically cleans up orphaned shards if
+-- needed.
 SELECT master_move_shard_placement(20000000, 'localhost', :worker_2_port, 'localhost', :worker_1_port);
-ERROR:  shard xxxxx already exists in the target node
-DETAIL:  The existing shard is marked for deletion, but could not be deleted because there are still active queries on it
+ master_move_shard_placement
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+(1 row)
+
 SELECT run_command_on_workers($cmd$
     -- override the function for testing purpose
     create or replace function pg_catalog.citus_local_disk_space_stats(OUT available_disk_size bigint, OUT total_disk_size bigint)
diff --git a/src/test/regress/spec/isolation_rebalancer_deferred_drop.spec b/src/test/regress/spec/isolation_rebalancer_deferred_drop.spec
index 150776aba..bf8a10eb7 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/spec/isolation_rebalancer_deferred_drop.spec
+++ b/src/test/regress/spec/isolation_rebalancer_deferred_drop.spec
@@ -62,6 +62,13 @@ step "s1-move-placement"
     SELECT master_move_shard_placement((SELECT * FROM selected_shard), 'localhost', 57637, 'localhost', 57638);
 }
 
+step "s1-move-placement-back"
+{
+    SET client_min_messages to NOTICE;
+    SHOW log_error_verbosity;
+    SELECT master_move_shard_placement((SELECT * FROM selected_shard), 'localhost', 57638, 'localhost', 57637);
+}
+
 step "s1-move-placement-without-deferred" {
     SET citus.defer_drop_after_shard_move TO OFF;
     SELECT master_move_shard_placement((SELECT * FROM selected_shard), 'localhost', 57637, 'localhost', 57638);
@@ -127,6 +134,8 @@ step "s2-commit" {
 permutation "s1-begin" "s1-move-placement" "s1-drop-marked-shards" "s2-drop-marked-shards" "s1-commit"
 permutation "s1-begin" "s1-move-placement" "s2-drop-marked-shards" "s1-drop-marked-shards" "s1-commit"
 permutation "s1-begin" "s1-move-placement" "s2-start-session-level-connection" "s2-lock-table-on-worker" "s1-drop-marked-shards" "s1-commit" "s2-stop-connection"
+// make sure we give a clear error when we try to replace an orphaned shard that is still in use
+permutation "s1-begin" "s1-move-placement" "s2-start-session-level-connection" "s2-lock-table-on-worker" "s1-commit" "s1-begin" "s1-move-placement-back" "s1-commit" "s2-stop-connection"
 // make sure we error if we cannot get the lock on pg_dist_placement
 permutation "s1-begin" "s1-lock-pg-dist-placement" "s2-drop-old-shards" "s1-commit"
 permutation "s1-begin" "s2-begin" "s2-select" "s1-move-placement-without-deferred" "s2-commit" "s1-commit"
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/shard_move_deferred_delete.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/shard_move_deferred_delete.sql
index e33bc3f82..a052590d5 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/shard_move_deferred_delete.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/shard_move_deferred_delete.sql
@@ -75,7 +75,8 @@ SELECT run_command_on_workers($cmd$
     SELECT count(*) FROM pg_class WHERE relname = 't1_20000000';
 $cmd$);
 
--- we expect to get an error since the old placement is still there
+-- master_move_shard_placement automatically cleans up orphaned shards if
+-- needed.
 SELECT master_move_shard_placement(20000000, 'localhost', :worker_2_port, 'localhost', :worker_1_port);