diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/commands/create_distributed_table.c b/src/backend/distributed/commands/create_distributed_table.c
index f601237de..48b5b069d 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/commands/create_distributed_table.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/commands/create_distributed_table.c
@@ -311,14 +311,6 @@ CreateDistributedTable(Oid relationId, Var *distributionColumn, char distributio
 	/* we need to calculate these variables before creating distributed metadata */
 	localTableEmpty = LocalTableEmpty(relationId);
 	colocatedTableId = ColocatedTableId(colocationId);
-	if (colocatedTableId != InvalidOid)
-	{
-		/*
-		 * We take lock on colocatedTableId, because we want to ensure that colocated
-		 * table is not dropped until we create all colocated shards.
-		 */
-		colocatedRelation = relation_open(colocatedTableId, AccessShareLock);
-	}
 
 	/* create an entry for distributed table in pg_dist_partition */
 	InsertIntoPgDistPartition(relationId, distributionMethod, distributionColumn,
@@ -530,6 +522,7 @@ ColocationIdForNewTable(Oid relationId, Var *distributionColumn,
 		Relation pgDistColocation = heap_open(DistColocationRelationId(), ExclusiveLock);
 
 		Oid distributionColumnType = distributionColumn->vartype;
+		bool createdColocationGroup = false;
 
 		if (pg_strncasecmp(colocateWithTableName, "default", NAMEDATALEN) == 0)
 		{
@@ -541,11 +534,14 @@ ColocationIdForNewTable(Oid relationId, Var *distributionColumn,
 			{
 				colocationId = CreateColocationGroup(ShardCount, ShardReplicationFactor,
 													 distributionColumnType);
+				createdColocationGroup = true;
 			}
 		}
 		else if (pg_strncasecmp(colocateWithTableName, "none", NAMEDATALEN) == 0)
 		{
 			colocationId = GetNextColocationId();
+
+			createdColocationGroup = true;
 		}
 		else
 		{
@@ -558,7 +554,22 @@ ColocationIdForNewTable(Oid relationId, Var *distributionColumn,
 			colocationId = TableColocationId(sourceRelationId);
 		}
 
-		heap_close(pgDistColocation, NoLock);
+		/*
+		 * If we created a new colocation group then we need to keep the lock to
+		 * prevent a concurrent create_distributed_table call from creating another
+		 * colocation group with the same parameters. If we're using an existing
+		 * colocation group then other transactions will use the same one.
+		 */
+		if (createdColocationGroup)
+		{
+			/* keep the exclusive lock */
+			heap_close(pgDistColocation, NoLock);
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			/* release the exclusive lock */
+			heap_close(pgDistColocation, ExclusiveLock);
+		}
 	}
 
 	return colocationId;
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/utils/colocation_utils.c b/src/backend/distributed/utils/colocation_utils.c
index 7a494f753..076c29d54 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/utils/colocation_utils.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/utils/colocation_utils.c
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 #include "distributed/shardinterval_utils.h"
 #include "distributed/worker_protocol.h"
 #include "distributed/worker_transaction.h"
+#include "storage/lmgr.h"
 #include "utils/builtins.h"
 #include "utils/fmgroids.h"
 #include "utils/lsyscache.h"
@@ -929,6 +930,9 @@ ColocatedShardIntervalList(ShardInterval *shardInterval)
 /*
  * ColocatedTableId returns an arbitrary table which belongs to given colocation
  * group. If there is not such a colocation group, it returns invalid oid.
+ *
+ * This function also takes an AccessShareLock on the co-colocated table to
+ * guarantee that the table isn't dropped for the remainder of the transaction.
  */
 Oid
 ColocatedTableId(Oid colocationId)
@@ -955,7 +959,7 @@ ColocatedTableId(Oid colocationId)
 	ScanKeyInit(&scanKey[0], Anum_pg_dist_partition_colocationid,
 				BTEqualStrategyNumber, F_INT4EQ, ObjectIdGetDatum(colocationId));
 
-	/* prevent DELETE statements */
+	/* do not allow any tables to be dropped while we read from pg_dist_partition */
 	pgDistPartition = heap_open(DistPartitionRelationId(), ShareLock);
 	tupleDescriptor = RelationGetDescr(pgDistPartition);
 	scanDescriptor = systable_beginscan(pgDistPartition,
@@ -967,6 +971,9 @@ ColocatedTableId(Oid colocationId)
 	{
 		colocatedTableId = heap_getattr(heapTuple, Anum_pg_dist_partition_logicalrelid,
 										tupleDescriptor, &isNull);
+
+		/* make sure the table isn't dropped for the remainder of the transaction */
+		LockRelationOid(colocatedTableId, AccessShareLock);
 	}
 
 	systable_endscan(scanDescriptor);