diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_transfer.c b/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_transfer.c
index 805ef39d7..0e7f48f68 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_transfer.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/operations/shard_transfer.c
@@ -294,6 +294,17 @@ citus_move_shard_placement(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 	CheckCitusVersion(ERROR);
 	EnsureCoordinator();
 
+	List *referenceTableIdList = NIL;
+
+	if (HasNodesWithMissingReferenceTables(&referenceTableIdList))
+	{
+		ereport(ERROR, (errmsg("there are missing reference tables on some nodes"),
+						errhint("Copy reference tables first with "
+								"replicate_reference_tables() or use "
+								"citus_rebalance_start() that will do it automatically."
+								)));
+	}
+
 	int64 shardId = PG_GETARG_INT64(0);
 	char *sourceNodeName = text_to_cstring(PG_GETARG_TEXT_P(1));
 	int32 sourceNodePort = PG_GETARG_INT32(2);
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/shard_rebalancer.out b/src/test/regress/expected/shard_rebalancer.out
index a7cd6b38c..988fa68be 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/shard_rebalancer.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/shard_rebalancer.out
@@ -2395,6 +2395,74 @@ SELECT count(*) FROM pg_dist_partition;
      0
 (1 row)
 
+-- verify a system with a new node won't copy distributed table shards without reference tables
+SELECT 1 from master_remove_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
+ ?column?
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+        1
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT public.wait_until_metadata_sync(30000);
+ wait_until_metadata_sync
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+(1 row)
+
+CREATE TABLE r1 (a int PRIMARY KEY, b int);
+SELECT create_reference_table('r1');
+ create_reference_table
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+(1 row)
+
+CREATE TABLE d1 (a int PRIMARY KEY, b int);
+SELECT create_distributed_table('d1', 'a');
+ create_distributed_table
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+(1 row)
+
+ALTER SEQUENCE pg_dist_groupid_seq RESTART WITH 15;
+SELECT 1 from master_add_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
+ ?column?
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+        1
+(1 row)
+
+-- count the number of placements for the reference table to verify it is not available on
+-- all nodes
+SELECT count(*)
+FROM pg_dist_shard
+JOIN pg_dist_shard_placement USING (shardid)
+WHERE logicalrelid = 'r1'::regclass;
+ count
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+     1
+(1 row)
+
+-- #7426 We can't move shards to the fresh node before we copy reference tables there.
+-- rebalance_table_shards() will do the copy, but the low-level
+-- citus_move_shard_placement() should raise an error
+SELECT citus_move_shard_placement(pg_dist_shard.shardid, nodename, nodeport, 'localhost', :worker_2_port)
+    FROM pg_dist_shard JOIN pg_dist_shard_placement USING (shardid)
+    WHERE logicalrelid = 'd1'::regclass AND nodename = 'localhost' AND nodeport = :worker_1_port LIMIT 1;
+ERROR:  there are missing reference tables on some nodes
+SELECT replicate_reference_tables();
+ replicate_reference_tables
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+(1 row)
+
+-- After replication, the move should succeed.
+SELECT citus_move_shard_placement(pg_dist_shard.shardid, nodename, nodeport, 'localhost', :worker_2_port)
+    FROM pg_dist_shard JOIN pg_dist_shard_placement USING (shardid)
+    WHERE logicalrelid = 'd1'::regclass AND nodename = 'localhost' AND nodeport = :worker_1_port LIMIT 1;
+ citus_move_shard_placement
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+(1 row)
+
+DROP TABLE d1, r1;
 -- verify a system having only reference tables will copy the reference tables when
 -- executing the rebalancer
 SELECT 1 from master_remove_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/shard_rebalancer.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/shard_rebalancer.sql
index 5d8e89b36..9037f8f75 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/shard_rebalancer.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/shard_rebalancer.sql
@@ -1340,6 +1340,43 @@ DROP TABLE t1, r1, r2;
 -- test suites should clean up their distributed tables.
 SELECT count(*) FROM pg_dist_partition;
 
+-- verify a system with a new node won't copy distributed table shards without reference tables
+
+SELECT 1 from master_remove_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
+SELECT public.wait_until_metadata_sync(30000);
+
+CREATE TABLE r1 (a int PRIMARY KEY, b int);
+SELECT create_reference_table('r1');
+
+CREATE TABLE d1 (a int PRIMARY KEY, b int);
+SELECT create_distributed_table('d1', 'a');
+
+ALTER SEQUENCE pg_dist_groupid_seq RESTART WITH 15;
+SELECT 1 from master_add_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
+
+-- count the number of placements for the reference table to verify it is not available on
+-- all nodes
+SELECT count(*)
+FROM pg_dist_shard
+JOIN pg_dist_shard_placement USING (shardid)
+WHERE logicalrelid = 'r1'::regclass;
+
+-- #7426 We can't move shards to the fresh node before we copy reference tables there.
+-- rebalance_table_shards() will do the copy, but the low-level
+-- citus_move_shard_placement() should raise an error
+SELECT citus_move_shard_placement(pg_dist_shard.shardid, nodename, nodeport, 'localhost', :worker_2_port)
+    FROM pg_dist_shard JOIN pg_dist_shard_placement USING (shardid)
+    WHERE logicalrelid = 'd1'::regclass AND nodename = 'localhost' AND nodeport = :worker_1_port LIMIT 1;
+
+SELECT replicate_reference_tables();
+
+-- After replication, the move should succeed.
+SELECT citus_move_shard_placement(pg_dist_shard.shardid, nodename, nodeport, 'localhost', :worker_2_port)
+    FROM pg_dist_shard JOIN pg_dist_shard_placement USING (shardid)
+    WHERE logicalrelid = 'd1'::regclass AND nodename = 'localhost' AND nodeport = :worker_1_port LIMIT 1;
+
+DROP TABLE d1, r1;
+
 -- verify a system having only reference tables will copy the reference tables when
 -- executing the rebalancer