diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/executor/multi_router_executor.c b/src/backend/distributed/executor/multi_router_executor.c
index 7dbc8f0f1..cdbe46309 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/executor/multi_router_executor.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/executor/multi_router_executor.c
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ static uint64 ReturnRowsFromTuplestore(uint64 tupleCount, TupleDesc tupleDescrip
 static PGconn * GetConnectionForPlacement(ShardPlacement *placement,
 										  bool isModificationQuery);
 static void PurgeConnectionForPlacement(ShardPlacement *placement);
+static void RemoveXactConnection(PGconn *connection);
 static void ExtractParametersFromParamListInfo(ParamListInfo paramListInfo,
 											   Oid **parameterTypes,
 											   const char ***parameterValues);
@@ -731,6 +732,12 @@ PurgeConnectionForPlacement(ShardPlacement *placement)
 
 	PurgeConnectionByKey(&nodeKey);
 
+	/*
+	 * The following is logically identical to RemoveXactConnection, but since
+	 * we have a ShardPlacement to help build a NodeConnectionKey, we avoid
+	 * any penalty incurred by calling BuildKeyForConnection, which must ex-
+	 * tract host, port, and user from the connection options list.
+	 */
 	if (xactParticipantHash != NULL)
 	{
 		NodeConnectionEntry *participantEntry = NULL;
@@ -750,6 +757,39 @@ PurgeConnectionForPlacement(ShardPlacement *placement)
 }
 
 
+/*
+ * Removes a given connection from the transaction participant hash, based on
+ * the host and port of the provided connection. If the hash is not NULL, it
+ * MUST contain the provided connection, or a FATAL error is raised.
+ */
+static void
+RemoveXactConnection(PGconn *connection)
+{
+	NodeConnectionKey nodeKey;
+	NodeConnectionEntry *participantEntry = NULL;
+	bool entryFound = false;
+
+	if (xactParticipantHash == NULL)
+	{
+		return;
+	}
+
+	BuildKeyForConnection(connection, &nodeKey);
+
+	/* the participant hash doesn't use the user field */
+	MemSet(&nodeKey.nodeUser, 0, sizeof(nodeKey.nodeUser));
+	participantEntry = hash_search(xactParticipantHash, &nodeKey, HASH_FIND,
+								   &entryFound);
+
+	if (!entryFound)
+	{
+		ereport(FATAL, (errmsg("could not find specified transaction connection")));
+	}
+
+	participantEntry->connection = NULL;
+}
+
+
 /*
  * SendQueryInSingleRowMode sends the given query on the connection in an
  * asynchronous way. The function also sets the single-row mode on the
@@ -918,6 +958,7 @@ StoreQueryResult(MaterialState *routerState, PGconn *connection,
 
 			if (raiseError)
 			{
+				RemoveXactConnection(connection);
 				ReraiseRemoteError(connection, result);
 			}
 			else
@@ -1029,6 +1070,7 @@ ConsumeQueryResult(PGconn *connection, int64 *rows)
 
 			if (raiseError)
 			{
+				RemoveXactConnection(connection);
 				ReraiseRemoteError(connection, result);
 			}
 			else
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/utils/connection_cache.c b/src/backend/distributed/utils/connection_cache.c
index 766a5ade2..d9a036338 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/utils/connection_cache.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/utils/connection_cache.c
@@ -125,10 +125,34 @@ void
 PurgeConnection(PGconn *connection)
 {
 	NodeConnectionKey nodeConnectionKey;
+	PGconn *purgedConnection = NULL;
+
+	BuildKeyForConnection(connection, &nodeConnectionKey);
+	purgedConnection = PurgeConnectionByKey(&nodeConnectionKey);
+
+	/*
+	 * It's possible the provided connection matches the host and port for
+	 * an entry in the hash without being precisely the same connection. In
+	 * that case, we will want to close the provided connection in addition
+	 * to the one from the hash (which was closed by PurgeConnectionByKey).
+	 */
+	if (purgedConnection != connection)
+	{
+		PQfinish(connection);
+	}
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * Utility method to simplify populating a connection cache key with relevant
+ * fields from a provided connection.
+ */
+void
+BuildKeyForConnection(PGconn *connection, NodeConnectionKey *connectionKey)
+{
 	char *nodeNameString = NULL;
 	char *nodePortString = NULL;
 	char *nodeUserString = NULL;
-	PGconn *purgedConnection = NULL;
 
 	nodeNameString = ConnectionGetOptionValue(connection, "host");
 	if (nodeNameString == NULL)
@@ -151,27 +175,14 @@ PurgeConnection(PGconn *connection)
 						errmsg("connection is missing user option")));
 	}
 
-	memset(&nodeConnectionKey, 0, sizeof(nodeConnectionKey));
-	strlcpy(nodeConnectionKey.nodeName, nodeNameString, MAX_NODE_LENGTH + 1);
-	nodeConnectionKey.nodePort = pg_atoi(nodePortString, sizeof(int32), 0);
-	strlcpy(nodeConnectionKey.nodeUser, nodeUserString, NAMEDATALEN);
+	MemSet(connectionKey, 0, sizeof(NodeConnectionKey));
+	strlcpy(connectionKey->nodeName, nodeNameString, MAX_NODE_LENGTH + 1);
+	connectionKey->nodePort = pg_atoi(nodePortString, sizeof(int32), 0);
+	strlcpy(connectionKey->nodeUser, nodeUserString, NAMEDATALEN);
 
 	pfree(nodeNameString);
 	pfree(nodePortString);
 	pfree(nodeUserString);
-
-	purgedConnection = PurgeConnectionByKey(&nodeConnectionKey);
-
-	/*
-	 * It's possible the provided connection matches the host and port for
-	 * an entry in the hash without being precisely the same connection. In
-	 * that case, we will want to close the provided connection in addition
-	 * to the one from the hash (which was closed by PurgeConnectionByKey).
-	 */
-	if (purgedConnection != connection)
-	{
-		PQfinish(connection);
-	}
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/connection_cache.h b/src/include/distributed/connection_cache.h
index f335e0735..02df857ea 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/connection_cache.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/connection_cache.h
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ extern bool IsModifyingTransaction;
 /* function declarations for obtaining and using a connection */
 extern PGconn * GetOrEstablishConnection(char *nodeName, int32 nodePort);
 extern void PurgeConnection(PGconn *connection);
+extern void BuildKeyForConnection(PGconn *connection, NodeConnectionKey *connectionKey);
 extern PGconn * PurgeConnectionByKey(NodeConnectionKey *nodeConnectionKey);
 extern bool SqlStateMatchesCategory(char *sqlStateString, int category);
 extern void WarnRemoteError(PGconn *connection, PGresult *result);
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/multi_modifying_xacts.out b/src/test/regress/expected/multi_modifying_xacts.out
index e2b736f2f..247452f8d 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/multi_modifying_xacts.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/multi_modifying_xacts.out
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ SELECT master_create_worker_shards('labs', 1, 1);
  
 (1 row)
 
+-- might be confusing to have two people in the same lab with the same name
+CREATE UNIQUE INDEX avoid_name_confusion_idx ON researchers (lab_id, name);
+NOTICE:  using one-phase commit for distributed DDL commands
+HINT:  You can enable two-phase commit for extra safety with: SET citus.multi_shard_commit_protocol TO '2pc'
 -- add some data
 INSERT INTO researchers VALUES (1, 1, 'Donald Knuth');
 INSERT INTO researchers VALUES (2, 1, 'Niklaus Wirth');
@@ -62,6 +66,13 @@ SELECT name FROM researchers WHERE lab_id = 1 AND id = 1;
  Donald Knuth
 (1 row)
 
+-- trigger a unique constraint violation
+BEGIN;
+UPDATE researchers SET name = 'John Backus' WHERE id = 1 AND lab_id = 1;
+ERROR:  duplicate key value violates unique constraint "avoid_name_confusion_idx_1200000"
+DETAIL:  Key (lab_id, name)=(1, John Backus) already exists.
+CONTEXT:  while executing command on localhost:57637
+ABORT;
 -- creating savepoints should work...
 BEGIN;
 INSERT INTO researchers VALUES (5, 3, 'Dennis Ritchie');
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/multi_modifying_xacts.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/multi_modifying_xacts.sql
index c875e4c15..e273632b6 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/multi_modifying_xacts.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/multi_modifying_xacts.sql
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ SELECT master_create_worker_shards('researchers', 2, 2);
 SELECT master_create_distributed_table('labs', 'id', 'hash');
 SELECT master_create_worker_shards('labs', 1, 1);
 
+-- might be confusing to have two people in the same lab with the same name
+CREATE UNIQUE INDEX avoid_name_confusion_idx ON researchers (lab_id, name);
+
 -- add some data
 INSERT INTO researchers VALUES (1, 1, 'Donald Knuth');
 INSERT INTO researchers VALUES (2, 1, 'Niklaus Wirth');
@@ -45,6 +48,11 @@ ABORT;
 
 SELECT name FROM researchers WHERE lab_id = 1 AND id = 1;
 
+-- trigger a unique constraint violation
+BEGIN;
+UPDATE researchers SET name = 'John Backus' WHERE id = 1 AND lab_id = 1;
+ABORT;
+
 -- creating savepoints should work...
 BEGIN;
 INSERT INTO researchers VALUES (5, 3, 'Dennis Ritchie');