diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/connection/connection_management.c b/src/backend/distributed/connection/connection_management.c
index 577378803..67ac7be88 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/connection/connection_management.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/connection/connection_management.c
@@ -437,7 +437,8 @@ FindAvailableConnection(dlist_head *connections, uint32 flags)
 		MultiConnection *connection =
 			dlist_container(MultiConnection, connectionNode, iter.cur);
 
-		if (flags & OUTSIDE_TRANSACTION)
+		bool outsideCoordinatedTx = (flags & OUTSIDE_TRANSACTION);
+		if (outsideCoordinatedTx)
 		{
 			/* don't return connections that are used in transactions */
 			if (connection->remoteTransaction.transactionState !=
@@ -492,6 +493,12 @@ FindAvailableConnection(dlist_head *connections, uint32 flags)
 			continue;
 		}
 
+		if (outsideCoordinatedTx)
+		{
+			connection->remoteTransaction.transactionState =
+				REMOTE_TRANS_OUTSIDE_COORDINATED_TX;
+		}
+
 		return connection;
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/transaction/remote_transaction.c b/src/backend/distributed/transaction/remote_transaction.c
index 55a560575..f68265c4e 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/transaction/remote_transaction.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/transaction/remote_transaction.c
@@ -62,10 +62,14 @@ StartRemoteTransactionBegin(struct MultiConnection *connection)
 {
 	RemoteTransaction *transaction = &connection->remoteTransaction;
 
-	Assert(transaction->transactionState == REMOTE_TRANS_NOT_STARTED);
+	Assert(transaction->transactionState == REMOTE_TRANS_NOT_STARTED ||
+		   transaction->transactionState == REMOTE_TRANS_OUTSIDE_COORDINATED_TX);
 
 	/* remember transaction as being in-progress */
-	dlist_push_tail(&InProgressTransactions, &connection->transactionNode);
+	if (transaction->transactionState != REMOTE_TRANS_OUTSIDE_COORDINATED_TX)
+	{
+		dlist_push_tail(&InProgressTransactions, &connection->transactionNode);
+	}
 
 	transaction->transactionState = REMOTE_TRANS_STARTING;
 
@@ -761,10 +765,9 @@ CloseRemoteTransaction(struct MultiConnection *connection)
 	RemoteTransaction *transaction = &connection->remoteTransaction;
 
 	/* unlink from list of open transactions, if necessary */
-	if (transaction->transactionState != REMOTE_TRANS_NOT_STARTED)
+	if (transaction->transactionState != REMOTE_TRANS_NOT_STARTED &&
+		transaction->transactionState != REMOTE_TRANS_OUTSIDE_COORDINATED_TX)
 	{
-		/* XXX: Should we error out for a critical transaction? */
-
 		dlist_delete(&connection->transactionNode);
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/remote_transaction.h b/src/include/distributed/remote_transaction.h
index f827bd9ec..7163590da 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/remote_transaction.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/remote_transaction.h
@@ -50,7 +50,9 @@ typedef enum
 	/* transaction commit */
 	REMOTE_TRANS_1PC_COMMITTING,
 	REMOTE_TRANS_2PC_COMMITTING,
-	REMOTE_TRANS_COMMITTED
+	REMOTE_TRANS_COMMITTED,
+
+	REMOTE_TRANS_OUTSIDE_COORDINATED_TX,
 } RemoteTransactionState;