diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/metadata/metadata_cache.c b/src/backend/distributed/metadata/metadata_cache.c
index b603e9dda..79cc61092 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/metadata/metadata_cache.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/metadata/metadata_cache.c
@@ -661,6 +661,18 @@ GetTableTypeName(Oid tableId)
 bool
 IsCitusTable(Oid relationId)
 {
+	/*
+	 * PostgreSQL's OID generator assigns user operation OIDs starting
+	 * from FirstNormalObjectId. This means no user object can have
+	 * an OID lower than FirstNormalObjectId. Therefore, if the
+	 * relationId is less than FirstNormalObjectId
+	 * (i.e. in PostgreSQL's reserved range), we can immediately
+	 * return false, since such objects cannot be Citus tables.
+	 */
+	if (relationId < FirstNormalObjectId)
+	{
+		return false;
+	}
 	return LookupCitusTableCacheEntry(relationId) != NULL;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/transaction/transaction_recovery.c b/src/backend/distributed/transaction/transaction_recovery.c
index 0eede84ca..59432a313 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/transaction/transaction_recovery.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/transaction/transaction_recovery.c
@@ -56,7 +56,8 @@ PG_FUNCTION_INFO_V1(recover_prepared_transactions);
 
 
 /* Local functions forward declarations */
-static int RecoverWorkerTransactions(WorkerNode *workerNode);
+static int RecoverWorkerTransactions(WorkerNode *workerNode,
+									 MultiConnection *connection);
 static List * PendingWorkerTransactionList(MultiConnection *connection);
 static bool IsTransactionInProgress(HTAB *activeTransactionNumberSet,
 									char *preparedTransactionName);
@@ -127,10 +128,51 @@ RecoverTwoPhaseCommits(void)
 	LockTransactionRecovery(ShareUpdateExclusiveLock);
 
 	List *workerList = ActivePrimaryNodeList(NoLock);
+	List *workerConnections = NIL;
 	WorkerNode *workerNode = NULL;
+	MultiConnection *connection = NULL;
+
+	/*
+	 * Pre-establish all connections to worker nodes.
+	 *
+	 * We do this to enforce a consistent lock acquisition order and prevent deadlocks.
+	 * Currently, during extension updates, we take strong locks on the Citus
+	 * catalog tables in a specific order: first on pg_dist_authinfo, then on
+	 * pg_dist_transaction. It's critical that any operation locking these two
+	 * tables adheres to this order, or a deadlock could occur.
+	 *
+	 * Note that RecoverWorkerTransactions() retains its lock until the end
+	 * of the transaction, while GetNodeConnection() releases its lock after
+	 * the catalog lookup. So when there are multiple workers in the active primary
+	 * node list, the lock acquisition order may reverse in subsequent iterations
+	 * of the loop calling RecoverWorkerTransactions(), increasing the risk
+	 * of deadlock.
+	 *
+	 * By establishing all worker connections upfront, we ensure that
+	 * RecoverWorkerTransactions() deals with a single distributed catalog table,
+	 * thereby preventing deadlocks regardless of the lock acquisition sequence
+	 * used in the upgrade extension script.
+	 */
+
 	foreach_declared_ptr(workerNode, workerList)
 	{
-		recoveredTransactionCount += RecoverWorkerTransactions(workerNode);
+		int connectionFlags = 0;
+		char *nodeName = workerNode->workerName;
+		int nodePort = workerNode->workerPort;
+
+		connection = GetNodeConnection(connectionFlags, nodeName, nodePort);
+		Assert(connection != NULL);
+
+		/*
+		 * We don't verify connection validity here.
+		 * Instead, RecoverWorkerTransactions() performs the necessary
+		 * sanity checks on the connection state.
+		 */
+		workerConnections = lappend(workerConnections, connection);
+	}
+	forboth_ptr(workerNode, workerList, connection, workerConnections)
+	{
+		recoveredTransactionCount += RecoverWorkerTransactions(workerNode, connection);
 	}
 
 	return recoveredTransactionCount;
@@ -142,7 +184,7 @@ RecoverTwoPhaseCommits(void)
  * started by this node on the specified worker.
  */
 static int
-RecoverWorkerTransactions(WorkerNode *workerNode)
+RecoverWorkerTransactions(WorkerNode *workerNode, MultiConnection *connection)
 {
 	int recoveredTransactionCount = 0;
 
@@ -160,8 +202,7 @@ RecoverWorkerTransactions(WorkerNode *workerNode)
 
 	bool recoveryFailed = false;
 
-	int connectionFlags = 0;
-	MultiConnection *connection = GetNodeConnection(connectionFlags, nodeName, nodePort);
+	Assert(connection != NULL);
 	if (connection->pgConn == NULL || PQstatus(connection->pgConn) != CONNECTION_OK)
 	{
 		ereport(WARNING, (errmsg("transaction recovery cannot connect to %s:%d",
diff --git a/src/test/regress/citus_tests/upgrade/citus_upgrade_test.py b/src/test/regress/citus_tests/upgrade/citus_upgrade_test.py
index c25a34482..1ab448031 100755
--- a/src/test/regress/citus_tests/upgrade/citus_upgrade_test.py
+++ b/src/test/regress/citus_tests/upgrade/citus_upgrade_test.py
@@ -62,16 +62,10 @@ def run_citus_upgrade_tests(config, before_upgrade_schedule, after_upgrade_sched
 
     install_citus(config.post_tar_path)
 
-    # disable 2pc recovery for all nodes to work around https://github.com/citusdata/citus/issues/7875
-    disable_2pc_recovery_for_all_nodes(config.bindir, config)
-
     restart_databases(config.bindir, config.datadir, config.mixed_mode, config)
     run_alter_citus(config.bindir, config.mixed_mode, config)
     verify_upgrade(config, config.mixed_mode, config.node_name_to_ports.values())
 
-    # re-enable 2pc recovery for all nodes
-    enable_2pc_recovery_for_all_nodes(config.bindir, config)
-
     run_test_on_coordinator(config, after_upgrade_schedule)
     remove_citus(config.post_tar_path)
 
@@ -152,18 +146,6 @@ def restart_database(pg_path, abs_data_path, node_name, node_ports, logfile_pref
     subprocess.run(command, check=True)
 
 
-def disable_2pc_recovery_for_all_nodes(pg_path, config):
-    for port in config.node_name_to_ports.values():
-        utils.psql(pg_path, port, "ALTER SYSTEM SET citus.recover_2pc_interval TO -1;")
-        utils.psql(pg_path, port, "SELECT pg_reload_conf();")
-
-
-def enable_2pc_recovery_for_all_nodes(pg_path, config):
-    for port in config.node_name_to_ports.values():
-        utils.psql(pg_path, port, "ALTER SYSTEM RESET citus.recover_2pc_interval;")
-        utils.psql(pg_path, port, "SELECT pg_reload_conf();")
-
-
 def run_alter_citus(pg_path, mixed_mode, config):
     for port in config.node_name_to_ports.values():
         if mixed_mode and port in (