diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/commands/citus_add_local_table_to_metadata.c b/src/backend/distributed/commands/citus_add_local_table_to_metadata.c
index 5348ca315..6e7da19e8 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/commands/citus_add_local_table_to_metadata.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/commands/citus_add_local_table_to_metadata.c
@@ -345,7 +345,6 @@ CreateCitusLocalTable(Oid relationId, bool cascadeViaForeignKeys, bool autoConve
 	 * via process utility.
 	 */
 	ExecuteAndLogUtilityCommandList(shellTableDDLEvents);
-	MarkObjectDistributed(&tableAddress);
 
 	/*
 	 * Set shellRelationId as the relation with relationId now points
@@ -368,6 +367,13 @@ CreateCitusLocalTable(Oid relationId, bool cascadeViaForeignKeys, bool autoConve
 	InsertMetadataForCitusLocalTable(shellRelationId, shardId, autoConverted);
 
 	FinalizeCitusLocalTableCreation(shellRelationId, dependentSequenceList);
+
+	/*
+	 * Mark the shell relation as distributed on each node as the last step.
+	 */
+	ObjectAddress shellRelationAddress = { 0 };
+	ObjectAddressSet(shellRelationAddress, RelationRelationId, shellRelationId);
+	MarkObjectDistributed(&shellRelationAddress);
 }
 
 
@@ -1240,6 +1246,8 @@ FinalizeCitusLocalTableCreation(Oid relationId, List *dependentSequenceList)
 		CreateTruncateTrigger(relationId);
 	}
 
+	CreateShellTableOnWorkers(relationId);
+
 	if (ShouldSyncTableMetadata(relationId))
 	{
 		CreateTableMetadataOnWorkers(relationId);
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/metadata/node_metadata.c b/src/backend/distributed/metadata/node_metadata.c
index 20dd584c9..5c8258dee 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/metadata/node_metadata.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/metadata/node_metadata.c
@@ -509,16 +509,6 @@ citus_disable_node(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 								 workerNode->workerName,
 								 nodePort)));
 		}
-
-		/*
-		 * Delete replicated table placements from the coordinator's metadata,
-		 * but not remotely. That is because one more more of the remote
-		 * nodes might be down. Instead, we let the background worker
-		 * to sync the metadata when possible.
-		 */
-		bool forceRemoteDelete = false;
-		DeleteAllReplicatedTablePlacementsFromNodeGroup(workerNode->groupId,
-														forceRemoteDelete);
 	}
 
 	TransactionModifiedNodeMetadata = true;
@@ -1182,27 +1172,44 @@ ActivateNode(char *nodeName, int nodePort)
 						BoolGetDatum(isActive));
 	}
 
-	if (syncMetadata)
-	{
-		StartMetadataSyncToNode(nodeName, nodePort);
+	/*
+	 * Delete replicated table placements from the coordinator's metadata,
+	 * including remote ones.
+	 */
+	bool forceRemoteDelete = true;
+	DeleteAllReplicatedTablePlacementsFromNodeGroup(workerNode->groupId,
+													forceRemoteDelete);
 
-		/*
-		 * Since coordinator node already has both objects and related metadata
-		 * we don't need to recreate them.
-		 */
+	/*
+	* Since coordinator node already has both objects and related metadata
+	* we don't need to recreate them.
+	*/
+	if (NodeIsPrimary(workerNode))
+	{
 		if (workerNode->groupId != COORDINATOR_GROUP_ID)
 		{
 			/* TODO: Consider calling function below according to other states like primary/secondary */
 			/* Should we check syncMetadata always on as well? */
 			ClearDistributedObjectsWithMetadataFromNode(workerNode);
 			SetUpDistributedTableWithDependencies(workerNode);
-			SetUpMultipleDistributedTableIntegrations(workerNode);
-			SetUpObjectMetadata(workerNode);
+
 		}
 		else if (ReplicateReferenceTablesOnActivate)
 		{
+			// We only need to replicate reference table to the coordinator node
 			ReplicateAllReferenceTablesToNode(workerNode->workerName,
-											  workerNode->workerPort);
+												workerNode->workerPort);
+		}
+	}
+
+	if (syncMetadata)
+	{
+		StartMetadataSyncToNode(nodeName, nodePort);
+
+		if (workerNode->groupId != COORDINATOR_GROUP_ID)
+		{
+			SetUpMultipleDistributedTableIntegrations(workerNode);
+			SetUpObjectMetadata(workerNode);
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/utils/reference_table_utils.c b/src/backend/distributed/utils/reference_table_utils.c
index 93cdcc7fa..c9d3d0e58 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/utils/reference_table_utils.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/utils/reference_table_utils.c
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ ReplicateShardToNode(ShardInterval *shardInterval, char *nodeName, int nodePort)
 							nodePort)));
 
 	EnsureNoModificationsHaveBeenDone();
-	SendCommandListToWorkerOutsideTransaction(nodeName, nodePort, tableOwner,
+	SendMetadataCommandListToWorkerInCoordinatedTransaction(nodeName, nodePort, tableOwner,
 											  ddlCommandList);
 	int32 groupId = GroupForNode(nodeName, nodePort);
 
@@ -596,8 +596,10 @@ ReplicateAllReferenceTablesToNode(char *nodeName, int nodePort)
 			char *tableOwner = TableOwner(shardInterval->relationId);
 			List *commandList = CopyShardForeignConstraintCommandList(shardInterval);
 
-			SendCommandListToWorkerOutsideTransaction(nodeName, nodePort, tableOwner,
-													  commandList);
+			SendMetadataCommandListToWorkerInCoordinatedTransaction(nodeName,
+																	nodePort,
+																	tableOwner,
+																	commandList);
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/multi_cluster_management.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/multi_cluster_management.sql
index 83d6c0f5b..24d516351 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/multi_cluster_management.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/multi_cluster_management.sql
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ SELECT master_get_active_worker_nodes();
 -- try to disable a node which does not exist and see that an error is thrown
 SELECT citus_disable_node('localhost.noexist', 2345);
 
+table pg_dist_node;
+\d
+
 -- drop the table without leaving a shard placement behind (messes up other tests)
 SELECT master_activate_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);