diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/connection/connection_management.c b/src/backend/distributed/connection/connection_management.c
index 27782ee9e..0b66ff815 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/connection/connection_management.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/connection/connection_management.c
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 #include "distributed/version_compat.h"
 #include "mb/pg_wchar.h"
 #include "portability/instr_time.h"
+#include "storage/ipc.h"
 #include "utils/hsearch.h"
 #include "utils/memutils.h"
 
@@ -318,12 +319,28 @@ StartNodeUserDatabaseConnection(uint32 flags, const char *hostname, int32 port,
 		}
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * We can afford to skip establishing an optional connection. For
+	 * non-optional connections, we first retry for some time. If we still
+	 * cannot reserve the right to establish a connection, we prefer to
+	 * error out.
+	 */
+	if (flags & OPTIONAL_CONNECTION)
+	{
+		if (!TryToIncrementSharedConnectionCounter(hostname, port))
+		{
+			return NULL;
+		}
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		WaitOrErrorForSharedConnection(hostname, port);
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * Either no caching desired, or no pre-established, non-claimed,
 	 * connection present. Initiate connection establishment.
 	 */
-	TryToIncrementSharedConnectionCounter(hostname, port);
-
 	connection = StartConnectionEstablishment(&key);
 
 	dlist_push_tail(entry->connections, &connection->connectionNode);
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/connection/shared_connection_stats.c b/src/backend/distributed/connection/shared_connection_stats.c
index 63e7b285d..4ca623637 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/connection/shared_connection_stats.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/connection/shared_connection_stats.c
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include "access/htup_details.h"
 #include "catalog/pg_authid.h"
 #include "commands/dbcommands.h"
+#include "distributed/cancel_utils.h"
 #include "distributed/connection_management.h"
 #include "distributed/metadata_cache.h"
 #include "distributed/shared_connection_stats.h"
@@ -168,8 +169,64 @@ StoreAllConnections(Tuplestorestate *tupleStore, TupleDesc tupleDescriptor)
 
 
 /*
- * Tries to increment the shared connection counter for the given nodeId and
- * the current database in SharedConnStatsHash.
+ * WaitOrErrorForSharedConnection tries to increment the shared connection
+ * counter for the given hostname/port and the current database in
+ * SharedConnStatsHash.
+ *
+ * The function implements a retry mechanism. If the function cannot increment
+ * the counter withing the specificed amount of the time, it throws an error.
+ */
+void
+WaitOrErrorForSharedConnection(const char *hostname, int port)
+{
+	int counter = 0;
+
+	while (!TryToIncrementSharedConnectionCounter(hostname, port))
+	{
+		int latchFlags = WL_LATCH_SET | WL_TIMEOUT | WL_POSTMASTER_DEATH;
+		double timeoutMsec = 100.0;
+
+		CHECK_FOR_INTERRUPTS();
+
+		int rc = WaitLatch(MyLatch, latchFlags, (long) timeoutMsec, PG_WAIT_EXTENSION);
+
+		/* emergency bailout if postmaster has died */
+		if (rc & WL_POSTMASTER_DEATH)
+		{
+			ereport(ERROR, (errmsg("postmaster was shut down, exiting")));
+		}
+		else if (rc & WL_LATCH_SET)
+		{
+			ResetLatch(MyLatch);
+			CHECK_FOR_INTERRUPTS();
+
+			if (IsHoldOffCancellationReceived())
+			{
+				/* in case the interrupts are hold, we still want to cancel */
+				ereport(ERROR, (errmsg("canceling statement due to user request")));
+			}
+		}
+		else if (rc & WL_TIMEOUT)
+		{
+			++counter;
+			if (counter == 10)
+			{
+				ereport(ERROR, (errmsg("citus.max_shared_pool_size connections are "
+									   "already established to the node %s:%d,"
+									   "so cannot establish any more connections",
+									   hostname, port),
+								errhint("consider increasing "
+										"citus.max_shared_pool_size")));
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * TryToIncrementSharedConnectionCounter tries to increment the shared
+ * connection counter for the given nodeId and the current database in
+ * SharedConnStatsHash.
  *
  * The function first checks whether the number of connections is less than
  * citus.max_shared_pool_size. If so, the function increments the counter
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/executor/adaptive_executor.c b/src/backend/distributed/executor/adaptive_executor.c
index 330f2a410..8430dc61d 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/executor/adaptive_executor.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/executor/adaptive_executor.c
@@ -2386,11 +2386,27 @@ ManageWorkerPool(WorkerPool *workerPool)
 			connectionFlags |= OUTSIDE_TRANSACTION;
 		}
 
+		if (list_length(workerPool->sessionList) > 0 && !UseConnectionPerPlacement())
+		{
+			/*
+			 * The executor can finish the execution with a single connection,
+			 * remaining are optional. If the executor can get more connections,
+			 * it can increase the parallelism.
+			 */
+			connectionFlags |= OPTIONAL_CONNECTION;
+		}
+
 		/* open a new connection to the worker */
 		MultiConnection *connection = StartNodeUserDatabaseConnection(connectionFlags,
 																	  workerPool->nodeName,
 																	  workerPool->nodePort,
 																	  NULL, NULL);
+		if (!connection)
+		{
+			/* connection can only be NULL for optional connections */
+			Assert((connectionFlags & connectionFlags));
+			continue;
+		}
 
 		/*
 		 * Assign the initial state in the connection state machine. The connection
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/connection_management.h b/src/include/distributed/connection_management.h
index 015546158..09975fc03 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/connection_management.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/connection_management.h
@@ -52,7 +52,15 @@ enum MultiConnectionMode
 	/* open a connection per (co-located set of) placement(s) */
 	CONNECTION_PER_PLACEMENT = 1 << 3,
 
-	OUTSIDE_TRANSACTION = 1 << 4
+	OUTSIDE_TRANSACTION = 1 << 4,
+
+	/*
+	 * Some connections are optionally required such as when adaptive executor is
+	 * executing a multi-shard command and requires the second (or further) connections
+	 * per node. In that case, the connection manager may decide not to allow the
+	 * connection.
+	 */
+	OPTIONAL_CONNECTION = 1 << 5
 };
 
 
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/shared_connection_stats.h b/src/include/distributed/shared_connection_stats.h
index f3dd45833..b82927ad6 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/shared_connection_stats.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/shared_connection_stats.h
@@ -15,5 +15,6 @@ extern int MaxTrackedWorkerNodes;
 
 extern void InitializeSharedConnectionStats(void);
 extern bool TryToIncrementSharedConnectionCounter(const char *hostname, int port);
+extern void WaitOrErrorForSharedConnection(const char *hostname, int port);
 
 #endif /* SHARED_CONNECTION_STATS_H */