diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/commands/create_distributed_table.c b/src/backend/distributed/commands/create_distributed_table.c
index 95a5062ce..4a1450ece 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/commands/create_distributed_table.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/commands/create_distributed_table.c
@@ -564,8 +564,10 @@ CreateDistributedTableConcurrently(Oid relationId, char *distributionColumnName,
 	 * such that we can create foreign keys and joins work immediately after creation.
 	 * We do this after applying all essential checks to error out early in case of
 	 * user error.
+	 *
+	 * Use force_logical since this function is meant to not block writes.
 	 */
-	EnsureReferenceTablesExistOnAllNodes();
+	EnsureReferenceTablesExistOnAllNodesExtended(TRANSFER_MODE_FORCE_LOGICAL);
 
 	/*
 	 * At this point, the table is a Citus local table, which means it does
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/multi_replicate_reference_table.out b/src/test/regress/expected/multi_replicate_reference_table.out
index 2a28208af..313d0215a 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/multi_replicate_reference_table.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/multi_replicate_reference_table.out
@@ -356,6 +356,63 @@ WHERE colocationid IN
 (1 row)
 
 DROP TABLE replicate_reference_table_commit;
+-- exercise reference table replication in create_distributed_table_concurrently
+SELECT citus_remove_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
+ citus_remove_node
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+(1 row)
+
+CREATE TABLE replicate_reference_table_cdtc(column1 int);
+SELECT create_reference_table('replicate_reference_table_cdtc');
+ create_reference_table
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT citus_add_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
+ citus_add_node
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+        1370004
+(1 row)
+
+-- required for create_distributed_table_concurrently
+SELECT 1 FROM citus_set_coordinator_host('localhost', :master_port);
+ ?column?
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+        1
+(1 row)
+
+SET citus.shard_replication_factor TO 1;
+CREATE TABLE distributed_table_cdtc(column1 int primary key);
+SELECT create_distributed_table_concurrently('distributed_table_cdtc', 'column1');
+ create_distributed_table_concurrently
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+(1 row)
+
+RESET citus.shard_replication_factor;
+SELECT citus_remove_node('localhost', :master_port);
+ citus_remove_node
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT
+    shardid, shardstate, shardlength, nodename, nodeport
+FROM
+    pg_dist_shard_placement_view
+WHERE
+    nodeport = :worker_2_port
+ORDER BY shardid, nodeport;
+ shardid | shardstate | shardlength | nodename  | nodeport
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 1370004 |          1 |           0 | localhost |    57638
+ 1370005 |          1 |           0 | localhost |    57638
+ 1370007 |          1 |           0 | localhost |    57638
+(3 rows)
+
+DROP TABLE replicate_reference_table_cdtc, distributed_table_cdtc;
 -- test adding new node + upgrading another hash distributed table to reference table + creating new reference table in TRANSACTION
 SELECT master_remove_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
  master_remove_node
@@ -431,8 +488,8 @@ WHERE
 ORDER BY shardid, nodeport;
  shardid | shardstate | shardlength | nodename  | nodeport
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- 1370004 |          1 |           0 | localhost |    57638
- 1370005 |          1 |           0 | localhost |    57638
+ 1370009 |          1 |           0 | localhost |    57638
+ 1370010 |          1 |           0 | localhost |    57638
 (2 rows)
 
 SELECT shardcount, replicationfactor, distributioncolumntype, distributioncolumncollation FROM pg_dist_colocation
@@ -739,7 +796,7 @@ WHERE
 ORDER BY 1,4,5;
  shardid | shardstate | shardlength | nodename  | nodeport
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- 1370014 |          1 |           0 | localhost |    57637
+ 1370019 |          1 |           0 | localhost |    57637
 (1 row)
 
 -- we should see the two shard placements after activation
@@ -764,7 +821,7 @@ WHERE
 ORDER BY 1,4,5;
  shardid | shardstate | shardlength | nodename  | nodeport
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- 1370014 |          1 |           0 | localhost |    57637
+ 1370019 |          1 |           0 | localhost |    57637
 (1 row)
 
 SELECT 1 FROM master_remove_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
@@ -794,7 +851,7 @@ HINT:  Add the target node via SELECT citus_add_node('localhost', 57638);
 SELECT citus_add_secondary_node('localhost', :worker_2_port, 'localhost', :worker_1_port);
  citus_add_secondary_node
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-                  1370012
+                  1370014
 (1 row)
 
 SELECT citus_copy_shard_placement(
@@ -1162,7 +1219,7 @@ SELECT create_distributed_table('test','x');
 SELECT citus_add_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
  citus_add_node
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-        1370022
+        1370024
 (1 row)
 
 SELECT
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/multi_replicate_reference_table.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/multi_replicate_reference_table.sql
index 9707ef7fe..e507dfe56 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/multi_replicate_reference_table.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/multi_replicate_reference_table.sql
@@ -233,6 +233,30 @@ WHERE colocationid IN
 
 DROP TABLE replicate_reference_table_commit;
 
+-- exercise reference table replication in create_distributed_table_concurrently
+SELECT citus_remove_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
+CREATE TABLE replicate_reference_table_cdtc(column1 int);
+SELECT create_reference_table('replicate_reference_table_cdtc');
+SELECT citus_add_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);
+
+-- required for create_distributed_table_concurrently
+SELECT 1 FROM citus_set_coordinator_host('localhost', :master_port);
+SET citus.shard_replication_factor TO 1;
+
+CREATE TABLE distributed_table_cdtc(column1 int primary key);
+SELECT create_distributed_table_concurrently('distributed_table_cdtc', 'column1');
+
+RESET citus.shard_replication_factor;
+SELECT citus_remove_node('localhost', :master_port);
+
+SELECT
+    shardid, shardstate, shardlength, nodename, nodeport
+FROM
+    pg_dist_shard_placement_view
+WHERE
+    nodeport = :worker_2_port
+ORDER BY shardid, nodeport;
+DROP TABLE replicate_reference_table_cdtc, distributed_table_cdtc;
 
 -- test adding new node + upgrading another hash distributed table to reference table + creating new reference table in TRANSACTION
 SELECT master_remove_node('localhost', :worker_2_port);