diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/test/file_utils.c b/src/backend/distributed/test/file_utils.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..02ecaa0bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/test/file_utils.c
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#include "postgres.h"
+
+#include "distributed/worker_protocol.h"
+#include "distributed/transmit.h"
+#include "distributed/master_metadata_utility.h"
+#include "fmgr.h"
+#include "lib/stringinfo.h"
+
+PG_FUNCTION_INFO_V1(citus_rm_job_directory);
+
+/*
+ * citus_rm_job_directory removes the job directory for the given job id.
+ * Used before beginning multi_query_directory_cleanup.
+ */
+Datum
+citus_rm_job_directory(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
+{
+	uint64 jobId = PG_GETARG_INT64(0);
+	StringInfo jobCacheDirectory = makeStringInfo();
+
+	EnsureSuperUser();
+
+	appendStringInfo(jobCacheDirectory, "base/%s/%s%0*" INT64_MODIFIER "u",
+					 PG_JOB_CACHE_DIR, JOB_DIRECTORY_PREFIX,
+					 MIN_JOB_DIRNAME_WIDTH, jobId);
+	CitusRemoveDirectory(jobCacheDirectory);
+	FreeStringInfo(jobCacheDirectory);
+
+	PG_RETURN_VOID();
+}
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/worker/worker_partition_protocol.c b/src/backend/distributed/worker/worker_partition_protocol.c
index 962e4ea7c..d22ffe1d7 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/worker/worker_partition_protocol.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/worker/worker_partition_protocol.c
@@ -917,8 +917,13 @@ FilterAndPartitionTable(const char *filterQuery,
 	if (SPI_processed > 0)
 	{
 		TupleDesc rowDescriptor = SPI_tuptable->tupdesc;
-		partitionColumnIndex = ColumnIndex(rowDescriptor, partitionColumnName);
 
+		if (fileCount == 0)
+		{
+			ereport(ERROR, (errmsg("no partition to read into")));
+		}
+
+		partitionColumnIndex = ColumnIndex(rowDescriptor, partitionColumnName);
 		partitionColumnTypeId = SPI_gettypeid(rowDescriptor, partitionColumnIndex);
 		if (partitionColumnType != partitionColumnTypeId)
 		{
@@ -942,6 +947,7 @@ FilterAndPartitionTable(const char *filterQuery,
 	while (SPI_processed > 0)
 	{
 		int rowIndex = 0;
+
 		for (rowIndex = 0; rowIndex < SPI_processed; rowIndex++)
 		{
 			HeapTuple row = SPI_tuptable->vals[rowIndex];
@@ -964,6 +970,10 @@ FilterAndPartitionTable(const char *filterQuery,
 			if (!partitionKeyNull)
 			{
 				partitionId = (*PartitionIdFunction)(partitionKey, partitionIdContext);
+				if (partitionId == INVALID_SHARD_INDEX)
+				{
+					ereport(ERROR, (errmsg("invalid distribution column value")));
+				}
 			}
 			else
 			{
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/intermediate_results.out b/src/test/regress/expected/intermediate_results.out
index d0dc1a6c3..bb4a7671a 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/intermediate_results.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/intermediate_results.out
@@ -256,6 +256,9 @@ SELECT * FROM squares ORDER BY x;
  5 | 25
 (5 rows)
 
+-- empty shard interval array should raise error
+SELECT worker_hash_partition_table(42,1,'SELECT a FROM generate_series(1,100) AS a', 'a', 23, ARRAY[0]);
+ERROR:  invalid distribution column value
 DROP SCHEMA intermediate_results CASCADE;
 NOTICE:  drop cascades to 5 other objects
 DETAIL:  drop cascades to table interesting_squares
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/multi_query_directory_cleanup.out b/src/test/regress/expected/multi_query_directory_cleanup.out
index 12d9c6cd3..5d3e38f5e 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/multi_query_directory_cleanup.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/multi_query_directory_cleanup.out
@@ -7,6 +7,21 @@
 -- result files.
 SET citus.next_shard_id TO 810000;
 SET citus.enable_unique_job_ids TO off;
+CREATE FUNCTION citus_rm_job_directory(bigint)
+	RETURNS void
+	AS 'citus'
+	LANGUAGE C STRICT;
+with silence as (
+	SELECT citus_rm_job_directory(split_part(f, '_', 2)::bigint)
+	from pg_ls_dir('base/pgsql_job_cache') f
+)
+select count(*) * 0 zero
+from silence;
+ zero 
+------
+    0
+(1 row)
+
 BEGIN;
 -- pg_ls_dir() displays jobids. We explicitly set the jobId sequence
 -- here so that the regression output becomes independent of the
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/multi_query_directory_cleanup_0.out b/src/test/regress/expected/multi_query_directory_cleanup_0.out
index 8547afd99..ed98c36b4 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/multi_query_directory_cleanup_0.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/multi_query_directory_cleanup_0.out
@@ -7,6 +7,21 @@
 -- result files.
 SET citus.next_shard_id TO 810000;
 SET citus.enable_unique_job_ids TO off;
+CREATE FUNCTION citus_rm_job_directory(bigint)
+	RETURNS void
+	AS 'citus'
+	LANGUAGE C STRICT;
+with silence as (
+	SELECT citus_rm_job_directory(split_part(f, '_', 2)::bigint)
+	from pg_ls_dir('base/pgsql_job_cache') f
+)
+select count(*) * 0 zero
+from silence;
+ zero 
+------
+    0
+(1 row)
+
 BEGIN;
 -- pg_ls_dir() displays jobids. We explicitly set the jobId sequence
 -- here so that the regression output becomes independent of the
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/intermediate_results.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/intermediate_results.sql
index 512fcd4cb..3c2f27eef 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/intermediate_results.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/intermediate_results.sql
@@ -141,4 +141,7 @@ WITH (FORMAT text);
 
 SELECT * FROM squares ORDER BY x;
 
+-- empty shard interval array should raise error
+SELECT worker_hash_partition_table(42,1,'SELECT a FROM generate_series(1,100) AS a', 'a', 23, ARRAY[0]);
+
 DROP SCHEMA intermediate_results CASCADE;
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/multi_query_directory_cleanup.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/multi_query_directory_cleanup.sql
index cde747bf8..c024670f3 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/multi_query_directory_cleanup.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/multi_query_directory_cleanup.sql
@@ -11,6 +11,17 @@
 SET citus.next_shard_id TO 810000;
 SET citus.enable_unique_job_ids TO off;
 
+CREATE FUNCTION citus_rm_job_directory(bigint)
+	RETURNS void
+	AS 'citus'
+	LANGUAGE C STRICT;
+
+with silence as (
+	SELECT citus_rm_job_directory(split_part(f, '_', 2)::bigint)
+	from pg_ls_dir('base/pgsql_job_cache') f
+)
+select count(*) * 0 zero
+from silence;
 
 BEGIN;