diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/commands/multi_copy.c b/src/backend/distributed/commands/multi_copy.c
index 71ab02d35..c2419ba6b 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/commands/multi_copy.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/commands/multi_copy.c
@@ -834,7 +834,7 @@ OpenCopyConnections(CopyStmt *copyStatement, ShardConnections *shardConnections,
 					bool stopOnFailure, bool useBinaryCopyFormat)
 {
 	List *finalizedPlacementList = NIL;
-	List *failedPlacementList = NIL;
+	int failedPlacementCount = 0;
 	ListCell *placementCell = NULL;
 	List *connectionList = NULL;
 	int64 shardId = shardConnections->shardId;
@@ -863,8 +863,6 @@ OpenCopyConnections(CopyStmt *copyStatement, ShardConnections *shardConnections,
 	foreach(placementCell, finalizedPlacementList)
 	{
 		ShardPlacement *placement = (ShardPlacement *) lfirst(placementCell);
-		char *nodeName = placement->nodeName;
-		int nodePort = placement->nodePort;
 		char *nodeUser = CurrentUserName();
 		MultiConnection *connection = NULL;
 		uint32 connectionFlags = FOR_DML;
@@ -877,12 +875,16 @@ OpenCopyConnections(CopyStmt *copyStatement, ShardConnections *shardConnections,
 		{
 			if (stopOnFailure)
 			{
-				ereport(ERROR, (errmsg("could not open connection to %s:%d",
-									   nodeName, nodePort)));
+				ReportConnectionError(connection, ERROR);
 			}
+			else
+			{
+				ReportConnectionError(connection, WARNING);
+				MarkRemoteTransactionFailed(connection, true);
 
-			failedPlacementList = lappend(failedPlacementList, placement);
-			continue;
+				failedPlacementCount++;
+				continue;
+			}
 		}
 
 		/*
@@ -907,8 +909,7 @@ OpenCopyConnections(CopyStmt *copyStatement, ShardConnections *shardConnections,
 
 			PQclear(result);
 
-			/* failed placements will be invalidated by transaction machinery */
-			failedPlacementList = lappend(failedPlacementList, placement);
+			failedPlacementCount++;
 			continue;
 		}
 
@@ -917,9 +918,9 @@ OpenCopyConnections(CopyStmt *copyStatement, ShardConnections *shardConnections,
 	}
 
 	/* if all placements failed, error out */
-	if (list_length(failedPlacementList) == list_length(finalizedPlacementList))
+	if (failedPlacementCount == list_length(finalizedPlacementList))
 	{
-		ereport(ERROR, (errmsg("could not find any active placements")));
+		ereport(ERROR, (errmsg("could not connect to any active placements")));
 	}
 
 	/*
@@ -927,7 +928,7 @@ OpenCopyConnections(CopyStmt *copyStatement, ShardConnections *shardConnections,
 	 * never reach to this point. This is the case for reference tables and
 	 * copy from worker nodes.
 	 */
-	Assert(!stopOnFailure || list_length(failedPlacementList) == 0);
+	Assert(!stopOnFailure || failedPlacementCount == 0);
 
 	shardConnections->connectionList = connectionList;