diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/executor/multi_utility.c b/src/backend/distributed/executor/multi_utility.c
index d322324f8..2142b90db 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/executor/multi_utility.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/executor/multi_utility.c
@@ -99,7 +99,6 @@ struct DropRelationCallbackState
 
 
 /* Local functions forward declarations for deciding when to perform processing/checks */
-static bool SkipCitusProcessingForUtility(Node *parsetree);
 static bool IsCitusExtensionStmt(Node *parsetree);
 
 /* Local functions forward declarations for Transmit statement */
@@ -185,23 +184,29 @@ multi_ProcessUtility(Node *parsetree,
 	Oid savedUserId = InvalidOid;
 	int savedSecurityContext = 0;
 	List *ddlJobs = NIL;
-	bool skipCitusProcessing = SkipCitusProcessingForUtility(parsetree);
+	bool checkExtensionVersion = false;
 
-	if (skipCitusProcessing)
+	if (IsA(parsetree, TransactionStmt))
 	{
-		bool checkExtensionVersion = IsCitusExtensionStmt(parsetree);
-
+		/*
+		 * Transaction statements (e.g. ABORT, COMMIT) can be run in aborted
+		 * transactions in which case a lot of checks cannot be done safely in
+		 * that state. Since we never need to intercept transaction statements,
+		 * skip our checks and immediately fall into standard_ProcessUtility.
+		 */
 		standard_ProcessUtility(parsetree, queryString, context,
 								params, dest, completionTag);
 
-		if (EnableVersionChecks && checkExtensionVersion)
-		{
-			ErrorIfUnstableCreateOrAlterExtensionStmt(parsetree);
-		}
-
 		return;
 	}
 
+	checkExtensionVersion = IsCitusExtensionStmt(parsetree);
+	if (EnableVersionChecks && checkExtensionVersion)
+	{
+		ErrorIfUnstableCreateOrAlterExtensionStmt(parsetree);
+	}
+
+
 	if (!CitusHasBeenLoaded())
 	{
 		/*
@@ -447,63 +452,6 @@ multi_ProcessUtility(Node *parsetree,
 }
 
 
-/*
- * SkipCitusProcessingForUtility simply returns whether a given utility should
- * bypass Citus processing and checks and be handled exclusively by standard
- * PostgreSQL utility processing. At present, CREATE/ALTER/DROP EXTENSION,
- * ABORT, COMMIT, ROLLBACK, and SET (GUC) statements are exempt from Citus.
- */
-static bool
-SkipCitusProcessingForUtility(Node *parsetree)
-{
-	switch (parsetree->type)
-	{
-		/*
-		 * In the CitusHasBeenLoaded check, we compare versions of loaded code,
-		 * the installed extension, and available extension. If they differ, we
-		 * force user to execute ALTER EXTENSION citus UPDATE. To allow this,
-		 * CREATE/DROP/ALTER extension must be omitted from Citus processing.
-		 */
-		case T_DropStmt:
-		{
-			DropStmt *dropStatement = (DropStmt *) parsetree;
-
-			if (dropStatement->removeType != OBJECT_EXTENSION)
-			{
-				return false;
-			}
-		}
-
-		/* no break, fall through */
-
-		case T_CreateExtensionStmt:
-		case T_AlterExtensionStmt:
-
-		/*
-		 * Transaction statements (e.g. ABORT, COMMIT) can be run in aborted
-		 * transactions in which case a lot of checks cannot be done safely in
-		 * that state. Since we never need to intercept transaction statements,
-		 * skip our checks and immediately fall into standard_ProcessUtility.
-		 */
-		case T_TransactionStmt:
-
-		/*
-		 * Skip processing of variable set statements, to allow changing the
-		 * enable_version_checks GUC during testing.
-		 */
-		case T_VariableSetStmt:
-		{
-			return true;
-		}
-
-		default:
-		{
-			return false;
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-
 /*
  * IsCitusExtensionStmt returns whether a given utility is a CREATE or ALTER
  * EXTENSION statement which references the citus extension. This function
@@ -1474,8 +1422,8 @@ ErrorIfUnstableCreateOrAlterExtensionStmt(Node *parsetree)
 		 * from the citus.control file. In case a new default is available, we
 		 * will force a compatibility check of the latest available version.
 		 */
-		availableExtensionVersion = NULL;
-		ErrorIfAvailableVersionMismatch();
+		citusVersionKnownCompatible = false;
+		CheckCitusVersion(ERROR);
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/utils/metadata_cache.c b/src/backend/distributed/utils/metadata_cache.c
index 66a2af3da..d97ce3625 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/utils/metadata_cache.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/utils/metadata_cache.c
@@ -106,8 +106,7 @@ static Oid workerHashFunctionId = InvalidOid;
 /* Citus extension version variables */
 bool EnableVersionChecks = true; /* version checks are enabled */
 
-char *availableExtensionVersion = NULL;
-static char *installedExtensionVersion = NULL;
+bool citusVersionKnownCompatible = false;
 
 /* Hash table for informations about each partition */
 static HTAB *DistTableCacheHash = NULL;
@@ -130,6 +129,7 @@ static ScanKeyData DistShardScanKey[1];
 
 
 /* local function forward declarations */
+static bool IsDistributedTableViaCatalog(Oid relationId);
 static ShardCacheEntry * LookupShardCacheEntry(int64 shardId);
 static DistTableCacheEntry * LookupDistTableCacheEntry(Oid relationId);
 static void BuildDistTableCacheEntry(DistTableCacheEntry *cacheEntry);
@@ -142,7 +142,8 @@ static bool HasUniformHashDistribution(ShardInterval **shardIntervalArray,
 									   int shardIntervalArrayLength);
 static bool HasUninitializedShardInterval(ShardInterval **sortedShardIntervalArray,
 										  int shardCount);
-static void ErrorIfInstalledVersionMismatch(void);
+static bool CheckInstalledVersion(int elevel);
+static bool CheckAvailableVersion(int elevel);
 static char * AvailableExtensionVersion(void);
 static char * InstalledExtensionVersion(void);
 static bool HasOverlappingShardInterval(ShardInterval **shardIntervalArray,
@@ -184,22 +185,59 @@ IsDistributedTable(Oid relationId)
 {
 	DistTableCacheEntry *cacheEntry = NULL;
 
+	cacheEntry = LookupDistTableCacheEntry(relationId);
+
 	/*
-	 * Can't be a distributed relation if the extension hasn't been loaded
-	 * yet. As we can't do lookups in nonexistent tables, directly return
-	 * false.
+	 * If extension hasn't been created, or has the wrong version and the
+	 * table isn't a distributed one, LookupDistTableCacheEntry() will return NULL.
 	 */
-	if (!CitusHasBeenLoaded())
+	if (!cacheEntry)
 	{
 		return false;
 	}
 
-	cacheEntry = LookupDistTableCacheEntry(relationId);
-
 	return cacheEntry->isDistributedTable;
 }
 
 
+/*
+ * IsDistributedTableViaCatalog returns whether the given relation is a
+ * distributed table or not.
+ *
+ * It does so by searching pg_dist_partition, explicitly bypassing caches,
+ * because this function is designed to be used in cases where accessing
+ * metadata tables is not safe.
+ *
+ * NB: Currently this still hardcodes pg_dist_partition logicalrelid column
+ * offset and the corresponding index.  If we ever come close to changing
+ * that, we'll have to work a bit harder.
+ */
+static bool
+IsDistributedTableViaCatalog(Oid relationId)
+{
+	HeapTuple partitionTuple = NULL;
+	SysScanDesc scanDescriptor = NULL;
+	const int scanKeyCount = 1;
+	ScanKeyData scanKey[scanKeyCount];
+	bool indexOK = true;
+
+	Relation pgDistPartition = heap_open(DistPartitionRelationId(), AccessShareLock);
+
+	ScanKeyInit(&scanKey[0], Anum_pg_dist_partition_logicalrelid,
+				BTEqualStrategyNumber, F_OIDEQ, ObjectIdGetDatum(relationId));
+
+	scanDescriptor = systable_beginscan(pgDistPartition,
+										DistPartitionLogicalRelidIndexId(),
+										indexOK, NULL, scanKeyCount, scanKey);
+
+	partitionTuple = systable_getnext(scanDescriptor);
+	systable_endscan(scanDescriptor);
+	heap_close(pgDistPartition, AccessShareLock);
+
+	return HeapTupleIsValid(partitionTuple);
+}
+
+
 /*
  * DistributedTableList returns a list that includes all the valid distributed table
  * cache entries.
@@ -211,6 +249,8 @@ DistributedTableList(void)
 	List *distributedTableList = NIL;
 	ListCell *distTableOidCell = NULL;
 
+	Assert(CitusHasBeenLoaded() && CheckCitusVersion(WARNING));
+
 	/* first, we need to iterate over pg_dist_partition */
 	distTableOidList = DistTableOidList();
 
@@ -360,6 +400,8 @@ LookupShardCacheEntry(int64 shardId)
 	bool foundInCache = false;
 	bool recheck = false;
 
+	Assert(CitusHasBeenLoaded() && CheckCitusVersion(WARNING));
+
 	/* probably not reachable */
 	if (DistShardCacheHash == NULL)
 	{
@@ -435,27 +477,16 @@ DistributedTableCacheEntry(Oid distributedRelationId)
 {
 	DistTableCacheEntry *cacheEntry = NULL;
 
-	/*
-	 * Can't be a distributed relation if the extension hasn't been loaded
-	 * yet. As we can't do lookups in nonexistent tables, directly return NULL
-	 * here.
-	 */
-	if (!CitusHasBeenLoaded())
-	{
-		return NULL;
-	}
-
 	cacheEntry = LookupDistTableCacheEntry(distributedRelationId);
 
-	if (cacheEntry->isDistributedTable)
+	if (cacheEntry && cacheEntry->isDistributedTable)
 	{
 		return cacheEntry;
 	}
 	else
 	{
 		char *relationName = get_rel_name(distributedRelationId);
-		ereport(ERROR, (errmsg("relation %s is not distributed",
-							   relationName)));
+		ereport(ERROR, (errmsg("relation %s is not distributed", relationName)));
 	}
 }
 
@@ -471,6 +502,43 @@ LookupDistTableCacheEntry(Oid relationId)
 	bool foundInCache = false;
 	void *hashKey = (void *) &relationId;
 
+	/*
+	 * Can't be a distributed relation if the extension hasn't been loaded
+	 * yet. As we can't do lookups in nonexistent tables, directly return NULL
+	 * here.
+	 */
+	if (!CitusHasBeenLoaded())
+	{
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * If the version is not known to be compatible, perform thorough check,
+	 * unless such checks are disabled.
+	 */
+	if (!citusVersionKnownCompatible && EnableVersionChecks)
+	{
+		bool isDistributed = IsDistributedTableViaCatalog(relationId);
+		int reportLevel = DEBUG1;
+
+		/*
+		 * If there's a version-mismatch, and we're dealing with a distributed
+		 * table, we have to error out as we can't return a valid entry.  We
+		 * want to check compatibility in the non-distributed case as well, so
+		 * future lookups can use the cache if compatible.
+		 */
+		if (isDistributed)
+		{
+			reportLevel = ERROR;
+		}
+
+		if (!CheckCitusVersion(reportLevel))
+		{
+			/* incompatible, can't access cache, so return before doing so */
+			return NULL;
+		}
+	}
+
 	if (DistTableCacheHash == NULL)
 	{
 		InitializeDistTableCache();
@@ -1066,86 +1134,114 @@ CitusHasBeenLoaded(void)
 			DistPartitionRelationId();
 
 			/*
-			 * We also set installedExtensionVersion to NULL so that it will be re-read
-			 * in case of extension update.
+			 * We also reset citusVersionKnownCompatible, so it will be re-read in
+			 * case of extension update.
 			 */
-			installedExtensionVersion = NULL;
+			citusVersionKnownCompatible = false;
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (extensionLoaded)
-	{
-		ErrorIfAvailableVersionMismatch();
-		ErrorIfInstalledVersionMismatch();
-	}
-
 	return extensionLoaded;
 }
 
 
 /*
- * ErrorIfAvailableExtensionVersionMismatch compares CITUS_EXTENSIONVERSION and
- * currently available version from citus.control file. If they are not same in
- * major or minor version numbers, this function errors out. It ignores the schema
- * version.
+ * CheckCitusVersion checks whether there is a version mismatch between the
+ * available version and the loaded version or between the installed version
+ * and the loaded version. Returns true if compatible, false otherwise.
+ *
+ * As a side effect, this function also sets citusVersionKnownCompatible global
+ * variable to true which reduces version check cost of next calls.
  */
-void
-ErrorIfAvailableVersionMismatch(void)
+bool
+CheckCitusVersion(int elevel)
+{
+	if (citusVersionKnownCompatible ||
+		!CitusHasBeenLoaded() ||
+		!EnableVersionChecks)
+	{
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	if (CheckAvailableVersion(elevel) && CheckInstalledVersion(elevel))
+	{
+		citusVersionKnownCompatible = true;
+		return true;
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		return false;
+	}
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * CheckAvailableVersion compares CITUS_EXTENSIONVERSION and the currently
+ * available version from the citus.control file. If they are not compatible,
+ * this function logs an error with the specified elevel and returns false,
+ * otherwise it returns true.
+ */
+static bool
+CheckAvailableVersion(int elevel)
 {
 	char *availableVersion = NULL;
 
-	if (!EnableVersionChecks)
-	{
-		return;
-	}
+	Assert(CitusHasBeenLoaded());
+	Assert(EnableVersionChecks);
 
 	availableVersion = AvailableExtensionVersion();
+
 	if (!MajorVersionsCompatible(availableVersion, CITUS_EXTENSIONVERSION))
 	{
-		ereport(ERROR, (errmsg("loaded Citus library version differs from latest "
-							   "available extension version"),
-						errdetail("Loaded library requires %s, but the latest control "
-								  "file specifies %s.", CITUS_MAJORVERSION,
-								  availableVersion),
-						errhint("Restart the database to load the latest Citus "
-								"library.")));
+		ereport(elevel, (errmsg("loaded Citus library version differs from latest "
+								"available extension version"),
+						 errdetail("Loaded library requires %s, but the latest control "
+								   "file specifies %s.", CITUS_MAJORVERSION,
+								   availableVersion),
+						 errhint("Restart the database to load the latest Citus "
+								 "library.")));
+		return false;
 	}
+
+	return true;
 }
 
 
 /*
- * ErrorIfInstalledVersionMismatch compares CITUS_EXTENSIONVERSION and currently
- * and catalog version from pg_extemsion catalog table. If they are not same in
- * major or minor version numbers, this function errors out. It ignores the schema
- * version.
+ * CheckInstalledVersion compares CITUS_EXTENSIONVERSION and the the
+ * extension's current version from the pg_extemsion catalog table. If they
+ * are not compatible, this function logs an error with the specified elevel,
+ * otherwise it returns true.
  */
-static void
-ErrorIfInstalledVersionMismatch(void)
+static bool
+CheckInstalledVersion(int elevel)
 {
 	char *installedVersion = NULL;
 
-	if (!EnableVersionChecks)
-	{
-		return;
-	}
+	Assert(CitusHasBeenLoaded());
+	Assert(EnableVersionChecks);
 
 	installedVersion = InstalledExtensionVersion();
+
 	if (!MajorVersionsCompatible(installedVersion, CITUS_EXTENSIONVERSION))
 	{
-		ereport(ERROR, (errmsg("loaded Citus library version differs from installed "
-							   "extension version"),
-						errdetail("Loaded library requires %s, but the installed "
-								  "extension version is %s.", CITUS_MAJORVERSION,
-								  installedVersion),
-						errhint("Run ALTER EXTENSION citus UPDATE and try again.")));
+		ereport(elevel, (errmsg("loaded Citus library version differs from installed "
+								"extension version"),
+						 errdetail("Loaded library requires %s, but the installed "
+								   "extension version is %s.", CITUS_MAJORVERSION,
+								   installedVersion),
+						 errhint("Run ALTER EXTENSION citus UPDATE and try again.")));
+		return false;
 	}
+
+	return true;
 }
 
 
 /*
- * MajorVersionsCompatible compares given two versions. If they are same in major
- * and minor version numbers, this function returns true. It ignores the schema
- * version.
+ * MajorVersionsCompatible checks whether both versions are compatible. They
+ * are if major and minor version numbers match, the schema version is
+ * ignored.  Returns true if compatible, false otherwise.
  */
 bool
 MajorVersionsCompatible(char *leftVersion, char *rightVersion)
@@ -1203,12 +1299,7 @@ AvailableExtensionVersion(void)
 	bool hasTuple = false;
 	bool goForward = true;
 	bool doCopy = false;
-
-	/* if we cached the result before, return it*/
-	if (availableExtensionVersion != NULL)
-	{
-		return availableExtensionVersion;
-	}
+	char *availableExtensionVersion;
 
 	estate = CreateExecutorState();
 	extensionsResultSet = makeNode(ReturnSetInfo);
@@ -1274,8 +1365,6 @@ AvailableExtensionVersion(void)
 
 /*
  * InstalledExtensionVersion returns the Citus version in PostgreSQL pg_extension table.
- * It also saves the result, thus consecutive calls to CitusExtensionCatalogVersion
- * will not read the catalog tables again.
  */
 static char *
 InstalledExtensionVersion(void)
@@ -1284,12 +1373,7 @@ InstalledExtensionVersion(void)
 	SysScanDesc scandesc;
 	ScanKeyData entry[1];
 	HeapTuple extensionTuple = NULL;
-
-	/* if we cached the result before, return it*/
-	if (installedExtensionVersion != NULL)
-	{
-		return installedExtensionVersion;
-	}
+	char *installedExtensionVersion = NULL;
 
 	relation = heap_open(ExtensionRelationId, AccessShareLock);
 
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/metadata_cache.h b/src/include/distributed/metadata_cache.h
index ae83940d4..14b0e86c6 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/metadata_cache.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/metadata_cache.h
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 #include "utils/hsearch.h"
 
 extern bool EnableVersionChecks;
-extern char *availableExtensionVersion;
+extern bool citusVersionKnownCompatible;
 
 /*
  * Representation of a table's metadata that is frequently used for
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ extern void CitusInvalidateRelcacheByRelid(Oid relationId);
 extern void CitusInvalidateRelcacheByShardId(int64 shardId);
 
 extern bool CitusHasBeenLoaded(void);
-void ErrorIfAvailableVersionMismatch(void);
+extern bool CheckCitusVersion(int elevel);
 bool MajorVersionsCompatible(char *leftVersion, char *rightVersion);
 
 /* access WorkerNodeHash */