diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/commands/index.c b/src/backend/distributed/commands/index.c
index a44cde0cc..7a9c5c9ad 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/commands/index.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/commands/index.c
@@ -249,6 +249,41 @@ CreateIndexStmtGetSchemaId(IndexStmt *createIndexStatement)
 	return namespaceId;
 }
 
+List* ExecuteFunctionOnEachTableIndex(Oid relationId, IndexProcesor indexProcessor) {
+	List *result = NIL;
+	ScanKeyData scanKey[1];
+	int scanKeyCount = 1;
+
+	PushOverrideEmptySearchPath(CurrentMemoryContext);
+
+	/* open system catalog and scan all indexes that belong to this table */
+	Relation pgIndex = table_open(IndexRelationId, AccessShareLock);
+
+	ScanKeyInit(&scanKey[0], Anum_pg_index_indrelid,
+				BTEqualStrategyNumber, F_OIDEQ, relationId);
+
+	SysScanDesc scanDescriptor = systable_beginscan(pgIndex,
+													IndexIndrelidIndexId, true, /* indexOK */
+													NULL, scanKeyCount, scanKey);
+
+	HeapTuple heapTuple = systable_getnext(scanDescriptor);
+	while (HeapTupleIsValid(heapTuple))
+	{
+		Form_pg_index indexForm = (Form_pg_index) GETSTRUCT(heapTuple);
+		indexProcessor(indexForm, &result);
+
+		heapTuple = systable_getnext(scanDescriptor);
+	}
+
+	/* clean up scan and close system catalog */
+	systable_endscan(scanDescriptor);
+	table_close(pgIndex, AccessShareLock);
+
+	/* revert back to original search_path */
+	PopOverrideSearchPath();
+
+	return result;
+}
 
 /*
  * ExecuteFunctionOnEachTableIndex executes the given pgIndexProcessor function on each
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/operations/node_protocol.c b/src/backend/distributed/operations/node_protocol.c
index 4a23a5052..0eb23f6a5 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/operations/node_protocol.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/operations/node_protocol.c
@@ -729,7 +729,6 @@ GatherIndexAndConstraintDefinitionList(Form_pg_index indexForm, List **indexDDLE
 	}
 }
 
-
 /*
  * IndexImpliedByAConstraint is a helper function to be used while scanning
  * pg_index. It returns true if the index identified by the given indexForm is
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/planner/local_distributed_join_planner.c b/src/backend/distributed/planner/local_distributed_join_planner.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4a31aa543
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/planner/local_distributed_join_planner.c
@@ -0,0 +1,361 @@
+#include "postgres.h"
+
+#include "distributed/pg_version_constants.h"
+
+#include "funcapi.h"
+
+#include "catalog/pg_type.h"
+#include "catalog/pg_class.h"
+#include "catalog/pg_index.h"
+#include "distributed/citus_nodes.h"
+#include "distributed/citus_ruleutils.h"
+#include "distributed/commands.h"
+#include "distributed/commands/multi_copy.h"
+#include "distributed/distributed_planner.h"
+#include "distributed/errormessage.h"
+#include "distributed/local_distributed_join_planner.h"
+#include "distributed/listutils.h"
+#include "distributed/log_utils.h"
+#include "distributed/metadata_cache.h"
+#include "distributed/multi_logical_planner.h"
+#include "distributed/multi_logical_optimizer.h"
+#include "distributed/multi_router_planner.h"
+#include "distributed/multi_physical_planner.h"
+#include "distributed/multi_server_executor.h"
+#include "distributed/query_colocation_checker.h"
+#include "distributed/query_pushdown_planning.h"
+#include "distributed/recursive_planning.h"
+#include "distributed/relation_restriction_equivalence.h"
+#include "distributed/log_utils.h"
+#include "distributed/shard_pruning.h"
+#include "distributed/version_compat.h"
+#include "lib/stringinfo.h"
+#include "optimizer/clauses.h"
+#if PG_VERSION_NUM >= PG_VERSION_12
+#include "optimizer/optimizer.h"
+#else
+#include "optimizer/var.h"
+#endif
+#include "optimizer/planner.h"
+#include "optimizer/prep.h"
+#include "parser/parsetree.h"
+#include "nodes/makefuncs.h"
+#include "nodes/nodeFuncs.h"
+#include "nodes/nodes.h"
+#include "nodes/nodeFuncs.h"
+#include "nodes/pg_list.h"
+#include "nodes/primnodes.h"
+#if PG_VERSION_NUM >= PG_VERSION_12
+#include "nodes/pathnodes.h"
+#else
+#include "nodes/relation.h"
+#endif
+#include "utils/builtins.h"
+#include "utils/guc.h"
+#include "utils/lsyscache.h"
+
+static bool ShouldConvertLocalTableJoinsToSubqueries(List* rangeTableList);
+static bool HasUniqueFilter(RangeTblEntry* distRTE, List* distRTERestrictionList, List* requiredAttrNumbersForDistRTE);
+static void AutoConvertLocalTableJoinToSubquery(RangeTblEntry* localRTE, RangeTblEntry* distRTE,
+		List* localRTERestrictionList, List* distRTERestrictionList,
+		List *requiredAttrNumbersForLocalRTE, List *requiredAttrNumbersForDistRTE);
+static List * RequiredAttrNumbersForRelation(RangeTblEntry *relationRte,
+											 RecursivePlanningContext *planningContext);
+static RangeTblEntry * FindNextRTECandidate(PlannerRestrictionContext *
+									   plannerRestrictionContext,
+									   List *rangeTableList, List **restrictionList,
+									   bool localTable);
+static bool AllDataLocallyAccessible(List *rangeTableList);
+static void GetAllUniqueIndexes(Form_pg_index indexForm, List** uniqueIndexes);
+
+/*
+ * ConvertLocalTableJoinsToSubqueries gets a query and the planner
+ * restrictions. As long as there is a join between a local table
+ * and distributed table, the function wraps one table in a
+ * subquery (by also pushing the filters on the table down
+ * to the subquery).
+ *
+ * Once this function returns, there are no direct joins between
+ * local and distributed tables.
+ */
+void
+ConvertLocalTableJoinsToSubqueries(Query *query,
+								   RecursivePlanningContext *context)
+{
+	List *rangeTableList = query->rtable;
+	if(!ShouldConvertLocalTableJoinsToSubqueries(rangeTableList)) {
+		return;
+	}
+
+	RangeTblEntry *resultRelation = ExtractResultRelationRTE(query);
+
+	while (ContainsLocalTableDistributedTableJoin(rangeTableList))
+	{
+		List *localTableRestrictList = NIL;
+		List *distributedTableRestrictList = NIL;
+
+		bool localTable = true;
+
+		PlannerRestrictionContext *plannerRestrictionContext =
+			context->plannerRestrictionContext;
+		RangeTblEntry *localRTECandidate =
+			FindNextRTECandidate(plannerRestrictionContext, rangeTableList,
+							&localTableRestrictList, localTable);
+		RangeTblEntry *distributedRTECandidate =
+			FindNextRTECandidate(plannerRestrictionContext, rangeTableList,
+							&distributedTableRestrictList, !localTable);
+
+		List *requiredAttrNumbersForLocalRte =
+			RequiredAttrNumbersForRelation(localRTECandidate, context);
+		List *requiredAttrNumbersForDistributedRte =
+			RequiredAttrNumbersForRelation(distributedRTECandidate, context);
+
+		if (resultRelation) {
+
+			if (resultRelation->relid == localRTECandidate->relid) {
+				ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery(distributedRTECandidate,
+										distributedTableRestrictList,
+										requiredAttrNumbersForDistributedRte);
+				continue;						
+			}else if (resultRelation->relid == distributedRTECandidate->relid) {
+				ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery(localRTECandidate,
+										localTableRestrictList,
+										requiredAttrNumbersForLocalRte);
+				continue;						
+			}
+		}
+
+		if (LocalTableJoinPolicy == LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_PREFER_LOCAL)
+		{
+			ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery(localRTECandidate,
+											  localTableRestrictList,
+											  requiredAttrNumbersForLocalRte);
+		}
+		else if (LocalTableJoinPolicy == LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_PREFER_DISTRIBUTED)
+		{
+			ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery(distributedRTECandidate,
+											  distributedTableRestrictList,
+											  requiredAttrNumbersForDistributedRte);
+		}
+		else if (LocalTableJoinPolicy == LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_AUTO)
+		{
+			AutoConvertLocalTableJoinToSubquery(localRTECandidate, distributedRTECandidate,
+				localTableRestrictList, distributedTableRestrictList, 
+				requiredAttrNumbersForLocalRte, requiredAttrNumbersForDistributedRte);
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			elog(ERROR, "unexpected local table join policy: %d", LocalTableJoinPolicy);
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+/*
+ * ShouldConvertLocalTableJoinsToSubqueries returns true if we should
+ * convert local-dist table joins to subqueries.
+ */
+static bool ShouldConvertLocalTableJoinsToSubqueries(List* rangeTableList) {
+	if (LocalTableJoinPolicy == LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_NEVER)
+	{
+		/* user doesn't want Citus to enable local table joins */
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	if (!ContainsLocalTableDistributedTableJoin(rangeTableList))
+	{
+		/* nothing to do as there are no relevant joins */
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	if (AllDataLocallyAccessible(rangeTableList))
+	{
+		/* recursively planning is overkill, router planner can already handle this */
+		return false;
+	}
+	return true;
+}
+
+static void AutoConvertLocalTableJoinToSubquery(RangeTblEntry* localRTE, RangeTblEntry* distRTE,
+		List* localRTERestrictionList, List* distRTERestrictionList,
+		List *requiredAttrNumbersForLocalRTE, List *requiredAttrNumbersForDistRTE) {
+
+	bool hasUniqueFilter = HasUniqueFilter(distRTE, distRTERestrictionList, requiredAttrNumbersForDistRTE);
+	if (hasUniqueFilter) {
+		ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery(distRTE,
+									distRTERestrictionList,
+									requiredAttrNumbersForDistRTE);
+	}else {
+		ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery(localRTE,
+											localRTERestrictionList,
+											requiredAttrNumbersForLocalRTE);
+	}
+	
+}
+
+// TODO:: This function should only consider equality,
+// currently it will return true for dist.a > 5. We should check this from join->quals.
+static bool HasUniqueFilter(RangeTblEntry* distRTE, List* distRTERestrictionList, List* requiredAttrNumbersForDistRTE) {
+	List* uniqueIndexes = ExecuteFunctionOnEachTableIndex(distRTE->relid, GetAllUniqueIndexes);
+    int columnNumber = 0;
+    foreach_int(columnNumber, uniqueIndexes) {
+        if (list_member_int(requiredAttrNumbersForDistRTE, columnNumber)) {
+            return true;
+        }
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
+static void GetAllUniqueIndexes(Form_pg_index indexForm, List** uniqueIndexes) {
+    if (indexForm->indisunique || indexForm->indisprimary) {
+        for(int i = 0; i < indexForm->indkey.dim1; i++) {
+            *uniqueIndexes = list_append_unique_int(*uniqueIndexes, indexForm->indkey.values[i]);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * RequiredAttrNumbersForRelation returns the required attribute numbers for
+ * the input RTE relation in order for the planning to succeed.
+ *
+ * The function could be optimized by not adding the columns that only appear
+ * WHERE clause as a filter (e.g., not a join clause).
+ */
+static List *
+RequiredAttrNumbersForRelation(RangeTblEntry *relationRte,
+							   RecursivePlanningContext *planningContext)
+{
+	PlannerRestrictionContext *plannerRestrictionContext =
+		planningContext->plannerRestrictionContext;
+
+	/* TODO: Get rid of this hack, find relation restriction information directly */
+	PlannerRestrictionContext *filteredPlannerRestrictionContext =
+		FilterPlannerRestrictionForQuery(plannerRestrictionContext,
+										 WrapRteRelationIntoSubquery(relationRte, NIL));
+
+	RelationRestrictionContext *relationRestrictionContext =
+		filteredPlannerRestrictionContext->relationRestrictionContext;
+	List *filteredRelationRestrictionList =
+		relationRestrictionContext->relationRestrictionList;
+	RelationRestriction *relationRestriction =
+		(RelationRestriction *) linitial(filteredRelationRestrictionList);
+
+	PlannerInfo *plannerInfo = relationRestriction->plannerInfo;
+	Query *queryToProcess = plannerInfo->parse;
+	int rteIndex = relationRestriction->index;
+
+	List *allVarsInQuery = pull_vars_of_level((Node *) queryToProcess, 0);
+	ListCell *varCell = NULL;
+
+	List *requiredAttrNumbers = NIL;
+
+	foreach(varCell, allVarsInQuery)
+	{
+		Var *var = (Var *) lfirst(varCell);
+
+		if (var->varno == rteIndex)
+		{
+			requiredAttrNumbers = list_append_unique_int(requiredAttrNumbers,
+														 var->varattno);
+		}
+	}
+
+	return requiredAttrNumbers;
+}
+
+
+/*
+ * FindNextRTECandidate returns a range table entry which has the most filters
+ * on it along with the restrictions (e.g., fills **restrictionList).
+ *
+ * The function also gets a boolean localTable parameter, so the caller
+ * can choose to run the function for only local tables or distributed tables.
+ */
+static RangeTblEntry *
+FindNextRTECandidate(PlannerRestrictionContext *plannerRestrictionContext,
+				List *rangeTableList, List **restrictionList,
+				bool localTable)
+{
+	ListCell *rangeTableCell = NULL;
+
+	foreach(rangeTableCell, rangeTableList)
+	{
+		RangeTblEntry *rangeTableEntry = (RangeTblEntry *) lfirst(rangeTableCell);
+
+		/* we're only interested in tables */
+		if (!(rangeTableEntry->rtekind == RTE_RELATION &&
+			  rangeTableEntry->relkind == RELKIND_RELATION))
+		{
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		if (localTable && IsCitusTable(rangeTableEntry->relid))
+		{
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		if (!localTable && !IsCitusTable(rangeTableEntry->relid))
+		{
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		List *currentRestrictionList =
+			GetRestrictInfoListForRelation(rangeTableEntry,
+										   plannerRestrictionContext, 1);
+
+		*restrictionList = currentRestrictionList;
+		return rangeTableEntry;
+	}
+	// TODO:: Put Illegal state error code
+	ereport(ERROR, (errmsg("unexpected state: could not find any RTE to convert to subquery in range table list")));
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+/*
+ * AllDataLocallyAccessible return true if all data for the relations in the
+ * rangeTableList is locally accessible.
+ */
+static bool
+AllDataLocallyAccessible(List *rangeTableList)
+{
+	ListCell *rangeTableCell = NULL;
+	foreach(rangeTableCell, rangeTableList)
+	{
+		RangeTblEntry *rangeTableEntry = (RangeTblEntry *) lfirst(rangeTableCell);
+
+		/* we're only interested in tables */
+		if (!(rangeTableEntry->rtekind == RTE_RELATION &&
+			  rangeTableEntry->relkind == RELKIND_RELATION))
+		{
+			continue;
+		}
+
+
+		Oid relationId = rangeTableEntry->relid;
+
+		if (!IsCitusTable(relationId))
+		{
+			/* local tables are locally accessible */
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		List *shardIntervalList = LoadShardIntervalList(relationId);
+		if (list_length(shardIntervalList) > 1)
+		{
+			/* we currently only consider single placement tables */
+			return false;
+		}
+
+		ShardInterval *shardInterval = linitial(shardIntervalList);
+		uint64 shardId = shardInterval->shardId;
+		ShardPlacement *localShardPlacement =
+			ShardPlacementOnGroup(shardId, GetLocalGroupId());
+		if (localShardPlacement == NULL)
+		{
+			/* the table doesn't have a placement on this node */
+			return false;
+		}
+	}
+
+	return true;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_router_planner.c b/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_router_planner.c
index 1a23fd090..24414fa90 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_router_planner.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/planner/multi_router_planner.c
@@ -534,12 +534,7 @@ ModifyPartialQuerySupported(Query *queryTree, bool multiShardQuery,
 	{
 		return deferredError;
 	}
-
-	deferredError = DeferErrorIfUnsupportedModifyQueryWithLocalTable(queryTree);
-	if (deferredError != NULL)
-	{
-		return deferredError;
-	}
+	
 	Var *partitionColumn = NULL;
 
 	if (IsCitusTable(distributedTableId))
@@ -638,11 +633,14 @@ ModifyPartialQuerySupported(Query *queryTree, bool multiShardQuery,
 		}
 	}
 
-	Oid distributedTableId = ModifyQueryResultRelationId(queryTree);
-	uint32 rangeTableId = 1;
-	Var *partitionColumn = PartitionColumn(distributedTableId, rangeTableId);
+	distributedTableId = ModifyQueryResultRelationId(queryTree);
+	rangeTableId = 1;
 
-	CmdType commandType = queryTree->commandType;
+	if (IsCitusTable(distributedTableId))
+	{
+		partitionColumn = PartitionColumn(distributedTableId, rangeTableId);
+	}
+	commandType = queryTree->commandType;
 	if (commandType == CMD_INSERT || commandType == CMD_UPDATE ||
 		commandType == CMD_DELETE)
 	{
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/planner/recursive_planning.c b/src/backend/distributed/planner/recursive_planning.c
index d71e0dab8..96cd55845 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/planner/recursive_planning.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/planner/recursive_planning.c
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@
 #include "distributed/commands/multi_copy.h"
 #include "distributed/distributed_planner.h"
 #include "distributed/errormessage.h"
+#include "distributed/local_distributed_join_planner.h"
 #include "distributed/listutils.h"
 #include "distributed/log_utils.h"
 #include "distributed/metadata_cache.h"
@@ -109,21 +110,6 @@ int LocalTableJoinPolicy = LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_AUTO;
 /* track depth of current recursive planner query */
 static int recursivePlanningDepth = 0;
 
-/*
- * RecursivePlanningContext is used to recursively plan subqueries
- * and CTEs, pull results to the coordinator, and push it back into
- * the workers.
- */
-typedef struct RecursivePlanningContext
-{
-	int level;
-	uint64 planId;
-	bool allDistributionKeysInQueryAreEqual; /* used for some optimizations */
-	List *subPlanList;
-	PlannerRestrictionContext *plannerRestrictionContext;
-} RecursivePlanningContext;
-
-
 /*
  * CteReferenceWalkerContext is used to collect CTE references in
  * CteReferenceListWalker.
@@ -191,18 +177,6 @@ static bool ContainsReferencesToOuterQuery(Query *query);
 static bool ContainsReferencesToOuterQueryWalker(Node *node,
 												 VarLevelsUpWalkerContext *context);
 static bool NodeContainsSubqueryReferencingOuterQuery(Node *node);
-static void ConvertLocalTableJoinsToSubqueries(Query *query,
-											   RecursivePlanningContext *planningContext);
-static List * RequiredAttrNumbersForRelation(RangeTblEntry *relationRte,
-											 RecursivePlanningContext *planningContext);
-static RangeTblEntry * MostFilteredRte(PlannerRestrictionContext *
-									   plannerRestrictionContext,
-									   List *rangeTableList, List **restrictionList,
-									   bool localTable);
-static void ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery(RangeTblEntry *rangeTableEntry,
-											  List *restrictionList,
-											  List *requiredAttrNumbers);
-static bool AllDataLocallyAccessible(List *rangeTableList);
 static void WrapFunctionsInSubqueries(Query *query);
 static void TransformFunctionRTE(RangeTblEntry *rangeTblEntry);
 static bool ShouldTransformRTE(RangeTblEntry *rangeTableEntry);
@@ -210,7 +184,6 @@ static Query * BuildReadIntermediateResultsQuery(List *targetEntryList,
 												 List *columnAliasList,
 												 Const *resultIdConst, Oid functionOid,
 												 bool useBinaryCopyFormat);
-
 /*
  * GenerateSubplansForSubqueriesAndCTEs is a wrapper around RecursivelyPlanSubqueriesAndCTEs.
  * The function returns the subplans if necessary. For the details of when/how subplans are
@@ -1371,248 +1344,11 @@ NodeContainsSubqueryReferencingOuterQuery(Node *node)
 	return false;
 }
 
-
-/*
- * ConvertLocalTableJoinsToSubqueries gets a query and the planner
- * restrictions. As long as there is a join between a local table
- * and distributed table, the function wraps one table in a
- * subquery (by also pushing the filters on the table down
- * to the subquery).
- *
- * Once this function returns, there are no direct joins between
- * local and distributed tables.
- */
-static void
-ConvertLocalTableJoinsToSubqueries(Query *query,
-								   RecursivePlanningContext *context)
-{
-	List *rangeTableList = query->rtable;
-
-	if (LocalTableJoinPolicy == LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_NEVER)
-	{
-		/* user doesn't want Citus to enable local table joins */
-		return;
-	}
-
-	if (!ContainsLocalTableDistributedTableJoin(rangeTableList))
-	{
-		/* nothing to do as there are no relevant joins */
-		return;
-	}
-
-	if (AllDataLocallyAccessible(rangeTableList))
-	{
-		/* recursively planning is overkill, router planner can already handle this */
-		return;
-	}
-
-	RangeTblEntry *resultRelation = ExtractResultRelationRTE(query);
-
-	while (ContainsLocalTableDistributedTableJoin(rangeTableList))
-	{
-		List *localTableRestrictList = NIL;
-		List *distributedTableRestrictList = NIL;
-
-		bool localTable = true;
-
-		PlannerRestrictionContext *plannerRestrictionContext =
-			context->plannerRestrictionContext;
-		RangeTblEntry *mostFilteredLocalRte =
-			MostFilteredRte(plannerRestrictionContext, rangeTableList,
-							&localTableRestrictList, localTable);
-		RangeTblEntry *mostFilteredDistributedRte =
-			MostFilteredRte(plannerRestrictionContext, rangeTableList,
-							&distributedTableRestrictList, !localTable);
-
-		List *requiredAttrNumbersForLocalRte =
-			RequiredAttrNumbersForRelation(mostFilteredLocalRte, context);
-		List *requiredAttrNumbersForDistriutedRte =
-			RequiredAttrNumbersForRelation(mostFilteredDistributedRte, context);
-
-
-		elog(DEBUG4, "Local relation with the most number of filters "
-					 "on it: \"%s\"", get_rel_name(mostFilteredLocalRte->relid));
-		elog(DEBUG4, "Distributed relation with the most number of filters "
-					 "on it: \"%s\"", get_rel_name(mostFilteredDistributedRte->relid));
-
-		if (LocalTableJoinPolicy == LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_PULL_LOCAL)
-		{
-			ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery(mostFilteredLocalRte,
-											  localTableRestrictList,
-											  requiredAttrNumbersForLocalRte);
-		}
-		else if (LocalTableJoinPolicy == LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_PULL_DISTRIBUTED)
-		{
-			ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery(mostFilteredDistributedRte,
-											  distributedTableRestrictList,
-											  requiredAttrNumbersForDistriutedRte);
-		}
-		else if (LocalTableJoinPolicy == LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_AUTO)
-		{
-			bool localTableHasFilter = list_length(localTableRestrictList) > 0;
-			bool distributedTableHasFilter =
-				list_length(distributedTableRestrictList) > 0;
-
-			if (resultRelation && resultRelation->relid == mostFilteredLocalRte->relid &&
-				!mostFilteredLocalRte->inFromCl)
-			{
-				/*
-				 * We cannot recursively plan result relation, we have to
-				 * recursively plan the distributed table.
-				 *
-				 * TODO: A future improvement could be to pick the next most filtered
-				 * local relation, if exists.
-				 */
-				ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery(mostFilteredDistributedRte,
-												  distributedTableRestrictList,
-												  requiredAttrNumbersForDistriutedRte);
-			}
-			else if (localTableHasFilter || !distributedTableHasFilter)
-			{
-				/*
-				 * First, favor recursively planning local table when it has a filter.
-				 * The rationale is that local tables are small, and at least one filter
-				 * they become even smaller. On each iteration, we pick the local table
-				 * with the most filters (e.g., WHERE clause entries). Note that the filters
-				 * don't need to be directly on the table in the query tree, instead we use
-				 * Postgres' filters where filters can be pushed down tables via filters.
-				 *
-				 * Second, if a distributed table doesn't have a filter, we do not ever
-				 * prefer recursively planning that. Instead, we recursively plan the
-				 * local table, assuming that it is smaller.
-				 *
-				 * TODO: If we have better statistics on how many tuples each table returns
-				 * considering the filters on them, we should pick the table with least
-				 * tuples. Today, we do not have such an infrastructure.
-				 */
-				ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery(mostFilteredLocalRte,
-												  localTableRestrictList,
-												  requiredAttrNumbersForLocalRte);
-			}
-			else
-			{
-				ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery(mostFilteredDistributedRte,
-												  distributedTableRestrictList,
-												  requiredAttrNumbersForDistriutedRte);
-			}
-		}
-		else
-		{
-			elog(ERROR, "unexpected local table join policy: %d", LocalTableJoinPolicy);
-		}
-	}
-}
-
-
-/*
- * RequiredAttrNumbersForRelation returns the required attribute numbers for
- * the input RTE relation in order for the planning to succeed.
- *
- * The function could be optimized by not adding the columns that only appear
- * WHERE clause as a filter (e.g., not a join clause).
- */
-static List *
-RequiredAttrNumbersForRelation(RangeTblEntry *relationRte,
-							   RecursivePlanningContext *planningContext)
-{
-	PlannerRestrictionContext *plannerRestrictionContext =
-		planningContext->plannerRestrictionContext;
-
-	/* TODO: Get rid of this hack, find relation restriction information directly */
-	PlannerRestrictionContext *filteredPlannerRestrictionContext =
-		FilterPlannerRestrictionForQuery(plannerRestrictionContext,
-										 WrapRteRelationIntoSubquery(relationRte, NIL));
-
-	RelationRestrictionContext *relationRestrictionContext =
-		filteredPlannerRestrictionContext->relationRestrictionContext;
-	List *filteredRelationRestrictionList =
-		relationRestrictionContext->relationRestrictionList;
-	RelationRestriction *relationRestriction =
-		(RelationRestriction *) linitial(filteredRelationRestrictionList);
-
-	PlannerInfo *plannerInfo = relationRestriction->plannerInfo;
-	Query *queryToProcess = plannerInfo->parse;
-	int rteIndex = relationRestriction->index;
-
-	List *allVarsInQuery = pull_vars_of_level((Node *) queryToProcess, 0);
-	ListCell *varCell = NULL;
-
-	List *requiredAttrNumbers = NIL;
-
-	foreach(varCell, allVarsInQuery)
-	{
-		Var *var = (Var *) lfirst(varCell);
-
-		if (var->varno == rteIndex)
-		{
-			requiredAttrNumbers = list_append_unique_int(requiredAttrNumbers,
-														 var->varattno);
-		}
-	}
-
-	return requiredAttrNumbers;
-}
-
-
-/*
- * MostFilteredRte returns a range table entry which has the most filters
- * on it along with the restrictions (e.g., fills **restrictionList).
- *
- * The function also gets a boolean localTable parameter, so the caller
- * can choose to run the function for only local tables or distributed tables.
- */
-static RangeTblEntry *
-MostFilteredRte(PlannerRestrictionContext *plannerRestrictionContext,
-				List *rangeTableList, List **restrictionList,
-				bool localTable)
-{
-	RangeTblEntry *mostFilteredLocalRte = NULL;
-
-	ListCell *rangeTableCell = NULL;
-
-	foreach(rangeTableCell, rangeTableList)
-	{
-		RangeTblEntry *rangeTableEntry = (RangeTblEntry *) lfirst(rangeTableCell);
-
-		/* we're only interested in tables */
-		if (!(rangeTableEntry->rtekind == RTE_RELATION &&
-			  rangeTableEntry->relkind == RELKIND_RELATION))
-		{
-			continue;
-		}
-
-		if (localTable && IsCitusTable(rangeTableEntry->relid))
-		{
-			continue;
-		}
-
-		if (!localTable && !IsCitusTable(rangeTableEntry->relid))
-		{
-			continue;
-		}
-
-		List *currentRestrictionList =
-			GetRestrictInfoListForRelation(rangeTableEntry,
-										   plannerRestrictionContext, 1);
-
-		if (mostFilteredLocalRte == NULL ||
-			list_length(*restrictionList) < list_length(currentRestrictionList) ||
-			ContainsFalseClause(currentRestrictionList))
-		{
-			mostFilteredLocalRte = rangeTableEntry;
-			*restrictionList = currentRestrictionList;
-		}
-	}
-
-	return mostFilteredLocalRte;
-}
-
-
 /*
  * ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery replaces the input rte relation target entry
  * with a subquery. The function also pushes down the filters to the subquery.
  */
-static void
+void
 ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery(RangeTblEntry *rangeTableEntry, List *restrictionList,
 								  List *requiredAttrNumbers)
 {
@@ -1648,56 +1384,6 @@ ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery(RangeTblEntry *rangeTableEntry, List *restrict
 }
 
 
-/*
- * AllDataLocallyAccessible return true if all data for the relations in the
- * rangeTableList is locally accessible.
- */
-static bool
-AllDataLocallyAccessible(List *rangeTableList)
-{
-	ListCell *rangeTableCell = NULL;
-	foreach(rangeTableCell, rangeTableList)
-	{
-		RangeTblEntry *rangeTableEntry = (RangeTblEntry *) lfirst(rangeTableCell);
-
-		/* we're only interested in tables */
-		if (!(rangeTableEntry->rtekind == RTE_RELATION &&
-			  rangeTableEntry->relkind == RELKIND_RELATION))
-		{
-			continue;
-		}
-
-
-		Oid relationId = rangeTableEntry->relid;
-
-		if (!IsCitusTable(relationId))
-		{
-			/* local tables are locally accessible */
-			continue;
-		}
-
-		List *shardIntervalList = LoadShardIntervalList(relationId);
-		if (list_length(shardIntervalList) > 1)
-		{
-			/* we currently only consider single placement tables */
-			return false;
-		}
-
-		ShardInterval *shardInterval = linitial(shardIntervalList);
-		uint64 shardId = shardInterval->shardId;
-		ShardPlacement *localShardPlacement =
-			ShardPlacementOnGroup(shardId, GetLocalGroupId());
-		if (localShardPlacement == NULL)
-		{
-			/* the table doesn't have a placement on this node */
-			return false;
-		}
-	}
-
-	return true;
-}
-
-
 /*
  * ContainsLocalTableDistributedTableJoin returns true if the input range table list
  * contains a direct join between local and distributed tables.
@@ -1714,8 +1400,8 @@ ContainsLocalTableDistributedTableJoin(List *rangeTableList)
 		RangeTblEntry *rangeTableEntry = (RangeTblEntry *) lfirst(rangeTableCell);
 
 		/* we're only interested in tables */
-		if (!(rangeTableEntry->rtekind == RTE_RELATION &&
-			  rangeTableEntry->relkind == RELKIND_RELATION))
+		if (rangeTableEntry->rtekind != RTE_RELATION ||
+			  rangeTableEntry->relkind != RELKIND_RELATION)
 		{
 			continue;
 		}
@@ -1729,14 +1415,9 @@ ContainsLocalTableDistributedTableJoin(List *rangeTableList)
 		{
 			containsLocalTable = true;
 		}
-
-		if (containsLocalTable && containsDistributedTable)
-		{
-			return true;
-		}
 	}
 
-	return false;
+	return containsLocalTable && containsDistributedTable;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c b/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c
index fbf9c14ab..d93c77962 100644
--- a/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c
+++ b/src/backend/distributed/shared_library_init.c
@@ -200,8 +200,8 @@ static const struct config_enum_entry log_level_options[] = {
 
 static const struct config_enum_entry local_table_join_policies[] = {
 	{ "never", LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_NEVER, false},
-	{ "pull-local", LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_PULL_LOCAL, false},
-	{ "pull-distributed", LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_PULL_DISTRIBUTED, false},
+	{ "prefer-local", LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_PREFER_LOCAL, false},
+	{ "prefer-distributed", LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_PREFER_DISTRIBUTED, false},
 	{ "auto", LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_AUTO, false},
 	{ NULL, 0, false}
 };
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/commands.h b/src/include/distributed/commands.h
index 603b68b81..3461e2246 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/commands.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/commands.h
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ extern List * PreprocessClusterStmt(Node *node, const char *clusterCommand);
 /* index.c */
 typedef void (*PGIndexProcessor)(Form_pg_index, List **);
 
+
 /* call.c */
 extern bool CallDistributedProcedureRemotely(CallStmt *callStmt, DestReceiver *dest);
 
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/local_distributed_join_planner.h b/src/include/distributed/local_distributed_join_planner.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..85d15b4ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/include/distributed/local_distributed_join_planner.h
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+
+/*-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *
+ * listutils.h
+ *
+ * Declarations for public utility functions related to lists.
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) Citus Data, Inc.
+ *
+ *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+#ifndef LOCAL_DISTRIBUTED_JOIN_PLANNER_H
+#define LOCAL_DISTRIBUTED_JOIN_PLANNER_H
+
+#include "postgres.h"
+#include "distributed/recursive_planning.h"
+
+
+extern void
+ConvertLocalTableJoinsToSubqueries(Query *query,
+								   RecursivePlanningContext *context);
+
+#endif /* LOCAL_DISTRIBUTED_JOIN_PLANNER_H */
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/metadata_utility.h b/src/include/distributed/metadata_utility.h
index d41a1c53a..a34a6a9ff 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/metadata_utility.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/metadata_utility.h
@@ -113,12 +113,9 @@ extern List * AllShardPlacementsOnNodeGroup(int32 groupId);
 extern List * GroupShardPlacementsForTableOnGroup(Oid relationId, int32 groupId);
 extern StringInfo GenerateSizeQueryOnMultiplePlacements(List *shardIntervalList,
 														char *sizeQuery);
-<<<<<<< HEAD
 extern List * RemoveCoordinatorPlacementIfNotSingleNode(List *placementList);
-=======
 extern ShardPlacement * ShardPlacementOnGroup(uint64 shardId, int groupId);
 
->>>>>>> Handle modifications as well
 
 /* Function declarations to modify shard and shard placement data */
 extern void InsertShardRow(Oid relationId, uint64 shardId, char storageType,
diff --git a/src/include/distributed/recursive_planning.h b/src/include/distributed/recursive_planning.h
index 28f9f6e5d..d6fed178e 100644
--- a/src/include/distributed/recursive_planning.h
+++ b/src/include/distributed/recursive_planning.h
@@ -26,13 +26,27 @@
 typedef enum
 {
 	LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_NEVER = 0,
-	LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_PULL_LOCAL = 1,
-	LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_PULL_DISTRIBUTED = 2,
+	LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_PREFER_LOCAL = 1,
+	LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_PREFER_DISTRIBUTED = 2,
 	LOCAL_JOIN_POLICY_AUTO = 3,
 } LocalJoinPolicy;
 
 extern int LocalTableJoinPolicy;
 
+/*
+ * RecursivePlanningContext is used to recursively plan subqueries
+ * and CTEs, pull results to the coordinator, and push it back into
+ * the workers.
+ */
+typedef struct RecursivePlanningContext
+{
+	int level;
+	uint64 planId;
+	bool allDistributionKeysInQueryAreEqual; /* used for some optimizations */
+	List *subPlanList;
+	PlannerRestrictionContext *plannerRestrictionContext;
+} RecursivePlanningContext;
+
 
 extern List * GenerateSubplansForSubqueriesAndCTEs(uint64 planId, Query *originalQuery,
 												   PlannerRestrictionContext *
@@ -46,6 +60,9 @@ extern Query * BuildReadIntermediateResultsArrayQuery(List *targetEntryList,
 													  bool useBinaryCopyFormat);
 extern bool GeneratingSubplans(void);
 extern bool ContainsLocalTableDistributedTableJoin(List *rangeTableList);
+extern void ReplaceRTERelationWithRteSubquery(RangeTblEntry *rangeTableEntry,
+											  List *restrictionList,
+											  List *requiredAttrNumbers);
 
 
 #endif /* RECURSIVE_PLANNING_H */
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/local_table_join.out b/src/test/regress/expected/local_table_join.out
index 489d4be0f..be290b200 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/local_table_join.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/local_table_join.out
@@ -15,15 +15,32 @@ SELECT create_distributed_table('distributed_table', 'key');
 
 (1 row)
 
+CREATE TABLE distributed_table_pkey (key int primary key, value text, value_2 jsonb);
+SELECT create_distributed_table('distributed_table_pkey', 'key');
+ create_distributed_table
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+(1 row)
+
+CREATE TABLE distributed_table_windex (key int, value text, value_2 jsonb);
+SELECT create_distributed_table('distributed_table_windex', 'key');
+ create_distributed_table
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+(1 row)
+
+CREATE UNIQUE INDEX key_index ON distributed_table_windex (key);
 SET client_min_messages TO DEBUG1;
 -- the user doesn't allow local / distributed table joinn
 SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO 'never';
 SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table USING(key);
-ERROR:  relation postgres_table is not distributed
+ERROR:  direct joins between distributed and local tables are not supported
+HINT:  Use CTE's or subqueries to select from local tables and use them in joins
 SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN reference_table USING(key);
-ERROR:  relation postgres_table is not distributed
+ERROR:  direct joins between distributed and local tables are not supported
+HINT:  Use CTE's or subqueries to select from local tables and use them in joins
 -- the user prefers local table recursively planned
-SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO 'pull-local';
+SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO 'prefer-local';
 SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table USING(key);
 DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
 DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
@@ -43,7 +60,7 @@ DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS c
 (1 row)
 
 -- the user prefers distributed table recursively planned
-SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO 'pull-distributed';
+SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO 'prefer-distributed';
 SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table USING(key);
 DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "distributed_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
 DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
@@ -65,8 +82,9 @@ DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS c
 -- update/delete
 -- auto tests
 -- switch back to the default policy, which is auto
-RESET citus.local_table_join_policy;
--- on the default mode, the local tables should be recursively planned
+SET citus.local_table_join_policy to 'auto';
+-- on the auto mode, the local tables should be recursively planned
+-- unless a unique index exists in a column for distributed table
 SELECT count(*) FROM distributed_table JOIN postgres_table USING(key);
 DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
 DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
@@ -94,20 +112,90 @@ DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS c
      0
 (1 row)
 
--- this is a contreversial part that we should discuss further
--- if the distributed table has at least one filter, we prefer
--- recursively planning of the distributed table
-SELECT count(*) FROM distributed_table JOIN postgres_table USING(key) WHERE distributed_table.value = 'test';
-DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "distributed_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table WHERE (value OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) 'test'::text) OFFSET 0
-DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table WHERE (value OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) 'test'::text) OFFSET 0
-DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS count FROM ((SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) distributed_table JOIN local_table_join.postgres_table USING (key)) WHERE (distributed_table.value OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) 'test'::text)
+-- a unique index on key so dist table should be recursively planned
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_pkey USING(key);
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "distributed_table_pkey" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table_pkey WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table_pkey WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS count FROM (local_table_join.postgres_table JOIN (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) distributed_table_pkey USING (key))
+ count
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+     0
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_pkey USING(value);
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT NULL::integer AS key, value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT NULL::integer AS key, value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS count FROM ((SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) postgres_table JOIN local_table_join.distributed_table_pkey USING (value))
+ count
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+     0
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_pkey ON postgres_table.key = distributed_table_pkey.key;
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "distributed_table_pkey" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table_pkey WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table_pkey WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS count FROM (local_table_join.postgres_table JOIN (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) distributed_table_pkey ON ((postgres_table.key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) distributed_table_pkey.key)))
+ count
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+     0
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_pkey ON distributed_table_pkey.key = 10;
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "distributed_table_pkey" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table_pkey WHERE (key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) 10) OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table_pkey WHERE (key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) 10) OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS count FROM (local_table_join.postgres_table JOIN (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) distributed_table_pkey ON ((distributed_table_pkey.key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) 10)))
+ count
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+     0
+(1 row)
+
+-- a unique index on key so dist table should be recursively planned
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_windex USING(key);
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "distributed_table_windex" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table_windex WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table_windex WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS count FROM (local_table_join.postgres_table JOIN (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) distributed_table_windex USING (key))
+ count
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+     0
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_windex USING(value);
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT NULL::integer AS key, value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT NULL::integer AS key, value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS count FROM ((SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) postgres_table JOIN local_table_join.distributed_table_windex USING (value))
+ count
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+     0
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_windex ON postgres_table.key = distributed_table_windex.key;
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "distributed_table_windex" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table_windex WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table_windex WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS count FROM (local_table_join.postgres_table JOIN (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) distributed_table_windex ON ((postgres_table.key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) distributed_table_windex.key)))
+ count
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+     0
+(1 row)
+
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_windex ON distributed_table_windex.key = 10;
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "distributed_table_windex" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table_windex WHERE (key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) 10) OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table_windex WHERE (key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) 10) OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS count FROM (local_table_join.postgres_table JOIN (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) distributed_table_windex ON ((distributed_table_windex.key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) 10)))
+ count
+---------------------------------------------------------------------
+     0
+(1 row)
+
+-- no unique index on value so local table should be recursively planned.
+SELECT count(*) FROM distributed_table JOIN postgres_table USING(key) WHERE distributed_table.value = 'test';
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS count FROM (local_table_join.distributed_table JOIN (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) postgres_table USING (key)) WHERE (distributed_table.value OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) 'test'::text)
  count
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
      0
 (1 row)
 
--- but if the filters can be pushed downn to the local table via  the join
--- we are smart about recursively planning the local table
 SELECT count(*) FROM distributed_table JOIN postgres_table USING(key) WHERE distributed_table.key = 1;
 DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE (key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) 1) OFFSET 0
 DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE (key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) 1) OFFSET 0
@@ -117,7 +205,7 @@ DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS c
      0
 (1 row)
 
--- if both local and distributed tables have a filter, we prefer local
+-- if both local and distributed tables have a filter, we prefer local unless distributed table has unique indexes on any equality filter
 SELECT count(*) FROM distributed_table JOIN postgres_table USING(key) WHERE distributed_table.value = 'test' AND postgres_table.value = 'test';
 DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE (value OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) 'test'::text) OFFSET 0
 DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE (value OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) 'test'::text) OFFSET 0
@@ -149,29 +237,24 @@ DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS c
      0
 (1 row)
 
--- if one of the distributed tables have a filter, we'll prefer recursive planning of it as well
--- it actually leads to a poor plan as we need to recursively plan local tables anyway as it is
--- joined with another distributed table
 SELECT
 	count(*)
 FROM
 	distributed_table d1 JOIN postgres_table p1 USING(key) JOIN distributed_table d2 USING(key) JOIN postgres_table p2 USING(key)
 WHERE
 	d1.value = '1';
-DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "distributed_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table d1 WHERE (value OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) '1'::text) OFFSET 0
 DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table p1 WHERE true OFFSET 0
 DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table p2 WHERE true OFFSET 0
-DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table d1 WHERE (value OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) '1'::text) OFFSET 0
-DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_2 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table p1 WHERE true OFFSET 0
-DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_3 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table p2 WHERE true OFFSET 0
-DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS count FROM ((((SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) d1 JOIN (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_2'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) p1 USING (key)) JOIN local_table_join.distributed_table d2 USING (key)) JOIN (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_3'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) p2 USING (key)) WHERE (d1.value OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) '1'::text)
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table p1 WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_2 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table p2 WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS count FROM (((local_table_join.distributed_table d1 JOIN (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) p1 USING (key)) JOIN local_table_join.distributed_table d2 USING (key)) JOIN (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_2'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) p2 USING (key)) WHERE (d1.value OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) '1'::text)
  count
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
      0
 (1 row)
 
 -- if the filter is on the JOIN key, we can recursively plan the local
--- tables as filters are pushded down to the local tables
+-- tables as filters are pushed down to the local tables
 SELECT
 	count(*)
 FROM
@@ -188,6 +271,7 @@ DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: SELECT count(*) AS c
      0
 (1 row)
 
+SET citus.local_table_join_policy to 'auto';
 -- we can support modification queries as well
 UPDATE
 	postgres_table
@@ -211,6 +295,120 @@ WHERE
 DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
 DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
 DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: UPDATE local_table_join.distributed_table SET value = 'test'::text FROM (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) postgres_table WHERE (distributed_table.key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) postgres_table.key)
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table_pkey
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table_pkey.key = postgres_table.key;
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: UPDATE local_table_join.distributed_table_pkey SET value = 'test'::text FROM (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) postgres_table WHERE (distributed_table_pkey.key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) postgres_table.key)
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table_windex
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table_windex.key = postgres_table.key;		
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: UPDATE local_table_join.distributed_table_windex SET value = 'test'::text FROM (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) postgres_table WHERE (distributed_table_windex.key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) postgres_table.key)
+-- in case of update/delete we always recursively plan
+-- the tables other than target table no matter what the policy is
+SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO 'prefer-local';
+UPDATE
+	postgres_table
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	distributed_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table.key = postgres_table.key;
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "distributed_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: UPDATE local_table_join.postgres_table SET value = 'test'::text FROM (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) distributed_table WHERE (distributed_table.key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) postgres_table.key)
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table.key = postgres_table.key;
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: UPDATE local_table_join.distributed_table SET value = 'test'::text FROM (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) postgres_table WHERE (distributed_table.key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) postgres_table.key)
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table_pkey
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table_pkey.key = postgres_table.key;
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: UPDATE local_table_join.distributed_table_pkey SET value = 'test'::text FROM (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) postgres_table WHERE (distributed_table_pkey.key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) postgres_table.key)
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table_windex
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table_windex.key = postgres_table.key;	
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: UPDATE local_table_join.distributed_table_windex SET value = 'test'::text FROM (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) postgres_table WHERE (distributed_table_windex.key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) postgres_table.key)
+SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO 'prefer-distributed';
+UPDATE
+	postgres_table
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	distributed_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table.key = postgres_table.key;
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "distributed_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.distributed_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: UPDATE local_table_join.postgres_table SET value = 'test'::text FROM (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) distributed_table WHERE (distributed_table.key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) postgres_table.key)
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table.key = postgres_table.key;
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: UPDATE local_table_join.distributed_table SET value = 'test'::text FROM (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) postgres_table WHERE (distributed_table.key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) postgres_table.key)
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table_pkey
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table_pkey.key = postgres_table.key;
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: UPDATE local_table_join.distributed_table_pkey SET value = 'test'::text FROM (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) postgres_table WHERE (distributed_table_pkey.key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) postgres_table.key)
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table_windex
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table_windex.key = postgres_table.key;	
+DEBUG:  Wrapping local relation "postgres_table" to a subquery: SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  generating subplan XXX_1 for subquery SELECT key, NULL::text AS value, NULL::jsonb AS value_2 FROM local_table_join.postgres_table WHERE true OFFSET 0
+DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: UPDATE local_table_join.distributed_table_windex SET value = 'test'::text FROM (SELECT intermediate_result.key, intermediate_result.value, intermediate_result.value_2 FROM read_intermediate_result('XXX_1'::text, 'binary'::citus_copy_format) intermediate_result(key integer, value text, value_2 jsonb)) postgres_table WHERE (distributed_table_windex.key OPERATOR(pg_catalog.=) postgres_table.key)
 -- modifications with multiple tables
 UPDATE
 	distributed_table
@@ -254,4 +452,4 @@ DEBUG:  Plan XXX query after replacing subqueries and CTEs: UPDATE local_table_j
 \set VERBOSITY terse
 RESET client_min_messages;
 DROP SCHEMA local_table_join CASCADE;
-NOTICE:  drop cascades to 3 other objects
+NOTICE:  drop cascades to 5 other objects
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/recursive_relation_planning_restirction_pushdown.out b/src/test/regress/expected/recursive_relation_planning_restirction_pushdown.out
index 2df77f1af..87dee53e0 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/recursive_relation_planning_restirction_pushdown.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/recursive_relation_planning_restirction_pushdown.out
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ SELECT create_distributed_table('distributed_table', 'key');
 SET client_min_messages TO DEBUG1;
 -- for the purposes of these tests, we always want to recursively
 -- plan local tables.
-SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO "pull-local";
+SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO "prefer-local";
 -- there are no filters, hence cannot pushdown any filters
 SELECT count(*)
 FROM distributed_table u1
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/local_table_join.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/local_table_join.sql
index 0b0285af9..be1946533 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/local_table_join.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/local_table_join.sql
@@ -8,6 +8,13 @@ SELECT create_reference_table('reference_table');
 CREATE TABLE distributed_table (key int, value text, value_2 jsonb);
 SELECT create_distributed_table('distributed_table', 'key');
 
+CREATE TABLE distributed_table_pkey (key int primary key, value text, value_2 jsonb);
+SELECT create_distributed_table('distributed_table_pkey', 'key');
+
+CREATE TABLE distributed_table_windex (key int, value text, value_2 jsonb);
+SELECT create_distributed_table('distributed_table_windex', 'key');
+CREATE UNIQUE INDEX key_index ON distributed_table_windex (key);
+
 SET client_min_messages TO DEBUG1;
 
 
@@ -17,13 +24,13 @@ SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table USING(key);
 SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN reference_table USING(key);
 
 -- the user prefers local table recursively planned
-SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO 'pull-local';
+SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO 'prefer-local';
 SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table USING(key);
 SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN reference_table USING(key);
 
 
 -- the user prefers distributed table recursively planned
-SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO 'pull-distributed';
+SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO 'prefer-distributed';
 SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table USING(key);
 SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN reference_table USING(key);
 
@@ -32,26 +39,34 @@ SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN reference_table USING(key);
 -- auto tests
 
 -- switch back to the default policy, which is auto
-RESET citus.local_table_join_policy;
+SET citus.local_table_join_policy to 'auto';
 
--- on the default mode, the local tables should be recursively planned
+-- on the auto mode, the local tables should be recursively planned 
+-- unless a unique index exists in a column for distributed table
 SELECT count(*) FROM distributed_table JOIN postgres_table USING(key);
 SELECT count(*) FROM reference_table JOIN postgres_table USING(key);
 SELECT count(*) FROM distributed_table JOIN postgres_table USING(key) JOIN reference_table USING (key);
 
+-- a unique index on key so dist table should be recursively planned
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_pkey USING(key);
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_pkey USING(value);
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_pkey ON postgres_table.key = distributed_table_pkey.key;
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_pkey ON distributed_table_pkey.key = 10;
 
 
--- this is a contreversial part that we should discuss further
--- if the distributed table has at least one filter, we prefer
--- recursively planning of the distributed table
+-- a unique index on key so dist table should be recursively planned
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_windex USING(key);
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_windex USING(value);
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_windex ON postgres_table.key = distributed_table_windex.key;
+SELECT count(*) FROM postgres_table JOIN distributed_table_windex ON distributed_table_windex.key = 10;
+
+-- no unique index on value so local table should be recursively planned.
 SELECT count(*) FROM distributed_table JOIN postgres_table USING(key) WHERE distributed_table.value = 'test';
 
--- but if the filters can be pushed downn to the local table via  the join
--- we are smart about recursively planning the local table
 SELECT count(*) FROM distributed_table JOIN postgres_table USING(key) WHERE distributed_table.key = 1;
 
 
--- if both local and distributed tables have a filter, we prefer local
+-- if both local and distributed tables have a filter, we prefer local unless distributed table has unique indexes on any equality filter 
 SELECT count(*) FROM distributed_table JOIN postgres_table USING(key) WHERE distributed_table.value = 'test' AND postgres_table.value = 'test';
 SELECT count(*) FROM distributed_table JOIN postgres_table USING(key) WHERE distributed_table.value = 'test' OR postgres_table.value = 'test';
 
@@ -61,9 +76,6 @@ SELECT count(*) FROM distributed_table JOIN postgres_table USING(key) WHERE dist
 SELECT count(*) FROM distributed_table d1 JOIN postgres_table p1 USING(key) JOIN distributed_table d2 USING(key) JOIN postgres_table p2 USING(key);
 
 
--- if one of the distributed tables have a filter, we'll prefer recursive planning of it as well
--- it actually leads to a poor plan as we need to recursively plan local tables anyway as it is
--- joined with another distributed table
 SELECT
 	count(*)
 FROM
@@ -72,7 +84,7 @@ WHERE
 	d1.value = '1';
 
 -- if the filter is on the JOIN key, we can recursively plan the local
--- tables as filters are pushded down to the local tables
+-- tables as filters are pushed down to the local tables
 SELECT
 	count(*)
 FROM
@@ -81,6 +93,8 @@ WHERE
 	d1.key = 1;
 
 
+SET citus.local_table_join_policy to 'auto';
+
 -- we can support modification queries as well
 UPDATE
 	postgres_table
@@ -101,6 +115,106 @@ FROM
 WHERE
 	distributed_table.key = postgres_table.key;
 
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table_pkey
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table_pkey.key = postgres_table.key;
+
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table_windex
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table_windex.key = postgres_table.key;		
+
+-- in case of update/delete we always recursively plan 
+-- the tables other than target table no matter what the policy is
+
+SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO 'prefer-local';
+
+UPDATE
+	postgres_table
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	distributed_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table.key = postgres_table.key;
+
+
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table.key = postgres_table.key;
+
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table_pkey
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table_pkey.key = postgres_table.key;
+
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table_windex
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table_windex.key = postgres_table.key;	
+
+
+SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO 'prefer-distributed';
+
+UPDATE
+	postgres_table
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	distributed_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table.key = postgres_table.key;
+
+
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table.key = postgres_table.key;
+
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table_pkey
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table_pkey.key = postgres_table.key;
+
+UPDATE
+	distributed_table_windex
+SET
+	value = 'test'
+FROM
+	postgres_table
+WHERE
+	distributed_table_windex.key = postgres_table.key;	
+
 -- modifications with multiple tables
 UPDATE
 	distributed_table
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/recursive_relation_planning_restirction_pushdown.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/recursive_relation_planning_restirction_pushdown.sql
index ecd148b91..7a1e9923d 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/recursive_relation_planning_restirction_pushdown.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/recursive_relation_planning_restirction_pushdown.sql
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ SET client_min_messages TO DEBUG1;
 
 -- for the purposes of these tests, we always want to recursively
 -- plan local tables.
-SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO "pull-local";
+SET citus.local_table_join_policy TO "prefer-local";
 
 
 -- there are no filters, hence cannot pushdown any filters