diff --git a/src/backend/access/transam/parallel.c b/src/backend/access/transam/parallel.c
index 54d9ea7..8920134 100644
--- a/src/backend/access/transam/parallel.c
+++ b/src/backend/access/transam/parallel.c
@@ -553,6 +553,114 @@ LaunchParallelWorkers(ParallelContext *pcxt)
 }
 
 /*
+ * Wait for all workers to start or fail even if one of the workers fails to
+ * attach.
+ */
+void
+WaitForParallelWorkersToAttach(ParallelContext *pcxt)
+{
+	int			i;
+	int			nknown_started_workers = 0;
+	bool	   *known_started_workers;
+
+	known_started_workers =
+		(bool *) palloc0(pcxt->nworkers_launched * sizeof(bool));
+
+	for (;;)
+	{
+		/*
+		 * This will process any parallel messages that are pending and it may
+		 * also throw an error propagated from a worker.
+		 */
+		CHECK_FOR_INTERRUPTS();
+
+		for (i = 0; i < pcxt->nworkers_launched; ++i)
+		{
+			BgwHandleStatus status;
+			shm_mq	   *mq;
+			int			rc;
+			pid_t		pid;
+
+			if (!known_started_workers[i])
+			{
+				/*
+				 * If error_mqh is NULL, then the worker has already exited
+				 * cleanly.
+				 */
+				if (pcxt->worker[i].error_mqh == NULL)
+				{
+					known_started_workers[i] = true;
+					++nknown_started_workers;
+					continue;
+				}
+
+				status = GetBackgroundWorkerPid(pcxt->worker[i].bgwhandle, &pid);
+				if (status == BGWH_STARTED)
+				{
+					/* Check if worker is attached to error queue? */
+					mq = shm_mq_get_queue(pcxt->worker[i].error_mqh);
+					if (shm_mq_get_sender(mq) != NULL)
+					{
+						known_started_workers[i] = true;
+						++nknown_started_workers;
+					}
+				}
+				else if (status == BGWH_STOPPED)
+				{
+					/*
+					 * Check whether the worker ended up stopped without ever
+					 * attaching to the error queue.  If so, the postmaster
+					 * was unable to fork the worker or it exited without
+					 * initializing properly.  We must throw an error, since
+					 * the caller may have been expecting the worker to do
+					 * some work before exiting.
+					 */
+					mq = shm_mq_get_queue(pcxt->worker[i].error_mqh);
+					if (shm_mq_get_sender(mq) == NULL)
+						ereport(ERROR,
+								(errcode(ERRCODE_OBJECT_NOT_IN_PREREQUISITE_STATE),
+								 errmsg("parallel worker failed to initialize"),
+								 errhint("More details may be available in the server log.")));
+
+					known_started_workers[i] = true;
+					++nknown_started_workers;
+				}
+				else
+				{
+					/*
+					 * Worker not yet started, so it is better to wait for
+					 * sometime rather than busy looping.  We need timeout
+					 * because we generally don't get notified via latch about
+					 * the worker attach.  But we don't expect to have to wait
+					 * long.
+					 */
+					rc = WaitLatch(MyLatch,
+								   WL_LATCH_SET | WL_TIMEOUT | WL_POSTMASTER_DEATH,
+								   10L, WAIT_EVENT_BGWORKER_STARTUP);
+
+					/* emergency bailout if postmaster has died */
+					if (rc & WL_POSTMASTER_DEATH)
+						proc_exit(1);
+
+					if (rc & WL_LATCH_SET)
+						ResetLatch(MyLatch);
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		/* If all workers are known to have started, we're done. */
+		if (nknown_started_workers >= pcxt->nworkers_launched)
+		{
+			Assert(nknown_started_workers == pcxt->nworkers_launched);
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+
+	/* be tidy */
+	pfree(known_started_workers);
+}
+
+/*
  * Wait for all workers to finish computing.
  *
  * Even if the parallel operation seems to have completed successfully, it's
diff --git a/src/include/access/parallel.h b/src/include/access/parallel.h
index 32c2e32..98b5f76 100644
--- a/src/include/access/parallel.h
+++ b/src/include/access/parallel.h
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ extern ParallelContext *CreateParallelContext(const char *library_name, const ch
 extern void InitializeParallelDSM(ParallelContext *pcxt);
 extern void ReinitializeParallelDSM(ParallelContext *pcxt);
 extern void LaunchParallelWorkers(ParallelContext *pcxt);
+extern void WaitForParallelWorkersToAttach(ParallelContext *pcxt);
 extern void WaitForParallelWorkersToFinish(ParallelContext *pcxt);
 extern void DestroyParallelContext(ParallelContext *pcxt);
 extern bool ParallelContextActive(void);