Issue during partition drop

On Wed, Apr 29, 2026 at 10:37 PM veem v <veema0000@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi,
We have the Aurora Postgres database. And for a table with PK-FK
relationships, we have been running into issues while dropping partitions
using partman. We have planned to detach and drop the partitions but end up
with the below error , so wanted to understand, if this is expected
behaviour

Absolutely.

and how to handle it?

ERROR: cannot drop table <table_name>_p20250202 because other objects
depend on it
CONTEXT: SQL statement "DROP TABLE <table_name>_p20250202"
PL/pgSQL function
drop_partition_time(text,interval,boolean,boolean,text,timestamp with time
zone) line 250 at EXECUTE
PL/pgSQL function partman.run_maintenance(text,boolean,boolean) line 336
at assignment
DETAIL: constraint <constraint_name>_fkey on table <table_name> depends on
table <table_name>_p20250202

Whoever designed your database determined that "orphaned child" records are
a bad thing. <constraint_name>_fkey ensures that every "child" record has
a "parent" record.

If PG allows you to drop <table_name>_p20250202, then there will be
"orphaned children" in your database, but the FK means you don't want
orphaned children.

In order to drop <table_name>_p20250202, you must first "dispose of" (aka
DELETE) the child records that depend on records in
<table_name>_p20250202. If <constraint_name>_fkey points to a table that
is partitioned the same way that <table_name>_p20250202 is partitioned,
then *maybe* you can DETACH and then DROP that table full of child records.

Only then can you drop <table_name>_p20250202.

--
Death to <Redacted>, and butter sauce.
Don't boil me, I'm still alive.
<Redacted> lobster!