diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/optimizer/rules/am/BTreeAccessMethod.java b/asterixdb/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/optimizer/rules/am/BTreeAccessMethod.java
index 5dd0135..2eebe5b 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/optimizer/rules/am/BTreeAccessMethod.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-algebra/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/optimizer/rules/am/BTreeAccessMethod.java
@@ -753,7 +753,7 @@
             } else {
                 leftOuterUnnestMapRequired = false;
             }
-
+            AbstractUnnestMapOperator unnestMapOp;
             if (conditionRef.getValue() != null) {
                 // The job gen parameters are transferred to the actual job gen
                 // via the UnnestMapOperator's function arguments.
@@ -765,7 +765,6 @@
                         new UnnestingFunctionCallExpression(primaryIndexSearch, primaryIndexFuncArgs);
                 primaryIndexSearchFunc.setSourceLocation(dataSourceOp.getSourceLocation());
                 primaryIndexSearchFunc.setReturnsUniqueValues(true);
-                AbstractUnnestMapOperator unnestMapOp;
                 if (!leftOuterUnnestMapRequired) {
                     unnestMapOp = new UnnestMapOperator(scanVariables,
                             new MutableObject<ILogicalExpression>(primaryIndexSearchFunc), primaryIndexOutputTypes,
@@ -775,10 +774,7 @@
                             new MutableObject<ILogicalExpression>(primaryIndexSearchFunc), primaryIndexOutputTypes,
                             leftOuterMissingValue);
                 }
-                unnestMapOp.setSourceLocation(dataSourceOp.getSourceLocation());
-                indexSearchOp = unnestMapOp;
             } else {
-                AbstractUnnestMapOperator unnestMapOp;
                 if (!leftOuterUnnestMapRequired) {
                     unnestMapOp = new UnnestMapOperator(scanVariables,
                             ((UnnestMapOperator) secondaryIndexUnnestOp).getExpressionRef(), primaryIndexOutputTypes,
@@ -788,11 +784,11 @@
                             ((LeftOuterUnnestMapOperator) secondaryIndexUnnestOp).getExpressionRef(),
                             primaryIndexOutputTypes, leftOuterMissingValue);
                 }
-                unnestMapOp.setSourceLocation(dataSourceOp.getSourceLocation());
-                indexSearchOp = unnestMapOp;
             }
-            // TODO: shouldn't indexSearchOp execution mode be set to that of the input? the default is UNPARTITIONED
-            indexSearchOp.getInputs().add(new MutableObject<>(inputOp));
+            unnestMapOp.setExecutionMode(ExecutionMode.PARTITIONED);
+            unnestMapOp.setSourceLocation(dataSourceOp.getSourceLocation());
+            unnestMapOp.getInputs().add(new MutableObject<>(inputOp));
+            indexSearchOp = unnestMapOp;
 
             // Adds equivalence classes --- one equivalent class between a primary key
             // variable and a record field-access expression.
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/misc/metadata_only_02/metadata_only_02.1.ddl.sqlpp b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/misc/metadata_only_02/metadata_only_02.1.ddl.sqlpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ab247a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/misc/metadata_only_02/metadata_only_02.1.ddl.sqlpp
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+/*
+ * The query tests fix for ASTERIXDB-3038
+ */
+
+drop dataverse test1 if exists;
+drop dataverse test2 if exists;
+
+create dataverse test1;
+create dataverse test2;
+
+create dataset test1.ds1 (id1 integer not unknown) primary key id1;
+create dataset test2.ds2 (id2 integer not unknown) primary key id2;
+
+create synonym test1.syn1 for test1.ds1;
+create synonym test2.syn2 for test2.ds2;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/misc/metadata_only_02/metadata_only_02.2.query.sqlpp b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/misc/metadata_only_02/metadata_only_02.2.query.sqlpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7e1b93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/misc/metadata_only_02/metadata_only_02.2.query.sqlpp
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+/*
+ * The query tests fix for ASTERIXDB-3038
+ */
+
+select syn.DataverseName, syn.SynonymName
+from Metadata.`Synonym` as syn
+where syn.ObjectDataverseName in
+  ["test1", "test2"]
+and syn.ObjectName in (
+  select value ds.DatasetName
+  from Metadata.`Dataset` as ds
+  where ds.DataverseName in
+    ["test1", "test2"]
+  and ds.DatasetName in
+    ["ds1", "ds2"])
+  or syn.ObjectName in (
+    select value syn1.SynonymName
+    from Metadata.`Synonym` as syn1
+    where syn1.SynonymName in
+      ["syn1", "syn2"]
+    and syn1.ObjectName in (
+      select value ds1.DatasetName
+      from Metadata.`Dataset` as ds1
+      where ds1.DataverseName in
+        ["test1", "test2"]
+      and ds1.DatasetName in
+        ["ds1", "ds2"]
+    )
+  )
+order by syn.DataverseName, syn.SynonymName;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/misc/metadata_only_02/metadata_only_02.2.adm b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/misc/metadata_only_02/metadata_only_02.2.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..743bb8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/misc/metadata_only_02/metadata_only_02.2.adm
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+{ "DataverseName": "test1", "SynonymName": "syn1" }
+{ "DataverseName": "test2", "SynonymName": "syn2" }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml
index 1267995..5d5980f 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml
@@ -7207,6 +7207,11 @@
       </compilation-unit>
     </test-case>
     <test-case FilePath="misc">
+      <compilation-unit name="metadata_only_02">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">metadata_only_02</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="misc">
       <compilation-unit name="cast-ASTERIXDB-2458">
         <output-dir compare="Text">cast-ASTERIXDB-2458</output-dir>
       </compilation-unit>
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/algebricks/algebricks-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/core/algebra/operators/logical/visitors/IsomorphismOperatorVisitor.java b/hyracks-fullstack/algebricks/algebricks-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/core/algebra/operators/logical/visitors/IsomorphismOperatorVisitor.java
index e5d0241..e4df397 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/algebricks/algebricks-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/core/algebra/operators/logical/visitors/IsomorphismOperatorVisitor.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/algebricks/algebricks-core/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/algebricks/core/algebra/operators/logical/visitors/IsomorphismOperatorVisitor.java
@@ -522,6 +522,9 @@
         if (!partProp.getPartitioningType().equals(partPropArg.getPartitioningType())) {
             return Boolean.FALSE;
         }
+        if (!partProp.getNodeDomain().sameAs(partPropArg.getNodeDomain())) {
+            return Boolean.FALSE;
+        }
         List<LogicalVariable> columns = new ArrayList<LogicalVariable>();
         partProp.getColumns(columns);
         List<LogicalVariable> columnsArg = new ArrayList<LogicalVariable>();