diff --git a/src/backend/commands/explain.c b/src/backend/commands/explain.c
index 4f32400011..f0d9e94eed 100644
--- a/src/backend/commands/explain.c
+++ b/src/backend/commands/explain.c
@@ -55,10 +55,7 @@ static void ExplainOneQuery(Query *query, IntoClause *into, ExplainState *es,
 static void report_triggers(ResultRelInfo *rInfo, bool show_relname,
 				ExplainState *es);
 static double elapsed_time(instr_time *starttime);
-static void ExplainPreScanNode(PlanState *planstate, Bitmapset **rels_used);
-static void ExplainPreScanMemberNodes(List *plans, PlanState **planstates,
-						  Bitmapset **rels_used);
-static void ExplainPreScanSubPlans(List *plans, Bitmapset **rels_used);
+static bool ExplainPreScanNode(PlanState *planstate, Bitmapset **rels_used);
 static void ExplainNode(PlanState *planstate, List *ancestors,
 			const char *relationship, const char *plan_name,
 			ExplainState *es);
@@ -724,7 +721,7 @@ elapsed_time(instr_time *starttime)
  * This ensures that we don't confusingly assign un-suffixed aliases to RTEs
  * that never appear in the EXPLAIN output (such as inheritance parents).
  */
-static void
+static bool
 ExplainPreScanNode(PlanState *planstate, Bitmapset **rels_used)
 {
 	Plan	   *plan = planstate->plan;
@@ -764,91 +761,7 @@ ExplainPreScanNode(PlanState *planstate, Bitmapset **rels_used)
 			break;
 	}
 
-	/* initPlan-s */
-	if (planstate->initPlan)
-		ExplainPreScanSubPlans(planstate->initPlan, rels_used);
-
-	/* lefttree */
-	if (outerPlanState(planstate))
-		ExplainPreScanNode(outerPlanState(planstate), rels_used);
-
-	/* righttree */
-	if (innerPlanState(planstate))
-		ExplainPreScanNode(innerPlanState(planstate), rels_used);
-
-	/* special child plans */
-	switch (nodeTag(plan))
-	{
-		case T_ModifyTable:
-			ExplainPreScanMemberNodes(((ModifyTable *) plan)->plans,
-								  ((ModifyTableState *) planstate)->mt_plans,
-									  rels_used);
-			break;
-		case T_Append:
-			ExplainPreScanMemberNodes(((Append *) plan)->appendplans,
-									((AppendState *) planstate)->appendplans,
-									  rels_used);
-			break;
-		case T_MergeAppend:
-			ExplainPreScanMemberNodes(((MergeAppend *) plan)->mergeplans,
-								((MergeAppendState *) planstate)->mergeplans,
-									  rels_used);
-			break;
-		case T_BitmapAnd:
-			ExplainPreScanMemberNodes(((BitmapAnd *) plan)->bitmapplans,
-								 ((BitmapAndState *) planstate)->bitmapplans,
-									  rels_used);
-			break;
-		case T_BitmapOr:
-			ExplainPreScanMemberNodes(((BitmapOr *) plan)->bitmapplans,
-								  ((BitmapOrState *) planstate)->bitmapplans,
-									  rels_used);
-			break;
-		case T_SubqueryScan:
-			ExplainPreScanNode(((SubqueryScanState *) planstate)->subplan,
-							   rels_used);
-			break;
-		default:
-			break;
-	}
-
-	/* subPlan-s */
-	if (planstate->subPlan)
-		ExplainPreScanSubPlans(planstate->subPlan, rels_used);
-}
-
-/*
- * Prescan the constituent plans of a ModifyTable, Append, MergeAppend,
- * BitmapAnd, or BitmapOr node.
- *
- * Note: we don't actually need to examine the Plan list members, but
- * we need the list in order to determine the length of the PlanState array.
- */
-static void
-ExplainPreScanMemberNodes(List *plans, PlanState **planstates,
-						  Bitmapset **rels_used)
-{
-	int			nplans = list_length(plans);
-	int			j;
-
-	for (j = 0; j < nplans; j++)
-		ExplainPreScanNode(planstates[j], rels_used);
-}
-
-/*
- * Prescan a list of SubPlans (or initPlans, which also use SubPlan nodes).
- */
-static void
-ExplainPreScanSubPlans(List *plans, Bitmapset **rels_used)
-{
-	ListCell   *lst;
-
-	foreach(lst, plans)
-	{
-		SubPlanState *sps = (SubPlanState *) lfirst(lst);
-
-		ExplainPreScanNode(sps->planstate, rels_used);
-	}
+	return planstate_tree_walker(planstate, ExplainPreScanNode, rels_used);
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/backend/nodes/nodeFuncs.c b/src/backend/nodes/nodeFuncs.c
index c517dfd9d6..4a2447409a 100644
--- a/src/backend/nodes/nodeFuncs.c
+++ b/src/backend/nodes/nodeFuncs.c
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 #include "catalog/pg_type.h"
 #include "miscadmin.h"
 #include "nodes/makefuncs.h"
+#include "nodes/execnodes.h"
 #include "nodes/nodeFuncs.h"
 #include "nodes/relation.h"
 #include "utils/builtins.h"
@@ -26,6 +27,10 @@
 
 static bool expression_returns_set_walker(Node *node, void *context);
 static int	leftmostLoc(int loc1, int loc2);
+static bool planstate_walk_subplans(List *plans, bool (*walker) (),
+												void *context);
+static bool planstate_walk_members(List *plans, PlanState **planstates,
+					   bool (*walker) (), void *context);
 
 
 /*
@@ -3412,3 +3417,123 @@ raw_expression_tree_walker(Node *node,
 	}
 	return false;
 }
+
+/*
+ * planstate_tree_walker --- walk plan state trees
+ *
+ * The walker has already visited the current node, and so we need only
+ * recurse into any sub-nodes it has.
+ */
+bool
+planstate_tree_walker(PlanState *planstate, bool (*walker) (), void *context)
+{
+	Plan	   *plan = planstate->plan;
+
+	/* initPlan-s */
+	if (planstate_walk_subplans(planstate->initPlan, walker, context))
+		return true;
+
+	/* lefttree */
+	if (outerPlanState(planstate))
+	{
+		if (walker(outerPlanState(planstate), context))
+			return true;
+	}
+
+	/* righttree */
+	if (innerPlanState(planstate))
+	{
+		if (walker(innerPlanState(planstate), context))
+			return true;
+	}
+
+	/* special child plans */
+	switch (nodeTag(plan))
+	{
+		case T_ModifyTable:
+			if (planstate_walk_members(((ModifyTable *) plan)->plans,
+								  ((ModifyTableState *) planstate)->mt_plans,
+									   walker, context))
+				return true;
+			break;
+		case T_Append:
+			if (planstate_walk_members(((Append *) plan)->appendplans,
+									((AppendState *) planstate)->appendplans,
+									   walker, context))
+				return true;
+			break;
+		case T_MergeAppend:
+			if (planstate_walk_members(((MergeAppend *) plan)->mergeplans,
+								((MergeAppendState *) planstate)->mergeplans,
+									   walker, context))
+				return true;
+			break;
+		case T_BitmapAnd:
+			if (planstate_walk_members(((BitmapAnd *) plan)->bitmapplans,
+								 ((BitmapAndState *) planstate)->bitmapplans,
+									   walker, context))
+				return true;
+			break;
+		case T_BitmapOr:
+			if (planstate_walk_members(((BitmapOr *) plan)->bitmapplans,
+								  ((BitmapOrState *) planstate)->bitmapplans,
+									   walker, context))
+				return true;
+			break;
+		case T_SubqueryScan:
+			if (walker(((SubqueryScanState *) planstate)->subplan, context))
+				return true;
+			break;
+		default:
+			break;
+	}
+
+	/* subPlan-s */
+	if (planstate_walk_subplans(planstate->subPlan, walker, context))
+		return true;
+
+	return false;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Walk a list of SubPlans (or initPlans, which also use SubPlan nodes).
+ */
+static bool
+planstate_walk_subplans(List *plans, bool (*walker) (), void *context)
+{
+	ListCell   *lc;
+
+	foreach(lc, plans)
+	{
+		SubPlanState *sps = (SubPlanState *) lfirst(lc);
+
+		Assert(IsA(sps, SubPlanState));
+		if (walker(sps->planstate, context))
+			return true;
+	}
+
+	return false;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Walk the constituent plans of a ModifyTable, Append, MergeAppend,
+ * BitmapAnd, or BitmapOr node.
+ *
+ * Note: we don't actually need to examine the Plan list members, but
+ * we need the list in order to determine the length of the PlanState array.
+ */
+static bool
+planstate_walk_members(List *plans, PlanState **planstates,
+					   bool (*walker) (), void *context)
+{
+	int			nplans = list_length(plans);
+	int			j;
+
+	for (j = 0; j < nplans; j++)
+	{
+		if (walker(planstates[j], context))
+			return true;
+	}
+
+	return false;
+}
diff --git a/src/include/nodes/nodeFuncs.h b/src/include/nodes/nodeFuncs.h
index 7b1b1d6dca..36b5dac0c5 100644
--- a/src/include/nodes/nodeFuncs.h
+++ b/src/include/nodes/nodeFuncs.h
@@ -63,4 +63,8 @@ extern Node *query_or_expression_tree_mutator(Node *node, Node *(*mutator) (),
 extern bool raw_expression_tree_walker(Node *node, bool (*walker) (),
 												   void *context);
 
+struct PlanState;
+extern bool planstate_tree_walker(struct PlanState *planstate, bool (*walker) (),
+											  void *context);
+
 #endif   /* NODEFUNCS_H */