In one respect, there is provided a distributed database system that includes hosts configured to store and/or manage data, a first query processing engine comprising a master node and an executor node, and a second query processing engine. The master node can be implemented on programmable processors and configured to perform operations. The operations can include: offloading, to the second query processing engine, a creation of a first and a second table such that the first and the second table are partitioned by the second query processing engine; generating an execution plan for a query on data in the distributed database system, the execution plan including a distributed join operation that combines data from the first and second table; determining to push down, to the second query processing engine, the distributed join operation; and dispatching, to the executor node, a portion of the execution plan including the distributed join operation.