diff --git a/docs/pages/programming/sql.md b/docs/pages/programming/sql.md
index e9d5468052..d6a506f834 100644
--- a/docs/pages/programming/sql.md
+++ b/docs/pages/programming/sql.md
@@ -552,6 +552,15 @@ system table.
 
 The ```REPLACE TABLE``` statement can be used to replace a table with another table.
 
+The source table is specified using [foreign table](#foreign-tables) syntax. For a database running 
+on the same machine, use ```LOCAL_database.tablename```:
+
+```sql
+REPLACE TABLE mytable WITH LOCAL_sourcedb.sourcetable;
+```
+
+For remote databases, use ```database.tablename``` (requires [comdb2db](clients.html#comdb2db) configuration).
+
 Below is a list of requirements that must be satisfied to use this statement:
 - The source and destination databases have the same datastripe and blobstripe settings.
 - There is no network firewall preventing the destination database from communicating 
diff --git a/schemachange/sc_import.c b/schemachange/sc_import.c
index 6c8fc89891..cd5d752048 100644
--- a/schemachange/sc_import.c
+++ b/schemachange/sc_import.c
@@ -1812,6 +1812,14 @@ static enum comdb2_import_op get_import_rcode_from_tmpdb_rcode(const int rc) {
 
 int do_import(struct ireq *iq, struct schema_change_type *sc, tran_type *tran)
 {
+    extern int gbl_is_physical_replicant;
+    if (gbl_is_physical_replicant) {
+        logmsg(LOGMSG_ERROR, "%s: bulk import into a physical replicant is not allowed\n", __func__);
+        errstat_set_rcstrf(&iq->errstat, COMDB2_IMPORT_RC_INTERNAL,
+                           "bulk import into a physical replicant is not allowed");
+        return COMDB2_IMPORT_RC_INTERNAL;
+    }
+
     const char * const src_tablename = sc->import_src_tablename;
     const char * const srcdb = sc->import_src_dbname;
     const char * const dst_tablename = sc->tablename;
diff --git a/sqlite/src/comdb2build.c b/sqlite/src/comdb2build.c
index c4d9c6c205..513915266e 100644
--- a/sqlite/src/comdb2build.c
+++ b/sqlite/src/comdb2build.c
@@ -1771,6 +1771,11 @@ void comdb2bulkimport(Parse* pParse, Token* nm,Token* lnm, Token* nm2, Token* ln
 
 void comdb2Replace(Parse* pParse, Token *nm, Token *nm2, Token *nm3)
 {
+    if (gbl_is_physical_replicant) {
+        setError(pParse, SQLITE_MISUSE, "bulk import into a physical replicant is not allowed");
+        return;
+    }
+
     if (gbl_disable_sql_table_replacement) {
         setError(pParse, SQLITE_MISUSE, "sql table replacement is disabled");
         return;
diff --git a/tests/phys_rep.test/bulkimport.sh b/tests/phys_rep.test/bulkimport.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..e8f9489d1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/phys_rep.test/bulkimport.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+bash -n "$0" || exit 1
+source ${TESTSROOTDIR}/tools/runit_common.sh
+set -o pipefail
+set -x 
+
+DBNAME=$1 
+DBDIR=$2
+destdb=${TESTCASE}dest${TESTID} #from runit
+tmpdb_name="tmp${DBNAME}"
+tmpdb_dir="${DBDIR}/${tmpdb_name}"
+
+function check_rc() {
+    local cmd="$1"
+    eval $cmd
+    if [[ $? -ne 0 ]]; then
+        echo "failed running $cmd"
+        cleanup
+        exit 1
+    fi
+}
+
+# assumes we have comdb2db.cfg on testdir 
+# cause we sourcing runit_common.sh
+function cp_comdb2dbcfg() { 
+    dir=$1
+    name=$2
+    echo "comdb2_config:default_type=local" > "$dir/comdb2db.cfg"
+    echo "comdb2_config:ssl_cert_path=$TESTDIR" >>"$dir/comdb2db.cfg"
+    echo "comdb2_config:allow_pmux_route:true" >> "$dir/comdb2db.cfg"
+}
+
+
+function cleanup() {
+    # cleanup tmpdb only - parent and physrep are managed by runit
+    local name="$tmpdb_name" dir="$tmpdb_dir"
+    if [[ -f "$dir/${name}.pid" ]]; then
+        kill -9 $(cat "$dir/${name}.pid") 2>/dev/null || true
+    fi
+}
+
+function create_db() {
+    local name=$1 dir=$2
+    mkdir -p "$dir"
+    check_rc "$COMDB2_EXE --create $name -dir $dir"
+    $COMDB2_EXE $name --lrl $dir/${name}.lrl --pidfile $dir/${name}.pid >"$DBDIR/${name}.log" 2>&1 &
+    cp_comdb2dbcfg "$dir" "$name"
+    # Also add tmpdb to parent's config so destdb can find it
+    echo "$name $dir $dir/${name}.lrl" >> "$DBDIR/comdb2db.cfg"
+    sleep 5
+    check_rc "${CDB2SQL_EXE} --cdb2cfg $dir/comdb2db.cfg $name default 'select 1' "
+    check_rc "${CDB2SQL_EXE} --cdb2cfg $dir/comdb2db.cfg $name -f ${TESTDIR}/${TESTCASE}.test/1-create-table.src.sql default "
+    check_rc "${CDB2SQL_EXE} --cdb2cfg $dir/comdb2db.cfg $name default \"insert into t1 (id) values (1)\" "
+}
+
+function test_bulkimport_into_physrep() {
+    # Given: destdb is already a physrep (set up by runit)
+
+    # When: bulk import into the physrep (destdb)
+    local tbl="t1"
+    local output
+    output=$(${CDB2SQL_EXE} --cdb2cfg $DBDIR/comdb2db.cfg $destdb --host localhost \
+        "replace table $tbl with LOCAL_$tmpdb_name.$tbl" 2>&1)
+    local rc=$?
+
+    # Then: bulkimport should fail with the correct error message
+    if [[ $rc -eq 0 ]] || ! echo "$output" | grep -q "physical replicant" ; then
+        echo "Fail, rc=$rc, output: $output"
+        cleanup
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    echo "SUCCESS: bulkimport rejected with error: $output"
+}
+
+function test_bulkimport_from_physrep() {
+    # Given: destdb is a physrep with replicated data from DBNAME
+    # We reuse tmpdb as the destination and import FROM the physrep
+    local tbl="t1"
+    
+    check_rc "${CDB2SQL_EXE} ${CDB2_OPTIONS} $DBNAME default \"drop table if exists $tbl\" "
+    check_rc "${CDB2SQL_EXE} ${CDB2_OPTIONS} $DBNAME default -f ${TESTDIR}/${TESTCASE}.test/1-create-table.src.sql"
+    check_rc "${CDB2SQL_EXE} ${CDB2_OPTIONS} $DBNAME default \"insert into $tbl (id) values (100), (200), (300)\" "
+    sleep 5
+    check_rc "${CDB2SQL_EXE} --cdb2cfg $tmpdb_dir/comdb2db.cfg $tmpdb_name default \"delete from $tbl where 1\" "
+
+    # When: bulk import FROM the physrep to the tmpdb
+    local output
+    output=$(${CDB2SQL_EXE} --cdb2cfg $tmpdb_dir/comdb2db.cfg $tmpdb_name default \
+        "replace table $tbl with LOCAL_$destdb.$tbl" 2>&1)
+    local rc=$?
+
+    # Then: bulkimport should succeed
+    if [[ $rc -ne 0 ]]; then
+        echo "FAIL: bulkimport from physrep failed with rc=$rc"
+        echo "Output: $output"
+        cleanup
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    # Verify data was imported
+    local cnt
+    cnt=$(${CDB2SQL_EXE} --tabs --cdb2cfg $tmpdb_dir/comdb2db.cfg $tmpdb_name default "select count(*) from $tbl")
+    if [[ $cnt -eq 0 ]]; then
+        echo "FAIL: no records found in $tmpdb_name.$tbl after import from physrep"
+        cleanup
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    echo "SUCCESS: bulk import from physrep succeeded, imported $cnt records"
+}
+
+function main() {
+    create_db "$tmpdb_name" "$tmpdb_dir"
+
+    test_bulkimport_into_physrep
+
+    test_bulkimport_from_physrep
+
+    echo "All tests passed"
+    cleanup
+}
+
+main 
diff --git a/tests/phys_rep.test/runit b/tests/phys_rep.test/runit
index 2dff3919d2..f0607a6033 100755
--- a/tests/phys_rep.test/runit
+++ b/tests/phys_rep.test/runit
@@ -211,8 +211,17 @@ trap - INT EXIT
 
 override_physrep_sp
 setup_replicant
+
+${CDB2SQL_EXE} ${CDB2_OPTIONS} $dbname default "exec procedure sys.cmd.send('semver 8.1.0')"
+${CDB2SQL_EXE} --host localhost $destdb default "exec procedure sys.cmd.send('semver 8.1.0')"
+
 ./generate_tests.sh
 run_tests
+
+# (physrep needs to be alive)
+./bulkimport.sh $dbname ${DBDIR}
+[[ $? -ne 0 ]] && failexit "bulkimport test failed"
+
 cleanup
 
 exit 0