diff --git a/src/storage/v3/shard_manager.hpp b/src/storage/v3/shard_manager.hpp
index a849c8c17..4d7507e87 100644
--- a/src/storage/v3/shard_manager.hpp
+++ b/src/storage/v3/shard_manager.hpp
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 #include <queue>
 #include <set>
+#include <unordered_map>
 
 #include <boost/functional/hash.hpp>
 #include <boost/uuid/uuid.hpp>
@@ -92,6 +93,7 @@ class ShardManager {
 
       workers_.emplace_back(queue);
       worker_handles_.emplace_back(std::move(worker_handle));
+      worker_rsm_counts_.emplace_back(0);
     }
   }
 
@@ -118,8 +120,29 @@ class ShardManager {
   }
 
   size_t UuidToWorkerIndex(const uuid &to) {
-    size_t hash = boost::hash<boost::uuids::uuid>()(to);
-    return hash % workers_.size();
+    if (rsm_worker_mapping_.contains(to)) {
+      return rsm_worker_mapping_.at(to);
+    }
+
+    // We will now create a mapping for this (probably new) shard
+    // by choosing the worker with the lowest number of existing
+    // mappings.
+
+    size_t min_index = 0;
+    size_t min_count = worker_rsm_counts_.at(min_index);
+
+    for (int i = 0; i < worker_rsm_counts_.size(); i++) {
+      size_t worker_count = worker_rsm_counts_.at(i);
+      if (worker_count <= min_count) {
+        min_count = worker_count;
+        min_index = i;
+      }
+    }
+
+    worker_rsm_counts_[min_index]++;
+    rsm_worker_mapping_.emplace(to, min_index);
+
+    return min_index;
   }
 
   void SendToWorkerByIndex(size_t worker_index, shard_worker::Message &&message) {
@@ -179,7 +202,8 @@ class ShardManager {
   io::Io<IoImpl> io_;
   std::vector<shard_worker::Queue> workers_;
   std::vector<std::jthread> worker_handles_;
-  std::set<uuid> rsm_set_;
+  std::vector<size_t> worker_rsm_counts_;
+  std::unordered_map<uuid, size_t, boost::hash<boost::uuids::uuid>> rsm_worker_mapping_;
   Time next_reconciliation_ = Time::min();
   Address coordinator_leader_;
   std::optional<ResponseFuture<WriteResponse<CoordinatorWriteResponses>>> heartbeat_res_;
@@ -235,17 +259,20 @@ class ShardManager {
 
   void EnsureShardsInitialized(HeartbeatResponse hr) {
     for (const auto &to_init : hr.shards_to_initialize) {
-      if (rsm_set_.contains(to_init.uuid)) {
+      initialized_but_not_confirmed_rsm_.emplace(to_init.uuid);
+
+      if (rsm_worker_mapping_.contains(to_init.uuid)) {
         // it's not a bug for the coordinator to send us UUIDs that we have
         // already created, because there may have been lag that caused
         // the coordinator not to hear back from us.
         return;
       }
 
-      SendToWorkerByUuid(to_init.uuid, to_init);
+      size_t worker_index = UuidToWorkerIndex(to_init.uuid);
 
-      rsm_set_.emplace(to_init.uuid);
-      initialized_but_not_confirmed_rsm_.emplace(to_init.uuid);
+      SendToWorkerByIndex(worker_index, to_init);
+
+      rsm_worker_mapping_.emplace(to_init.uuid, worker_index);
     }
   }
 };
diff --git a/tests/unit/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/unit/CMakeLists.txt
index 52e3a7eef..7cf045443 100644
--- a/tests/unit/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/unit/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -443,6 +443,6 @@ target_link_libraries(${test_prefix}pretty_print_ast_to_original_expression_test
 add_unit_test(coordinator_shard_map.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(${test_prefix}coordinator_shard_map mg-coordinator)
 
-# Tests for 1000 shards, 1000 creates, scan
-add_unit_test(1k_shards_1k_create_scanall.cpp)
-target_link_libraries(${test_prefix}1k_shards_1k_create_scanall mg-io mg-coordinator mg-storage-v3 mg-query-v2)
+# Tests for many shards, many creates, scan
+add_unit_test(high_density_shard_create_scan.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(${test_prefix}high_density_shard_create_scan mg-io mg-coordinator mg-storage-v3 mg-query-v2)