diff --git a/tools/restatectl/src/commands/node/disable_node_checker.rs b/tools/restatectl/src/commands/node/disable_node_checker.rs
index 645281ecd7..5cd24bd16f 100644
--- a/tools/restatectl/src/commands/node/disable_node_checker.rs
+++ b/tools/restatectl/src/commands/node/disable_node_checker.rs
@@ -8,12 +8,19 @@
 // the Business Source License, use of this software will be governed
 // by the Apache License, Version 2.0.
 
+use restate_metadata_store::{MetadataStoreClient, ReadError};
 use restate_types::PlainNodeId;
+use restate_types::epoch::EpochMetadata;
+use restate_types::identifiers::PartitionId;
 use restate_types::logs::LogletId;
 use restate_types::logs::metadata::{Logs, ProviderKind};
+use restate_types::metadata_store::keys::partition_processor_epoch_key;
 use restate_types::nodes_config::{
-    MetadataServerState, NodesConfigError, NodesConfiguration, Role, StorageState,
+    MetadataServerState, NodeConfig, NodesConfigError, NodesConfiguration, Role, StorageState,
+    WorkerState,
 };
+use restate_types::partition_table::PartitionTable;
+use tokio::task::JoinSet;
 
 #[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
 pub enum DisableNodeError {
@@ -35,22 +42,43 @@ pub enum DisableNodeError {
     DefaultLogletProvider(ProviderKind),
     #[error("metadata server is an active member")]
     MetadataMember,
+    #[error("worker cannot be disabled")]
+    Worker(#[from] DisableWorkerError),
 }
 
-pub struct DisableNodeChecker<'a, 'b> {
+#[derive(Debug, thiserror::Error)]
+pub enum DisableWorkerError {
+    #[error("worker is active; drain it first")]
+    Active,
+    #[error("failed reading epoch metadata from metadata store: {0}; try again later")]
+    EpochMetadata(#[from] ReadError),
+    #[error("worker is part of replica set of partition {0}; wait until it is drained")]
+    Replica(PartitionId),
+}
+
+pub struct DisableNodeChecker<'a> {
     nodes_configuration: &'a NodesConfiguration,
-    logs: &'b Logs,
+    logs: &'a Logs,
+    partition_table: &'a PartitionTable,
+    metadata_client: &'a MetadataStoreClient,
 }
 
-impl<'a, 'b> DisableNodeChecker<'a, 'b> {
-    pub fn new(nodes_configuration: &'a NodesConfiguration, logs: &'b Logs) -> Self {
+impl<'a> DisableNodeChecker<'a> {
+    pub fn new(
+        nodes_configuration: &'a NodesConfiguration,
+        logs: &'a Logs,
+        partition_table: &'a PartitionTable,
+        metadata_client: &'a MetadataStoreClient,
+    ) -> Self {
         DisableNodeChecker {
             nodes_configuration,
             logs,
+            partition_table,
+            metadata_client,
         }
     }
 
-    pub fn safe_to_disable_node(&self, node_id: PlainNodeId) -> Result<(), DisableNodeError> {
+    pub async fn safe_to_disable_node(&self, node_id: PlainNodeId) -> Result<(), DisableNodeError> {
         let node_config = match self.nodes_configuration.find_node_by_id(node_id) {
             Ok(node_config) => node_config,
             // unknown or deleted nodes can be safely disabled
@@ -64,6 +92,8 @@ impl<'a, 'b> DisableNodeChecker<'a, 'b> {
 
         self.safe_to_disable_log_server(node_id, node_config.log_server_config.storage_state)?;
 
+        self.safe_to_disable_worker(node_id, node_config).await?;
+
         // only safe to disable node if it does not run a metadata server or is not a member
         // todo atm we must consider the role because the default metadata server state is MetadataServerState::Member.
         //  We need to introduce a provisioning state or make the metadata server state optional in the NodeConfig.
@@ -77,6 +107,69 @@ impl<'a, 'b> DisableNodeChecker<'a, 'b> {
         Ok(())
     }
 
+    /// Checks whether it is safe to disable the worker. A worker is safe to disable if it is not
+    /// used in any partition replica set, and it cannot be added to any future replica sets.
+    async fn safe_to_disable_worker(
+        &self,
+        node_id: PlainNodeId,
+        node_config: &NodeConfig,
+    ) -> Result<(), DisableWorkerError> {
+        match node_config.worker_config.worker_state {
+            WorkerState::Active => {
+                return Err(DisableWorkerError::Active);
+            }
+            WorkerState::Draining => {
+                // we need to check whether the worker is part of any replica sets
+
+                // Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that a draining worker won't be added to any
+                // future replica set because the corresponding NodesConfiguration might not have
+                // been sent to all nodes of the cluster :-( We might want to wait for a given
+                // duration after marking a worker as draining before we consider it safe to
+                // disable it.
+            }
+            WorkerState::Provisioning | WorkerState::Disabled => {
+                return Ok(());
+            }
+        }
+
+        let mut replica_membership = JoinSet::new();
+
+        // We assume that the partition table does contain all relevant partitions. This will break
+        // once we support dynamic partition table updates. Once this happens, we need to wait until
+        // the draining worker state has been propagated to all nodes.
+        for partition_id in self.partition_table.iter_ids().copied() {
+            replica_membership.spawn({
+                let metadata_client = self.metadata_client.clone();
+
+                async move {
+                    // todo replace with multi-get when available
+                    let epoch_metadata = metadata_client
+                        .get::<EpochMetadata>(partition_processor_epoch_key(partition_id))
+                        .await?;
+
+                    if epoch_metadata.is_some_and(|epoch_metadata| {
+                        // check whether node_id is contained in current or next replica set; if yes, then
+                        // we cannot safely disable this node yet
+                        epoch_metadata.current().replica_set().contains(node_id)
+                            || epoch_metadata
+                                .next()
+                                .is_some_and(|next| next.replica_set().contains(node_id))
+                    }) {
+                        Err(DisableWorkerError::Replica(partition_id))
+                    } else {
+                        Ok(())
+                    }
+                }
+            });
+        }
+
+        while let Some(result) = replica_membership.join_next().await {
+            result.expect("check replica membership not to panic")?;
+        }
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
     /// Checks whether it is safe to disable the given log server identified by the node_id. It is
     /// safe to disable the log server if it can no longer be added to new node sets (== not being
     /// a candidate) and it is no longer part of any known node sets.
diff --git a/tools/restatectl/src/commands/node/remove_nodes.rs b/tools/restatectl/src/commands/node/remove_nodes.rs
index 5f4dec7cb7..5ced64f927 100644
--- a/tools/restatectl/src/commands/node/remove_nodes.rs
+++ b/tools/restatectl/src/commands/node/remove_nodes.rs
@@ -14,10 +14,11 @@ use cling::{Collect, Run};
 use itertools::Itertools;
 
 use restate_cli_util::c_println;
+use restate_metadata_store::protobuf::metadata_proxy_svc::client::MetadataStoreProxy;
 use restate_metadata_store::protobuf::metadata_proxy_svc::{
     PutRequest, client::new_metadata_proxy_client,
 };
-use restate_metadata_store::serialize_value;
+use restate_metadata_store::{MetadataStoreClient, serialize_value};
 use restate_types::PlainNodeId;
 use restate_types::metadata::Precondition;
 use restate_types::metadata_store::keys::NODES_CONFIG_KEY;
@@ -41,13 +42,23 @@ pub async fn remove_nodes(
 ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     let mut nodes_configuration = connection.get_nodes_configuration().await?;
     let logs = connection.get_logs().await?;
+    let partition_table = connection.get_partition_table().await?;
 
-    let disable_node_checker = DisableNodeChecker::new(&nodes_configuration, &logs);
+    let channel = connection.open_connection().await?;
+    let metadata_client = MetadataStoreClient::new(MetadataStoreProxy::new(channel), None);
+
+    let disable_node_checker = DisableNodeChecker::new(
+        &nodes_configuration,
+        &logs,
+        &partition_table,
+        &metadata_client,
+    );
 
     for node_id in &opts.nodes {
         disable_node_checker
             .safe_to_disable_node(*node_id)
-            .context("It is not safe to disable node {node_id}")?
+            .await
+            .context(format!("It is not safe to disable node {}", node_id))?
     }
 
     let precondition = Precondition::MatchesVersion(nodes_configuration.version());
diff --git a/tools/restatectl/src/connection.rs b/tools/restatectl/src/connection.rs
index a9855081b7..7e87663d7e 100644
--- a/tools/restatectl/src/connection.rs
+++ b/tools/restatectl/src/connection.rs
@@ -416,6 +416,32 @@ impl ConnectionInfo {
                 .clone(),
         )
     }
+
+    /// Creates and returns a (lazy) connection to any of the addresses specified in the `address`
+    /// field. This method fails with [`ConnectionInfoError::NoAvailableNodes`] if it cannot
+    /// establish a connection to any of the specified nodes.
+    pub(crate) async fn open_connection(&self) -> Result<Channel, ConnectionInfoError> {
+        let mut open_connections = self.open_connections.lock().await;
+
+        for address in &self.address {
+            if self.dead_nodes.read().unwrap().contains(address) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            if let Some(channel) = self.connect_internal(address, &mut open_connections).await {
+                // check whether we can reach the node
+                let mut node_client = new_node_ctl_client(channel.clone());
+                if node_client.get_ident(()).await.is_err() {
+                    // todo maybe retry before marking a node as dead?
+                    self.dead_nodes.write().unwrap().insert(address.clone());
+                } else {
+                    return Ok(channel);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        Err(ConnectionInfoError::NoAvailableNodes(NoRoleError(None)))
+    }
 }
 
 /// Error type returned by a [`ConnectionInfo::try_each`] node_operation closure