diff --git a/pkg/sql/distsql_running.go b/pkg/sql/distsql_running.go
index 8a7e66d61cec..cf9f1e1bfbc1 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/distsql_running.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/distsql_running.go
@@ -423,6 +423,7 @@ func (dsp *DistSQLPlanner) Run(
 	// NB: putting part of evalCtx in localState means it might be mutated down
 	// the line.
 	localState.EvalContext = &evalCtx.Context
+	localState.IsLocal = planCtx.isLocal
 	localState.Txn = txn
 	localState.LocalProcs = plan.LocalProcessors
 	// If we need to perform some operation on the flow specs, we want to
@@ -445,9 +446,12 @@ func (dsp *DistSQLPlanner) Run(
 	// to be on the safe side and mark 'noMutations' as 'false'.
 	noMutations := planCtx.planner != nil && !planCtx.planner.curPlan.flags.IsSet(planFlagContainsMutation)
 
-	if planCtx.isLocal {
-		localState.IsLocal = true
-		if noMutations && planCtx.parallelizeScansIfLocal {
+	if txn == nil {
+		// Txn can be nil in some cases, like BulkIO flows. In such a case, we
+		// cannot create a LeafTxn, so we cannot parallelize scans.
+		planCtx.parallelizeScansIfLocal = false
+	} else {
+		if planCtx.isLocal && noMutations && planCtx.parallelizeScansIfLocal {
 			// Even though we have a single flow on the gateway node, we might
 			// have decided to parallelize the scans. If that's the case, we
 			// will need to use the Leaf txn.
@@ -455,45 +459,52 @@ func (dsp *DistSQLPlanner) Run(
 				localState.HasConcurrency = localState.HasConcurrency || execinfra.HasParallelProcessors(flow)
 			}
 		}
-	}
-	if noMutations {
-		// Even if planCtx.isLocal is false (which is the case when we think
-		// it's worth distributing the query), we need to go through the
-		// processors to figure out whether any of them have concurrency.
-		//
-		// However, the concurrency requires the usage of LeafTxns which is only
-		// acceptable if we don't have any mutations in the plan.
-		// TODO(yuzefovich): we could be smarter here and allow the usage of the
-		// RootTxn by the mutations while still using the Streamer (that gets a
-		// LeafTxn) iff the plan is such that there is no concurrency between
-		// the root and the leaf txns.
-		//
-		// At the moment of writing, this is only relevant whenever the Streamer
-		// API might be used by some of the processors. The Streamer internally
-		// can have concurrency, so it expects to be given a LeafTxn. In order
-		// for that LeafTxn to be created later, during the flow setup, we need
-		// to populate leafInputState below, so we tell the localState that
-		// there is concurrency.
-		if row.CanUseStreamer(ctx, dsp.st) {
-			for _, proc := range plan.Processors {
-				if jr := proc.Spec.Core.JoinReader; jr != nil {
-					// Both index and lookup joins, with and without ordering,
-					// are executed via the Streamer API that has concurrency.
-					localState.HasConcurrency = true
-					break
+		if noMutations {
+			// Even if planCtx.isLocal is false (which is the case when we think
+			// it's worth distributing the query), we need to go through the
+			// processors to figure out whether any of them have concurrency.
+			//
+			// However, the concurrency requires the usage of LeafTxns which is
+			// only acceptable if we don't have any mutations in the plan.
+			// TODO(yuzefovich): we could be smarter here and allow the usage of
+			// the RootTxn by the mutations while still using the Streamer (that
+			// gets a LeafTxn) iff the plan is such that there is no concurrency
+			// between the root and the leaf txns.
+			//
+			// At the moment of writing, this is only relevant whenever the
+			// Streamer API might be used by some of the processors. The
+			// Streamer internally can have concurrency, so it expects to be
+			// given a LeafTxn. In order for that LeafTxn to be created later,
+			// during the flow setup, we need to populate leafInputState below,
+			// so we tell the localState that there is concurrency.
+			if row.CanUseStreamer(ctx, dsp.st) {
+				for _, proc := range plan.Processors {
+					if jr := proc.Spec.Core.JoinReader; jr != nil {
+						// Both index and lookup joins, with and without
+						// ordering, are executed via the Streamer API that has
+						// concurrency.
+						localState.HasConcurrency = true
+						break
+					}
 				}
 			}
 		}
-	}
-	if localState.MustUseLeafTxn() && txn != nil {
-		// Set up leaf txns using the txnCoordMeta if we need to.
-		tis, err := txn.GetLeafTxnInputStateOrRejectClient(ctx)
-		if err != nil {
-			log.Infof(ctx, "%s: %s", clientRejectedMsg, err)
-			recv.SetError(err)
-			return cleanup
+		if localState.MustUseLeafTxn() {
+			// Set up leaf txns using the txnCoordMeta if we need to.
+			tis, err := txn.GetLeafTxnInputStateOrRejectClient(ctx)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Infof(ctx, "%s: %s", clientRejectedMsg, err)
+				recv.SetError(err)
+				return cleanup
+			}
+			if tis == nil {
+				recv.SetError(errors.AssertionFailedf(
+					"leafInputState is nil when txn is non-nil and we must use the leaf txn",
+				))
+				return cleanup
+			}
+			leafInputState = tis
 		}
-		leafInputState = tis
 	}
 
 	if logPlanDiagram {