diff --git a/systest/mutations_test.go b/systest/mutations_test.go
index 8244fc326bd..7f690fb226e 100644
--- a/systest/mutations_test.go
+++ b/systest/mutations_test.go
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ func TestSystem(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Run("drop type without specified type", wrap(DropTypeNoValue))
 	t.Run("reverse count index", wrap(ReverseCountIndex))
 	t.Run("type predicate check", wrap(TypePredicateCheck))
+	t.Run("internal predicate check", wrap(InternalPredicateCheck))
 }
 
 func FacetJsonInputSupportsAnyOfTerms(t *testing.T, c *dgo.Dgraph) {
@@ -1715,3 +1716,21 @@ func TypePredicateCheck(t *testing.T, c *dgo.Dgraph) {
 	err = c.Alter(ctx, op)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 }
+
+func InternalPredicateCheck(t *testing.T, c *dgo.Dgraph) {
+	// Schema update is rejected because uid is reserved for internal use.
+	op := &api.Operation{}
+	op.Schema = `uid: string .`
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	err := c.Alter(ctx, op)
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), "Cannot create user-defined predicate with internal name uid")
+
+	txn := c.NewTxn()
+	_, err = txn.Mutate(ctx, &api.Mutation{
+		CommitNow: true,
+		SetNquads: []byte(`_:bob <uid> "bobId" .`),
+	})
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), "Cannot create user-defined predicate with internal name uid")
+}
diff --git a/worker/draft.go b/worker/draft.go
index 5585bf9a17b..a805371a66f 100644
--- a/worker/draft.go
+++ b/worker/draft.go
@@ -253,7 +253,9 @@ func (n *node) applyMutations(ctx context.Context, proposal *pb.Proposal) (rerr
 
 	for attr, storageType := range schemaMap {
 		if _, err := schema.State().TypeOf(attr); err != nil {
-			createSchema(attr, storageType)
+			if err := createSchema(attr, storageType); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/worker/mutation.go b/worker/mutation.go
index fce52a2575f..ea13f787297 100644
--- a/worker/mutation.go
+++ b/worker/mutation.go
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ func updateSchema(s *pb.SchemaUpdate) error {
 	return txn.CommitAt(1, nil)
 }
 
-func createSchema(attr string, typ types.TypeID) {
+func createSchema(attr string, typ types.TypeID) error {
 	// Don't overwrite schema blindly, acl's might have been set even though
 	// type is not present
 	s, ok := schema.State().Get(attr)
@@ -204,9 +204,10 @@ func createSchema(attr string, typ types.TypeID) {
 			s.List = true
 		}
 	}
-	if err := updateSchema(&s); err != nil {
-		glog.Errorf("Error while updating schema: %+v", err)
+	if err := checkSchema(&s); err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
+	return updateSchema(&s)
 }
 
 func runTypeMutation(ctx context.Context, update *pb.TypeUpdate) error {
@@ -263,6 +264,11 @@ func checkSchema(s *pb.SchemaUpdate) error {
 		return errors.Errorf("No predicate specified in schema mutation")
 	}
 
+	if x.IsInternalPredicate(s.Predicate) {
+		return errors.Errorf("Cannot create user-defined predicate with internal name %s",
+			s.Predicate)
+	}
+
 	if s.Directive == pb.SchemaUpdate_INDEX && len(s.Tokenizer) == 0 {
 		return errors.Errorf("Tokenizer must be specified while indexing a predicate: %+v", s)
 	}
diff --git a/worker/mutation_test.go b/worker/mutation_test.go
index 59a949ac186..dd12c7e271a 100644
--- a/worker/mutation_test.go
+++ b/worker/mutation_test.go
@@ -191,12 +191,17 @@ func TestCheckSchema(t *testing.T) {
 	s1 = &pb.SchemaUpdate{Predicate: "friend", ValueType: pb.Posting_UID, Directive: pb.SchemaUpdate_REVERSE}
 	require.NoError(t, checkSchema(s1))
 
+	// Schema with internal predicate.
+	s1 = &pb.SchemaUpdate{Predicate: "uid", ValueType: pb.Posting_STRING}
+	require.Error(t, checkSchema(s1))
+
 	s := `jobs: string @upsert .`
 	result, err := schema.Parse(s)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	err = checkSchema(result.Preds[0])
 	require.Error(t, err)
-	require.Equal(t, "Index tokenizer is mandatory for: [jobs] when specifying @upsert directive", err.Error())
+	require.Equal(t, "Index tokenizer is mandatory for: [jobs] when specifying @upsert directive",
+		err.Error())
 
 	s = `
 		jobs : string @index(exact) @upsert .
diff --git a/x/keys.go b/x/keys.go
index 3608e7cf062..2e04156c6f4 100644
--- a/x/keys.go
+++ b/x/keys.go
@@ -559,6 +559,13 @@ var aclPredicateMap = map[string]struct{}{
 	"dgraph.group.acl":  {},
 }
 
+// internalPredicateMap stores a set of Dgraph's internal predicate. An internal
+// predicate is a predicate that has a special meaning in Dgraph and its query
+// language and should not be allowed as a user-defined  predicate.
+var internalPredicateMap = map[string]struct{}{
+	"uid": {},
+}
+
 // IsReservedPredicate returns true if the predicate is in the reserved predicate list.
 func IsReservedPredicate(pred string) bool {
 	_, ok := reservedPredicateMap[strings.ToLower(pred)]
@@ -583,3 +590,9 @@ func ReservedPredicates() []string {
 	}
 	return preds
 }
+
+// IsInternalPredicate returns true if the predicate is in the internal predicate list.
+func IsInternalPredicate(pred string) bool {
+	_, ok := internalPredicateMap[strings.ToLower(pred)]
+	return ok
+}