diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/plans/physical/partitioning.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/plans/physical/partitioning.scala
index ed360bbf1ca4..7a730c4b7318 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/plans/physical/partitioning.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/plans/physical/partitioning.scala
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ case class HashShuffleSpec(
     distribution.clustering.zipWithIndex.foreach { case (distKey, distKeyPos) =>
       distKeyToPos.getOrElseUpdate(distKey.canonicalized, mutable.BitSet.empty).add(distKeyPos)
     }
-    partitioning.expressions.map(k => distKeyToPos(k.canonicalized))
+    partitioning.expressions.map(k => distKeyToPos.getOrElse(k.canonicalized, mutable.BitSet.empty))
   }
 
   override def isCompatibleWith(other: ShuffleSpec): Boolean = other match {
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/exchange/ValidateRequirements.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/exchange/ValidateRequirements.scala
index 953819959047..1ac6b809fd25 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/exchange/ValidateRequirements.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/exchange/ValidateRequirements.scala
@@ -45,17 +45,7 @@ object ValidateRequirements extends Logging {
     assert(requiredChildDistributions.length == children.length)
     assert(requiredChildOrderings.length == children.length)
 
-    // Verify partition number. For (hash) clustered distribution, the corresponding children must
-    // have the same number of partitions.
-    val numPartitions = requiredChildDistributions.zipWithIndex.collect {
-      case (_: ClusteredDistribution, i) => i
-    }.map(i => children(i).outputPartitioning.numPartitions)
-    if (numPartitions.length > 1 && !numPartitions.tail.forall(_ == numPartitions.head)) {
-      logDebug(s"ValidateRequirements failed: different partition num in\n$plan")
-      return false
-    }
-
-    children.zip(requiredChildDistributions.zip(requiredChildOrderings)).forall {
+    val satisfied = children.zip(requiredChildDistributions.zip(requiredChildOrderings)).forall {
       case (child, (distribution, ordering))
           if !child.outputPartitioning.satisfies(distribution)
             || !SortOrder.orderingSatisfies(child.outputOrdering, ordering) =>
@@ -63,5 +53,21 @@ object ValidateRequirements extends Logging {
         false
       case _ => true
     }
+
+    if (satisfied && children.length > 1 &&
+      requiredChildDistributions.forall(_.isInstanceOf[ClusteredDistribution])) {
+      // Check the co-partitioning requirement.
+      val specs = children.map(_.outputPartitioning).zip(requiredChildDistributions).map {
+        case (p, d) => p.createShuffleSpec(d.asInstanceOf[ClusteredDistribution])
+      }
+      if (specs.tail.forall(_.isCompatibleWith(specs.head))) {
+        true
+      } else {
+        logDebug(s"ValidateRequirements failed: children not co-partitioned in\n$plan")
+        false
+      }
+    } else {
+      satisfied
+    }
   }
 }
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/exchange/ValidateRequirementsSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/exchange/ValidateRequirementsSuite.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..767a26876f90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/exchange/ValidateRequirementsSuite.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.spark.sql.execution.exchange
+
+import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.{Ascending, SortOrder}
+import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.plans.{Inner, PlanTest}
+import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.plans.physical.{HashPartitioning, SinglePartition}
+import org.apache.spark.sql.execution.SortExec
+import org.apache.spark.sql.execution.joins.SortMergeJoinExec
+import org.apache.spark.sql.test.SharedSparkSession
+
+class ValidateRequirementsSuite extends PlanTest with SharedSparkSession {
+
+  import testImplicits._
+
+  private def testValidate(
+      joinKeyIndices: Seq[Int],
+      leftPartitionKeyIndices: Seq[Int],
+      rightPartitionKeyIndices: Seq[Int],
+      leftPartitionNum: Int,
+      rightPartitionNum: Int,
+      success: Boolean): Unit = {
+    val table1 =
+      spark.range(10).select('id + 1 as 'a1, 'id + 2 as 'b1, 'id + 3 as 'c1)
+        .queryExecution.executedPlan
+    val table2 =
+      spark.range(10).select('id + 1 as 'a2, 'id + 2 as 'b2, 'id + 3 as 'c2)
+        .queryExecution.executedPlan
+
+    val leftKeys = joinKeyIndices.map(table1.output)
+    val rightKeys = joinKeyIndices.map(table2.output)
+    val leftPartitioning =
+      HashPartitioning(leftPartitionKeyIndices.map(table1.output), leftPartitionNum)
+    val rightPartitioning =
+      HashPartitioning(rightPartitionKeyIndices.map(table2.output), rightPartitionNum)
+    val left =
+      SortExec(leftKeys.map(SortOrder(_, Ascending)), false,
+        ShuffleExchangeExec(leftPartitioning, table1))
+    val right =
+      SortExec(rightKeys.map(SortOrder(_, Ascending)), false,
+        ShuffleExchangeExec(rightPartitioning, table2))
+
+    val plan = SortMergeJoinExec(leftKeys, rightKeys, Inner, None, left, right)
+    assert(ValidateRequirements.validate(plan) == success, plan)
+  }
+
+  test("SMJ requirements satisfied with partial partition key") {
+    testValidate(Seq(0, 1, 2), Seq(1), Seq(1), 5, 5, true)
+  }
+
+  test("SMJ requirements satisfied with different partition key order") {
+    testValidate(Seq(0, 1, 2), Seq(2, 0, 1), Seq(2, 0, 1), 5, 5, true)
+  }
+
+  test("SMJ requirements not satisfied with unequal partition key order") {
+    testValidate(Seq(0, 1, 2), Seq(1, 0), Seq(0, 1), 5, 5, false)
+  }
+
+  test("SMJ requirements not satisfied with unequal partition key length") {
+    testValidate(Seq(0, 1, 2), Seq(1), Seq(1, 2), 5, 5, false)
+  }
+
+  test("SMJ requirements not satisfied with partition key missing from join key") {
+    testValidate(Seq(1, 2), Seq(1, 0), Seq(1, 0), 5, 5, false)
+  }
+
+  test("SMJ requirements not satisfied with unequal partition number") {
+    testValidate(Seq(0, 1, 2), Seq(0, 1, 2), Seq(0, 1, 2), 12, 10, false)
+  }
+
+  test("SMJ with HashPartitioning(1) and SinglePartition") {
+    val table1 = spark.range(10).queryExecution.executedPlan
+    val table2 = spark.range(10).queryExecution.executedPlan
+    val leftPartitioning = HashPartitioning(table1.output, 1)
+    val rightPartitioning = SinglePartition
+    val left =
+      SortExec(table1.output.map(SortOrder(_, Ascending)), false,
+        ShuffleExchangeExec(leftPartitioning, table1))
+    val right =
+      SortExec(table2.output.map(SortOrder(_, Ascending)), false,
+        ShuffleExchangeExec(rightPartitioning, table2))
+
+    val plan = SortMergeJoinExec(table1.output, table2.output, Inner, None, left, right)
+    assert(ValidateRequirements.validate(plan), plan)
+  }
+
+  private def testNestedJoin(
+      joinKeyIndices1: Seq[(Int, Int)],
+      joinKeyIndices2: Seq[(Int, Int)],
+      partNums: Seq[Int],
+      success: Boolean): Unit = {
+    val table1 =
+      spark.range(10).select('id + 1 as 'a1, 'id + 2 as 'b1, 'id + 3 as 'c1)
+        .queryExecution.executedPlan
+    val table2 =
+      spark.range(10).select('id + 1 as 'a2, 'id + 2 as 'b2, 'id + 3 as 'c2)
+        .queryExecution.executedPlan
+    val table3 =
+      spark.range(10).select('id + 1 as 'a3, 'id + 2 as 'b3, 'id + 3 as 'c3)
+        .queryExecution.executedPlan
+
+    val key1 = joinKeyIndices1.map(_._1).map(table1.output)
+    val key2 = joinKeyIndices1.map(_._2).map(table2.output)
+    val key3 = joinKeyIndices2.map(_._1).map(table3.output)
+    val key4 = joinKeyIndices2.map(_._2).map(table1.output ++ table2.output)
+    val partitioning1 = HashPartitioning(key1, partNums(0))
+    val partitioning2 = HashPartitioning(key2, partNums(1))
+    val partitioning3 = HashPartitioning(key3, partNums(2))
+    val joinRel1 =
+      SortExec(key1.map(SortOrder(_, Ascending)), false, ShuffleExchangeExec(partitioning1, table1))
+    val joinRel2 =
+      SortExec(key2.map(SortOrder(_, Ascending)), false, ShuffleExchangeExec(partitioning2, table2))
+    val joinRel3 =
+      SortExec(key3.map(SortOrder(_, Ascending)), false, ShuffleExchangeExec(partitioning3, table3))
+
+    val plan = SortMergeJoinExec(key3, key4, Inner, None,
+      joinRel3, SortMergeJoinExec(key1, key2, Inner, None, joinRel1, joinRel2))
+    assert(ValidateRequirements.validate(plan) == success, plan)
+  }
+
+  test("ValidateRequirements should work bottom up") {
+    Seq(true, false).foreach { success =>
+      testNestedJoin(Seq((0, 0)), Seq((0, 0)), Seq(5, if (success) 5 else 10, 5), success)
+    }
+  }
+
+  test("PartitioningCollection exact match") {
+    testNestedJoin(Seq((0, 0), (1, 1)), Seq((0, 0), (1, 1)), Seq(5, 5, 5), true)
+    testNestedJoin(Seq((0, 0), (1, 1)), Seq((0, 3), (1, 4)), Seq(5, 5, 5), true)
+  }
+
+  test("PartitioningCollection mismatch with different order") {
+    testNestedJoin(Seq((0, 0), (1, 1)), Seq((1, 1), (0, 0)), Seq(5, 5, 5), false)
+    testNestedJoin(Seq((0, 0), (1, 1)), Seq((1, 4), (0, 3)), Seq(5, 5, 5), false)
+  }
+
+  test("PartitioningCollection mismatch with different set") {
+    testNestedJoin(Seq((1, 1)), Seq((2, 2), (1, 1)), Seq(5, 5, 5), false)
+    testNestedJoin(Seq((1, 1)), Seq((2, 5), (1, 4)), Seq(5, 5, 5), false)
+  }
+
+  test("PartitioningCollection mismatch with key missing from required") {
+    testNestedJoin(Seq((2, 2), (1, 1)), Seq((2, 2)), Seq(5, 5, 5), false)
+    testNestedJoin(Seq((2, 2), (1, 1)), Seq((2, 5)), Seq(5, 5, 5), false)
+  }
+}