diff --git a/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/Graph.scala b/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/Graph.scala
index 65a1a8c68f6d2..81493580137cd 100644
--- a/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/Graph.scala
+++ b/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/Graph.scala
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ abstract class Graph[VD: ClassTag, ED: ClassTag] protected () extends Serializab
    * }
    * }}}
    */
-  def outerJoinVertices[U: ClassTag, VD2: ClassTag](other: RDD[(VertexId, U)])
+  def outerJoinVertices[U: ClassTag, VD2: ClassTag](other: RDD[(VertexId, U)], destructive: Boolean = false)
       (mapFunc: (VertexId, VD, Option[U]) => VD2)
     : Graph[VD2, ED]
 
diff --git a/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/Pregel.scala b/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/Pregel.scala
index 5d98d3b83b69b..1786fa75b5c17 100644
--- a/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/Pregel.scala
+++ b/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/Pregel.scala
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ object Pregel extends Logging {
       val newVerts = g.vertices.innerJoin(messages)(vprog).cache()
       // Update the graph with the new vertices.
       prevG = g
-      g = g.outerJoinVertices(newVerts) { (vid, old, newOpt) => newOpt.getOrElse(old) }
+      g = g.outerJoinVertices(newVerts, destructive = i > 0) { (vid, old, newOpt) => newOpt.getOrElse(old) }
       g.cache()
 
       val oldMessages = messages
diff --git a/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/impl/GraphImpl.scala b/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/impl/GraphImpl.scala
index 3a6beb46746d3..dd8519fe1de7c 100644
--- a/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/impl/GraphImpl.scala
+++ b/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/impl/GraphImpl.scala
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ class GraphImpl[VD: ClassTag, ED: ClassTag] protected (
   } // end of mapReduceTriplets
 
   override def outerJoinVertices[U: ClassTag, VD2: ClassTag]
-      (other: RDD[(VertexId, U)])
+      (other: RDD[(VertexId, U)], destructive: Boolean = false)
       (updateF: (VertexId, VD, Option[U]) => VD2): Graph[VD2, ED] =
   {
     if (classTag[VD] equals classTag[VD2]) {
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ class GraphImpl[VD: ClassTag, ED: ClassTag] protected (
       val changedVerts = vertices.asInstanceOf[VertexRDD[VD2]].diff(newVerts)
       val newReplicatedVertexView = new ReplicatedVertexView[VD2](
         changedVerts, edges, routingTable,
-        Some(replicatedVertexView.asInstanceOf[ReplicatedVertexView[VD2]]))
+        Some(replicatedVertexView.asInstanceOf[ReplicatedVertexView[VD2]]), destructive)
       new GraphImpl(newVerts, edges, routingTable, newReplicatedVertexView)
     } else {
       // updateF does not preserve type, so we must re-replicate all vertices
diff --git a/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/impl/ReplicatedVertexView.scala b/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/impl/ReplicatedVertexView.scala
index b7bca80784670..38530b78fa005 100644
--- a/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/impl/ReplicatedVertexView.scala
+++ b/graphx/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/graphx/impl/ReplicatedVertexView.scala
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@ class ReplicatedVertexView[VD: ClassTag](
     updatedVerts: VertexRDD[VD],
     edges: EdgeRDD[_],
     routingTable: RoutingTable,
-    prevViewOpt: Option[ReplicatedVertexView[VD]] = None) {
+    prevViewOpt: Option[ReplicatedVertexView[VD]] = None,
+    destructive: Boolean = false) {
 
   /**
    * Within each edge partition, create a local map from vid to an index into the attribute
@@ -122,6 +123,7 @@ class ReplicatedVertexView[VD: ClassTag](
     val shippedVerts = routingTable.get(includeSrc, includeDst)
       .zipPartitions(verts)(ReplicatedVertexView.buildBuffer(_, _)(vdTag))
       .partitionBy(edges.partitioner.get)
+    val destructiveLocal = destructive // to avoid closure capture
     // TODO: Consider using a specialized shuffler.
 
     prevViewOpt match {