diff --git a/src/backend/commands/copyto.c b/src/backend/commands/copyto.c
index 6755bb698de..d30cad019c7 100644
--- a/src/backend/commands/copyto.c
+++ b/src/backend/commands/copyto.c
@@ -1051,15 +1051,19 @@ BeginCopyTo(ParseState *pstate,
 	{
 		cstate->json_buf = makeStringInfo();
 
-		if (rel && list_length(cstate->attnumlist) < tupDesc->natts)
+		/*
+		 * Build a projected TupleDesc describing only the selected columns
+		 * so that composite_to_json() emits the right column names and
+		 * types; needed when an explicit column list was given (possibly
+		 * with a different column order) or when generated columns are
+		 * excluded from the output.
+		 */
+		if (rel && (attnamelist != NIL ||
+					list_length(cstate->attnumlist) < tupDesc->natts))
 		{
 			int			natts = list_length(cstate->attnumlist);
 			TupleDesc	resultDesc;
 
-			/*
-			 * Build a TupleDesc describing only the selected columns so that
-			 * composite_to_json() emits the right column names and types.
-			 */
 			resultDesc = CreateTemplateTupleDesc(natts);
 
 			foreach_int(attnum, cstate->attnumlist)
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/copy.out b/src/test/regress/expected/copy.out
index 37498cdd6e7..ace38225623 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/copy.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/copy.out
@@ -73,6 +73,15 @@ copy copytest3 to stdout csv header;
 c1,"col with , comma","col with "" quote"
 1,a,1
 2,b,2
+-- testing explicit column order
+create temp table copytest_order (a int, b int, c int);
+copy copytest_order from stdin;
+copy copytest_order (c, b, a) to stdout;
+3	2	1
+copy copytest_order (c, b, a) to stdout (format csv);
+3,2,1
+copy copytest_order (c, b, a) to stdout (format json);
+{"c":3,"b":2,"a":1}
 --- test copying in JSON mode with various styles
 copy (select 1 union all select 2) to stdout with (format json);
 {"?column?":1}
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/copy.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/copy.sql
index 094fd76c12b..507b822946f 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/copy.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/copy.sql
@@ -82,6 +82,15 @@ this is just a line full of junk that would error out if parsed
 
 copy copytest3 to stdout csv header;
 
+-- testing explicit column order
+create temp table copytest_order (a int, b int, c int);
+copy copytest_order from stdin;
+1	2	3
+\.
+copy copytest_order (c, b, a) to stdout;
+copy copytest_order (c, b, a) to stdout (format csv);
+copy copytest_order (c, b, a) to stdout (format json);
+
 --- test copying in JSON mode with various styles
 copy (select 1 union all select 2) to stdout with (format json);
 copy (select 1 as foo union all select 2) to stdout with (format json);