diff --git a/src/tree/updater_distcol-inl.hpp b/src/tree/updater_distcol-inl.hpp
index d94cdf409..bce947fe8 100644
--- a/src/tree/updater_distcol-inl.hpp
+++ b/src/tree/updater_distcol-inl.hpp
@@ -32,9 +32,8 @@ class DistColMaker : public ColMaker<TStats> {
     utils::Check(trees.size() == 1, "DistColMaker: only support one tree at a time");
     // build the tree
     builder.Update(gpair, p_fmat, info, trees[0]);
-    //// prune the tree
+    //// prune the tree, note that pruner will sync the tree
     pruner.Update(gpair, p_fmat, info, trees);
-    this->SyncTrees(trees[0]);
     // update position after the tree is pruned
     builder.UpdatePosition(p_fmat, *trees[0]);
   }
@@ -42,18 +41,6 @@ class DistColMaker : public ColMaker<TStats> {
     return builder.GetLeafPosition();
   }  
  private:
-  inline void SyncTrees(RegTree *tree) {
-    std::string s_model;
-    utils::MemoryBufferStream fs(&s_model);
-    int rank = sync::GetRank();
-    if (rank == 0) {
-      tree->SaveModel(fs);
-      sync::Bcast(&s_model, 0);
-    } else {
-      sync::Bcast(&s_model, 0);
-      tree->LoadModel(fs);
-    }
-  }  
   struct Builder : public ColMaker<TStats>::Builder {
    public:
     Builder(const TrainParam &param) 
diff --git a/src/tree/updater_prune-inl.hpp b/src/tree/updater_prune-inl.hpp
index 726999f55..a68404ba7 100644
--- a/src/tree/updater_prune-inl.hpp
+++ b/src/tree/updater_prune-inl.hpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include <vector>
 #include "./param.h"
 #include "./updater.h"
+#include "../sync/sync.h"
 
 namespace xgboost {
 namespace tree {
@@ -33,9 +34,27 @@ class TreePruner: public IUpdater {
       this->DoPrune(*trees[i]);
     }
     param.learning_rate = lr;
-  }
-
+    this->SyncTrees(trees);
+  }  
  private:
+  // synchronize the trees in different nodes, take tree from rank 0
+  inline void SyncTrees(const std::vector<RegTree *> &trees) {
+    if (sync::GetWorldSize() == 1) return;
+    std::string s_model;
+    utils::MemoryBufferStream fs(&s_model);
+    int rank = sync::GetRank();
+    if (rank == 0) {
+      for (size_t i = 0; i < trees.size(); ++i) {
+        trees[i]->SaveModel(fs);
+      }
+      sync::Bcast(&s_model, 0);
+    } else {
+      sync::Bcast(&s_model, 0);
+      for (size_t i = 0; i < trees.size(); ++i) {      
+        trees[i]->LoadModel(fs);
+      }
+    }
+  }
   // try to prune off current leaf
   inline int TryPruneLeaf(RegTree &tree, int nid, int depth, int npruned) {
     if (tree[nid].is_root()) return npruned;