diff --git a/python/ray/dataframe/dataframe.py b/python/ray/dataframe/dataframe.py
index 41924d801bd7..b4bc8dda5dea 100644
--- a/python/ray/dataframe/dataframe.py
+++ b/python/ray/dataframe/dataframe.py
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
     _correct_column_dtypes)
 from . import get_npartitions
 from .index_metadata import _IndexMetadata
+from .iterator import PartitionIterator
 
 
 @_inherit_docstrings(pd.DataFrame)
@@ -2328,50 +2329,53 @@ def iterrows(self):
         """Iterate over DataFrame rows as (index, Series) pairs.
 
         Note:
-            Generators can't be pickeled so from the remote function
+            Generators can't be pickled so from the remote function
             we expand the generator into a list before getting it.
             This is not that ideal.
 
         Returns:
             A generator that iterates over the rows of the frame.
         """
-        def update_iterrow(series, i):
-            """Helper function to correct the columns + name of the Series."""
-            series.index = self.columns
-            series.name = list(self.index)[i]
-            return series
+        index_iter = (self._row_metadata.partition_series(i).index
+                      for i in range(len(self._row_partitions)))
 
-        iters = ray.get([_deploy_func.remote(
-            lambda df: list(df.iterrows()), part)
-            for part in self._row_partitions])
-        iters = itertools.chain.from_iterable(iters)
-        series = map(lambda s: update_iterrow(s[1][1], s[0]), enumerate(iters))
+        def iterrow_helper(part):
+            df = ray.get(part)
+            df.columns = self.columns
+            df.index = next(index_iter)
+            return df.iterrows()
 
-        return zip(self.index, series)
+        partition_iterator = PartitionIterator(self._row_partitions,
+                                               iterrow_helper)
+
+        for v in partition_iterator:
+            yield v
 
     def items(self):
         """Iterator over (column name, Series) pairs.
 
         Note:
-            Generators can't be pickeled so from the remote function
+            Generators can't be pickled so from the remote function
             we expand the generator into a list before getting it.
             This is not that ideal.
 
         Returns:
             A generator that iterates over the columns of the frame.
         """
-        iters = ray.get([_deploy_func.remote(
-            lambda df: list(df.items()), part)
-            for part in self._row_partitions])
+        col_iter = (self._col_metadata.partition_series(i).index
+                    for i in range(len(self._col_partitions)))
+
+        def items_helper(part):
+            df = ray.get(part)
+            df.columns = next(col_iter)
+            df.index = self.index
+            return df.items()
 
-        def concat_iters(iterables):
-            for partitions in enumerate(zip(*iterables)):
-                series = pd.concat([_series for _, _series in partitions[1]])
-                series.index = self.index
-                series.name = list(self.columns)[partitions[0]]
-                yield (series.name, series)
+        partition_iterator = PartitionIterator(self._col_partitions,
+                                               items_helper)
 
-        return concat_iters(iters)
+        for v in partition_iterator:
+            yield v
 
     def iteritems(self):
         """Iterator over (column name, Series) pairs.
@@ -2393,31 +2397,27 @@ def itertuples(self, index=True, name='Pandas'):
             name (string, default "Pandas"): The name of the returned
             namedtuples or None to return regular tuples.
         Note:
-            Generators can't be pickeled so from the remote function
+            Generators can't be pickled so from the remote function
             we expand the generator into a list before getting it.
             This is not that ideal.
 
         Returns:
             A tuple representing row data. See args for varying tuples.
         """
-        iters = ray.get([
-            _deploy_func.remote(
-                lambda df: list(df.itertuples(index=index, name=name)),
-                part) for part in self._row_partitions])
-        iters = itertools.chain.from_iterable(iters)
-
-        def _replace_index(row_tuple, idx):
-            # We need to use try-except here because
-            # isinstance(row_tuple, namedtuple) won't work.
-            try:
-                row_tuple = row_tuple._replace(Index=idx)
-            except AttributeError:  # Tuple not namedtuple
-                row_tuple = (idx,) + row_tuple[1:]
-            return row_tuple
+        index_iter = (self._row_metadata.partition_series(i).index
+                      for i in range(len(self._row_partitions)))
 
-        if index:
-            iters = itertools.starmap(_replace_index, zip(iters, self.index))
-        return iters
+        def itertuples_helper(part):
+            df = ray.get(part)
+            df.columns = self.columns
+            df.index = next(index_iter)
+            return df.itertuples(index=index, name=name)
+
+        partition_iterator = PartitionIterator(self._row_partitions,
+                                               itertuples_helper)
+
+        for v in partition_iterator:
+            yield v
 
     def join(self, other, on=None, how='left', lsuffix='', rsuffix='',
              sort=False):
diff --git a/python/ray/dataframe/iterator.py b/python/ray/dataframe/iterator.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b26d1cf465be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/ray/dataframe/iterator.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+from collections import Iterator
+
+
+class PartitionIterator(Iterator):
+    def __init__(self, partitions, func):
+        """PartitionIterator class to define a generator on partitioned data
+
+        Args:
+            partitions ([ObjectID]): Partitions to iterate over
+            func (callable): The function to get inner iterables from
+                each partition
+        """
+        self.partitions = iter(partitions)
+        self.func = func
+        self.iter_cache = iter([])
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        return self
+
+    def __next__(self):
+        return self.next()
+
+    def next(self):
+        try:
+            return next(self.iter_cache)
+        except StopIteration:
+            next_partition = next(self.partitions)
+            self.iter_cache = self.func(next_partition)
+            return self.next()