ddl over database link in oracle 10gR2

recently I encountered a requirement to create a table on remote database DB_TARGET (working in DB_SOURCE)

for example:

create table table_a@dblink_to_db_target; --> does not work
-- ORA-02021: DDL operations are not allowed on a remote database

whereas

select 'hello' from dual@dblink_to_db_target; --> works

This is a workaround I used:
on TARGET_DB:

CREATE OR REPLACE 
FUNCTION prepare_table 
   ( table_name in varchar2) return varchar2 
   IS 
    err_num NUMBER; 
    err_msg VARCHAR2(100); 
    sqlstmt varchar2(4000) := ''; 
    tbl varchar2(30) := ''; 
BEGIN 
    if instr(table_name,'.') > 0 then 
        tbl := substr(table_name,instr(table_name,'.')+1); 
        sqlstmt := 'CREATE TABLE ' || tbl || ' as select * from ' || 
table_name; 
        execute immediate sqlstmt; 
        return 'table ' || tbl || ' successfully created'; 
    else 
        return 'table in owners'' schema'; 
    end if; 
EXCEPTION 
    WHEN others THEN 
        err_msg := SUBSTR(SQLERRM, 1, 100); 
        return 'error when creating ' || tbl || '-' || err_msg || '-' 
|| sqlstmt; 
END; 
/ 

this function creates a table specified as a table_name parameter only
if the "." is in the name => goal is to create a table in my_schema
from other user's schema.
this function works fine when calling this on DB_TARGET:

SQL> set serveroutput on; 
SQL> declare 
  2  result varchar2(300) := ''; 
  3  begin 
  4  result := prepare_table('other_user.table_a'); 
  5  dbms_output.put_line(result); 
  6  end; 
  7  / 
table table_a successfully created 

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed. 

but then surprisingly to me:
when I try to call this function from DB_SOURCE:

SQL> set serveroutput on; 
SQL> declare 
  2  result varchar2(300) := ''; 
  3  begin 
  4  result := prepare_table@dblink_to_db_target('other_user.table_a'); 
  5  dbms_output.put_line(result); 
  6  end; 
  7  / 
error when creating gcd_countries-ORA-02064: distributed operation not 
supported-CREATE TABLE table_a as select * from other_user.table_a 

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed. 

I found a workaround with a wrapper procedure on DB_TARGET:

CREATE OR REPLACE 
PROCEDURE prepare_table_proc(table_name in varchar2) 
   IS 
   result varchar2(300) := ''; 
BEGIN 
    result := prepare_table(table_name); 
    dbms_output.put_line('success'); 
EXCEPTION 
    WHEN others THEN 
        dbms_output.put_line('err'); 
END; 
/ 

when I call it from DB_SOURCE like this:

SQL> call prepare_table_proc@dblink_to_db_target('other_user.table_a'); 
Call completed. 

And the table_a is created on DB_TARGET.

when we look closer why the function itself did not work we see in the description of the error message:
ORA-02064: distributed operation not supported
Cause: One of the following unsupported operations was attempted:
1. array execute of a remote update with a subquery that
references a dblink, or
2. an update of a long column with bind variable and an update of
a second column with a subquery that both references a dblink and a
bind variable, or
3. a commit is issued in a coordinated session from an RPC
procedure call with OUT parameters or function call.

in my case point 3. yields and hence the error message.

Oracle documentation comes with help in:
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/appdev.102/b14258/d_sql.htm#sthref6148

it works only as a procedure and we cannot return a value to the invoking DB_SOURCE anyway.

maybe there's a better way...
right now I am happy with the workaround