diff --git a/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c b/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
index 1dd31b3..6141d33 100644
--- a/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
+++ b/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
@@ -77,8 +77,6 @@ extern uint32 bootstrap_data_checksum_version;
 /* File path names (all relative to $PGDATA) */
 #define RECOVERY_COMMAND_FILE	"recovery.conf"
 #define RECOVERY_COMMAND_DONE	"recovery.done"
-#define PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE		"promote"
-#define FALLBACK_PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE "fallback_promote"
 
 
 /* User-settable parameters */
@@ -11531,6 +11529,21 @@ CheckForStandbyTrigger(void)
 }
 
 /*
+ * Remove any trigger file able to trigger promotion. This should be
+ * called at the beginning of recovery.
+ */
+void
+RemoveStandbyTrigger(void)
+{
+	struct stat stat_buf;
+
+	if (stat(PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE, &stat_buf) == 0)
+		unlink(PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE);
+	if (stat(FALLBACK_PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE, &stat_buf) == 0)
+		unlink(FALLBACK_PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE);
+}
+
+/*
  * Check to see if a promote request has arrived. Should be
  * called by postmaster after receiving SIGUSR1.
  */
diff --git a/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c b/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
index df8037b..c0a3f79 100644
--- a/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
+++ b/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
@@ -1160,6 +1160,13 @@ PostmasterMain(int argc, char *argv[])
 	RemovePgTempFiles();
 
 	/*
+	 * Remove any trigger file able to trigger promotion, this is safe from
+	 * race conditions involving signals as no other processes are running
+	 * yet.
+	 */
+	RemoveStandbyTrigger();
+
+	/*
 	 * If enabled, start up syslogger collection subprocess
 	 */
 	SysLoggerPID = SysLogger_Start();
diff --git a/src/backend/replication/basebackup.c b/src/backend/replication/basebackup.c
index 1e86e4c..b3d0498 100644
--- a/src/backend/replication/basebackup.c
+++ b/src/backend/replication/basebackup.c
@@ -911,6 +911,15 @@ sendDir(char *path, int basepathlen, bool sizeonly, List *tablespaces,
 			continue;
 
 		/*
+		 * Skip promote signal files. Those files may have been created by
+		 * pg_ctl to trigger a promotion but they do not belong to a base
+		 * backup.
+		 */
+		if (strcmp(de->d_name, PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE) == 0 ||
+			strcmp(de->d_name, FALLBACK_PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE) == 0)
+			continue;
+
+		/*
 		 * Check if the postmaster has signaled us to exit, and abort with an
 		 * error in that case. The error handler further up will call
 		 * do_pg_abort_backup() for us. Also check that if the backup was
diff --git a/src/include/access/xlog.h b/src/include/access/xlog.h
index 6dacee2..1d4a0af 100644
--- a/src/include/access/xlog.h
+++ b/src/include/access/xlog.h
@@ -261,6 +261,7 @@ extern XLogRecPtr GetRedoRecPtr(void);
 extern XLogRecPtr GetInsertRecPtr(void);
 extern XLogRecPtr GetFlushRecPtr(void);
 extern void GetNextXidAndEpoch(TransactionId *xid, uint32 *epoch);
+extern void RemoveStandbyTrigger(void);
 
 extern bool CheckPromoteSignal(void);
 extern void WakeupRecovery(void);
diff --git a/src/include/access/xlog_internal.h b/src/include/access/xlog_internal.h
index 5ebaa5f..c385e6a 100644
--- a/src/include/access/xlog_internal.h
+++ b/src/include/access/xlog_internal.h
@@ -132,6 +132,12 @@ typedef XLogLongPageHeaderData *XLogLongPageHeader;
 #define XLOG_CONTROL_FILE	"global/pg_control"
 
 /*
+ * Promote signal files (relative to $PGDATA)
+ */
+#define PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE				"promote"
+#define FALLBACK_PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE	"fallback_promote"
+
+/*
  * These macros encapsulate knowledge about the exact layout of XLog file
  * names, timeline history file names, and archive-status file names.
  */