*** a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_basebackup.sgml
--- b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_basebackup.sgml
***************
*** 203,208 **** PostgreSQL documentation
--- 203,220 ----
       </varlistentry>
  
       <varlistentry>
+       <term><option>--xlogdir=<replaceable class="parameter">xlogdir</replaceable></option></term>
+       <listitem>
+        <para>
+         Specifies the location for the transaction log directory. 
+         <replaceable>xlogdir</replaceable> must be an absolute path.
+         The transaction log directory can only be specified when
+         the backup is in plain mode.
+        </para>
+       </listitem>
+      </varlistentry>
+ 
+      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>-x</option></term>
        <term><option>--xlog</option></term>
        <listitem>
*** a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
--- b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
***************
*** 35,40 ****
--- 35,41 ----
  
  /* Global options */
  char	   *basedir = NULL;
+ static char *xlog_dir = "";
  char		format = 'p';		/* p(lain)/t(ar) */
  char	   *label = "pg_basebackup base backup";
  bool		showprogress = false;
***************
*** 115,120 **** usage(void)
--- 116,122 ----
  	printf(_("  -x, --xlog             include required WAL files in backup (fetch mode)\n"));
  	printf(_("  -X, --xlog-method=fetch|stream\n"
  			 "                         include required WAL files with specified method\n"));
+ 	printf(_("      --xlogdir=XLOGDIR  location for the transaction log directory\n"));
  	printf(_("  -z, --gzip             compress tar output\n"));
  	printf(_("  -Z, --compress=0-9     compress tar output with given compression level\n"));
  	printf(_("\nGeneral options:\n"));
***************
*** 980,989 **** ReceiveAndUnpackTarFile(PGconn *conn, PGresult *res, int rownum)
  					{
  						/*
  						 * When streaming WAL, pg_xlog will have been created
! 						 * by the wal receiver process, so just ignore failure
! 						 * on that.
  						 */
! 						if (!streamwal || strcmp(filename + strlen(filename) - 8, "/pg_xlog") != 0)
  						{
  							fprintf(stderr,
  							_("%s: could not create directory \"%s\": %s\n"),
--- 982,995 ----
  					{
  						/*
  						 * When streaming WAL, pg_xlog will have been created
! 						 * by the wal receiver process. Also, when transaction
! 						 * log directory location was specified, pg_xlog has
! 						 * already been created as a symbolic link before
! 						 * starting the actual backup. So just ignore failure
! 						 * on them.
  						 */
! 						if ((!streamwal && (strcmp(xlog_dir, "") == 0))
! 							|| strcmp(filename + strlen(filename) - 8, "/pg_xlog") != 0)
  						{
  							fprintf(stderr,
  							_("%s: could not create directory \"%s\": %s\n"),
***************
*** 1666,1671 **** main(int argc, char **argv)
--- 1672,1678 ----
  		{"status-interval", required_argument, NULL, 's'},
  		{"verbose", no_argument, NULL, 'v'},
  		{"progress", no_argument, NULL, 'P'},
+ 		{"xlogdir", required_argument, NULL, 1},
  		{NULL, 0, NULL, 0}
  	};
  	int			c;
***************
*** 1750,1755 **** main(int argc, char **argv)
--- 1757,1765 ----
  					exit(1);
  				}
  				break;
+ 			case 1:
+ 				xlog_dir = pg_strdup(optarg);
+ 				break;
  			case 'l':
  				label = pg_strdup(optarg);
  				break;
***************
*** 1872,1877 **** main(int argc, char **argv)
--- 1882,1911 ----
  		exit(1);
  	}
  
+ 	if (strcmp(xlog_dir, "") != 0)
+ 	{
+ 		if (format != 'p')
+ 		{
+ 			fprintf(stderr,
+ 					_("%s: transaction log directory location can only be specified in plain mode\n"),
+ 					progname);
+ 			fprintf(stderr, _("Try \"%s --help\" for more information.\n"),
+ 					progname);
+ 			exit(1);
+ 		}
+ 
+ 		/* clean up xlog directory name, check it's absolute */
+ 		canonicalize_path(xlog_dir);
+ 		if (!is_absolute_path(xlog_dir))
+ 		{
+ 			fprintf(stderr, _("%s: transaction log directory location must be "
+ 							  "an absolute path\n"), progname);
+ 			fprintf(stderr, _("Try \"%s --help\" for more information.\n"),
+ 					progname);
+ 			exit(1);
+ 		}
+ 	}
+ 
  #ifndef HAVE_LIBZ
  	if (compresslevel != 0)
  	{
***************
*** 1890,1895 **** main(int argc, char **argv)
--- 1924,1953 ----
  	if (format == 'p' || strcmp(basedir, "-") != 0)
  		verify_dir_is_empty_or_create(basedir);
  
+ 	/* Create transaction log symlink, if required */
+ 	if (strcmp(xlog_dir, "") != 0)
+ 	{
+ 		char	   *linkloc;
+ 
+ 		verify_dir_is_empty_or_create(xlog_dir);
+ 
+ 		/* form name of the place where the symlink must go */
+ 		linkloc = psprintf("%s/pg_xlog", basedir);
+ 
+ #ifdef HAVE_SYMLINK
+ 		if (symlink(xlog_dir, linkloc) != 0)
+ 		{
+ 			fprintf(stderr, _("%s: could not create symbolic link \"%s\": %s\n"),
+ 					progname, linkloc, strerror(errno));
+ 			exit(1);
+ 		}
+ #else
+ 		fprintf(stderr, _("%s: symlinks are not supported on this platform"));
+ 		exit(1);
+ #endif
+ 		free(linkloc);
+ 	}
+ 
  	BaseBackup();
  
  	return 0;