diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_basebackup.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_basebackup.sgml
index c9dd62c..a298e5c 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_basebackup.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_basebackup.sgml
@@ -660,6 +660,14 @@ PostgreSQL documentation
   <title>Notes</title>
 
   <para>
+   At the beginning of the backup, a checkpoint needs to be written on the
+   server the backup is taken from.  Especially if the option
+   <literal>--checkpoint=fast</literal> is not used, this can take some time
+   during which <application>pg_basebackup</application> will be idle on the
+   server it is running on.
+  </para>
+
+  <para>
    The backup will include all files in the data directory and tablespaces,
    including the configuration files and any additional files placed in the
    directory by third parties, except certain temporary files managed by
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
index b6463fa..874b6d6 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
@@ -1754,6 +1754,11 @@ BaseBackup(void)
 	if (maxrate > 0)
 		maxrate_clause = psprintf("MAX_RATE %u", maxrate);
 
+	if (verbose)
+		fprintf(stderr,
+				_("%s: initiating base backup, waiting for checkpoint to complete\n"),
+				progname);
+
 	basebkp =
 		psprintf("BASE_BACKUP LABEL '%s' %s %s %s %s %s %s",
 				 escaped_label,
@@ -1791,6 +1796,9 @@ BaseBackup(void)
 
 	strlcpy(xlogstart, PQgetvalue(res, 0, 0), sizeof(xlogstart));
 
+	if (verbose)
+		fprintf(stderr, _("%s: checkpoint completed\n"), progname);
+
 	/*
 	 * 9.3 and later sends the TLI of the starting point. With older servers,
 	 * assume it's the same as the latest timeline reported by
@@ -1804,8 +1812,8 @@ BaseBackup(void)
 	MemSet(xlogend, 0, sizeof(xlogend));
 
 	if (verbose && includewal != NO_WAL)
-		fprintf(stderr, _("transaction log start point: %s on timeline %u\n"),
-				xlogstart, starttli);
+		fprintf(stderr, _("%s: transaction log start point: %s on timeline %u\n"),
+				progname, xlogstart, starttli);
 
 	/*
 	 * Get the header
@@ -1907,7 +1915,7 @@ BaseBackup(void)
 	}
 	strlcpy(xlogend, PQgetvalue(res, 0, 0), sizeof(xlogend));
 	if (verbose && includewal != NO_WAL)
-		fprintf(stderr, "transaction log end point: %s\n", xlogend);
+		fprintf(stderr, _("%s: transaction log end point: %s\n", progname, xlogend);
 	PQclear(res);
 
 	res = PQgetResult(conn);
@@ -2048,7 +2056,7 @@ BaseBackup(void)
 	}
 
 	if (verbose)
-		fprintf(stderr, "%s: base backup completed\n", progname);
+		fprintf(stderr, _("%s: base backup completed\n)", progname);
 }