diff --git a/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c b/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
index 6c69eb6dd7..dcfb481f38 100644
--- a/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
+++ b/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
@@ -5541,17 +5541,6 @@ exitArchiveRecovery(TimeLineID endTLI, XLogRecPtr endOfLog)
 	XLogFileName(xlogfname, ThisTimeLineID, startLogSegNo, wal_segment_size);
 	XLogArchiveCleanup(xlogfname);
 
-	/*
-	 * Since there might be a partial WAL segment named RECOVERYXLOG, get rid
-	 * of it.
-	 */
-	snprintf(recoveryPath, MAXPGPATH, XLOGDIR "/RECOVERYXLOG");
-	unlink(recoveryPath);		/* ignore any error */
-
-	/* Get rid of any remaining recovered timeline-history file, too */
-	snprintf(recoveryPath, MAXPGPATH, XLOGDIR "/RECOVERYHISTORY");
-	unlink(recoveryPath);		/* ignore any error */
-
 	/*
 	 * Remove the signal files out of the way, so that we don't accidentally
 	 * re-enter archive recovery mode in a subsequent crash.
@@ -7475,6 +7464,17 @@ StartupXLOG(void)
 		 */
 		writeTimeLineHistory(ThisTimeLineID, recoveryTargetTLI,
 							 EndRecPtr, reason);
+
+		/*
+		 * Since there might be a partial WAL segment named RECOVERYXLOG, get rid
+		 * of it.
+		 */
+		snprintf(recoveryPath, MAXPGPATH, XLOGDIR "/RECOVERYXLOG");
+		unlink(recoveryPath);		/* ignore any error */
+
+		/* Get rid of any remaining recovered timeline-history file, too */
+		snprintf(recoveryPath, MAXPGPATH, XLOGDIR "/RECOVERYHISTORY");
+		unlink(recoveryPath);		/* ignore any error */
 	}
 
 	/* Save the selected TimeLineID in shared memory, too */