diff --git c/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c i/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
index c5d95958b29..b61492eba4c 100644
--- c/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
+++ i/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
@@ -2033,6 +2033,11 @@ BaseBackup(void)
 
 	if (verbose)
 		pg_log_info("base backup completed");
+
+	if (format == 'p')
+		pg_log_info("pg_waldump --just-parse -p \"%s\" -t %u -s %s -e %s",
+					basedir, starttli,
+					xlogstart, xlogend);
 }
 
 
diff --git c/src/bin/pg_waldump/pg_waldump.c i/src/bin/pg_waldump/pg_waldump.c
index 279acfa0440..63f4a9cba1f 100644
--- c/src/bin/pg_waldump/pg_waldump.c
+++ i/src/bin/pg_waldump/pg_waldump.c
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ typedef struct XLogDumpPrivate
 typedef struct XLogDumpConfig
 {
 	/* display options */
+	bool		just_parse;
 	bool		bkp_details;
 	int			stop_after_records;
 	int			already_displayed_records;
@@ -749,6 +750,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	char	   *errormsg;
 
 	static struct option long_options[] = {
+		{"just-parse", no_argument, NULL, 'j'},
 		{"bkp-details", no_argument, NULL, 'b'},
 		{"end", required_argument, NULL, 'e'},
 		{"follow", no_argument, NULL, 'f'},
@@ -794,6 +796,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	private.endptr = InvalidXLogRecPtr;
 	private.endptr_reached = false;
 
+	config.just_parse = false;
 	config.bkp_details = false;
 	config.stop_after_records = -1;
 	config.already_displayed_records = 0;
@@ -810,11 +813,14 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 		goto bad_argument;
 	}
 
-	while ((option = getopt_long(argc, argv, "be:fn:p:r:s:t:x:z",
+	while ((option = getopt_long(argc, argv, "be:fjn:p:r:s:t:x:z",
 								 long_options, &optindex)) != -1)
 	{
 		switch (option)
 		{
+			case 'j':
+				config.just_parse = true;
+				break;
 			case 'b':
 				config.bkp_details = true;
 				break;
@@ -1076,10 +1082,13 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 			continue;
 
 		/* process the record */
-		if (config.stats == true)
-			XLogDumpCountRecord(&config, &stats, xlogreader_state);
-		else
-			XLogDumpDisplayRecord(&config, xlogreader_state);
+		if (!config.just_parse)
+		{
+			if (config.stats == true)
+				XLogDumpCountRecord(&config, &stats, xlogreader_state);
+			else
+				XLogDumpDisplayRecord(&config, xlogreader_state);
+		}
 
 		/* check whether we printed enough */
 		config.already_displayed_records++;