diff --git a/src/test/perl/PostgresNode.pm b/src/test/perl/PostgresNode.pm
index 3f3a1d81f6..0645e07789 100644
--- a/src/test/perl/PostgresNode.pm
+++ b/src/test/perl/PostgresNode.pm
@@ -1386,6 +1386,12 @@ the B<timed_out> parameter is also given.
 If B<timeout> is set and this parameter is given, the scalar it references
 is set to true if the psql call times out.
 
+=item replication => B<value>
+
+If set, pass the value as B<replication=value> in the conninfo string.
+Passing literal B<database> results in a logical replication connection.
+Passing literal B<1> results in a physical replication connection.
+
 =item extra_params => ['--single-transaction']
 
 If given, it must be an array reference containing additional parameters to B<psql>.
@@ -1414,10 +1420,14 @@ sub psql
 
 	my $stdout            = $params{stdout};
 	my $stderr            = $params{stderr};
+	my $replication       = $params{replication};
 	my $timeout           = undef;
 	my $timeout_exception = 'psql timed out';
 	my @psql_params =
-	  ('psql', '-XAtq', '-d', $self->connstr($dbname), '-f', '-');
+	  ('psql', '-XAtq', '-d',
+	   $self->connstr($dbname) .
+	   (defined $replication ? " replication=$replication" : ""),
+	   '-f', '-');
 
 	# If the caller wants an array and hasn't passed stdout/stderr
 	# references, allocate temporary ones to capture them so we
diff --git a/src/test/recovery/t/006_logical_decoding.pl b/src/test/recovery/t/006_logical_decoding.pl
index d40a500ed4..5c7e137e97 100644
--- a/src/test/recovery/t/006_logical_decoding.pl
+++ b/src/test/recovery/t/006_logical_decoding.pl
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ use strict;
 use warnings;
 use PostgresNode;
 use TestLib;
-use Test::More tests => 12;
+use Test::More tests => 13;
 use Config;
 
 # Initialize master node
@@ -27,12 +27,20 @@ $node_master->safe_psql('postgres',
 	qq[SELECT pg_create_logical_replication_slot('test_slot', 'test_decoding');]
 );
 
+# Cover walsender error shutdown code
+my ($result, $stdout, $stderr) = $node_master->psql('template1',
+	qq[START_REPLICATION SLOT test_slot LOGICAL 0/0],
+	replication => 'database');
+ok(($result == 3) and
+   ($stderr =~ 'replication slot "test_slot" was not created in this database'),
+   "Logical decoding correctly fails to start");
+
 $node_master->safe_psql('postgres',
 	qq[INSERT INTO decoding_test(x,y) SELECT s, s::text FROM generate_series(1,10) s;]
 );
 
 # Basic decoding works
-my ($result) = $node_master->safe_psql('postgres',
+$result = $node_master->safe_psql('postgres',
 	qq[SELECT pg_logical_slot_get_changes('test_slot', NULL, NULL);]);
 is(scalar(my @foobar = split /^/m, $result),
 	12, 'Decoding produced 12 rows inc BEGIN/COMMIT');