diff --git a/src/include/access/xlogreader.h b/src/include/access/xlogreader.h
index c21b0ba972..fcf57b32eb 100644
--- a/src/include/access/xlogreader.h
+++ b/src/include/access/xlogreader.h
@@ -63,10 +63,10 @@ typedef int (*XLogPageReadCB) (XLogReaderState *xlogreader,
 							   int reqLen,
 							   XLogRecPtr targetRecPtr,
 							   char *readBuf);
-typedef void (*WALSegmentOpenCB) (XLogReaderState *xlogreader,
+typedef int (*WALSegmentOpenCB) (XLogReaderState *xlogreader,
 								  XLogSegNo nextSegNo,
 								  TimeLineID *tli_p);
-typedef void (*WALSegmentCloseCB) (XLogReaderState *xlogreader);
+typedef void (*WALSegmentCloseCB) (XLogReaderState *xlogreader, int fd);
 
 typedef struct XLogReaderRoutine
 {
@@ -93,10 +93,10 @@ typedef struct XLogReaderRoutine
 	XLogPageReadCB page_read;
 
 	/*
-	 * Callback to open the specified WAL segment for reading.  ->seg.ws_file
-	 * shall be set to the file descriptor of the opened segment.  In case of
-	 * failure, an error shall be raised by the callback and it shall not
-	 * return.
+	 * Callback to open the specified WAL segment for reading.  Needs to
+	 * return a file descriptor that will be saved as ->seg.ws_file,
+	 * indicating the opened WAL segment.  In case of failure, an error
+	 * shall be raised by the callback and it shall not return.
 	 *
 	 * "nextSegNo" is the number of the segment to be opened.
 	 *
@@ -107,8 +107,8 @@ typedef struct XLogReaderRoutine
 	WALSegmentOpenCB segment_open;
 
 	/*
-	 * WAL segment close callback.  ->seg.ws_file shall be set to a negative
-	 * number.
+	 * WAL segment close callback.  "fd" is the file descriptor of the
+	 * segment to close.
 	 */
 	WALSegmentCloseCB segment_close;
 } XLogReaderRoutine;
diff --git a/src/include/access/xlogutils.h b/src/include/access/xlogutils.h
index e59b6cf3a9..c9cbdaffae 100644
--- a/src/include/access/xlogutils.h
+++ b/src/include/access/xlogutils.h
@@ -50,10 +50,10 @@ extern void FreeFakeRelcacheEntry(Relation fakerel);
 extern int	read_local_xlog_page(XLogReaderState *state,
 								 XLogRecPtr targetPagePtr, int reqLen,
 								 XLogRecPtr targetRecPtr, char *cur_page);
-extern void wal_segment_open(XLogReaderState *state,
+extern int	wal_segment_open(XLogReaderState *state,
 							 XLogSegNo nextSegNo,
 							 TimeLineID *tli_p);
-extern void wal_segment_close(XLogReaderState *state);
+extern void wal_segment_close(XLogReaderState *state, int fd);
 
 extern void XLogReadDetermineTimeline(XLogReaderState *state,
 									  XLogRecPtr wantPage, uint32 wantLength);
diff --git a/src/backend/access/transam/xlogreader.c b/src/backend/access/transam/xlogreader.c
index 5995798b58..b026be4cbe 100644
--- a/src/backend/access/transam/xlogreader.c
+++ b/src/backend/access/transam/xlogreader.c
@@ -139,7 +139,10 @@ XLogReaderFree(XLogReaderState *state)
 	int			block_id;
 
 	if (state->seg.ws_file != -1)
-		state->routine.segment_close(state);
+	{
+		state->routine.segment_close(state, state->seg.ws_file);
+		state->seg.ws_file = -1;
+	}
 
 	for (block_id = 0; block_id <= XLR_MAX_BLOCK_ID; block_id++)
 	{
@@ -1089,10 +1092,13 @@ WALRead(XLogReaderState *state,
 			XLogSegNo	nextSegNo;
 
 			if (state->seg.ws_file >= 0)
-				state->routine.segment_close(state);
+			{
+				state->routine.segment_close(state, state->seg.ws_file);
+				state->seg.ws_file = -1;
+			}
 
 			XLByteToSeg(recptr, nextSegNo, state->segcxt.ws_segsize);
-			state->routine.segment_open(state, nextSegNo, &tli);
+			state->seg.ws_file = state->routine.segment_open(state, nextSegNo, &tli);
 
 			/* This shouldn't happen -- indicates a bug in segment_open */
 			Assert(state->seg.ws_file >= 0);
diff --git a/src/backend/access/transam/xlogutils.c b/src/backend/access/transam/xlogutils.c
index 322b0e8ff5..6d3d8f6a53 100644
--- a/src/backend/access/transam/xlogutils.c
+++ b/src/backend/access/transam/xlogutils.c
@@ -784,17 +784,18 @@ XLogReadDetermineTimeline(XLogReaderState *state, XLogRecPtr wantPage, uint32 wa
 }
 
 /* XLogReaderRoutine->segment_open callback for local pg_wal files */
-void
+int
 wal_segment_open(XLogReaderState *state, XLogSegNo nextSegNo,
 				 TimeLineID *tli_p)
 {
 	TimeLineID	tli = *tli_p;
 	char		path[MAXPGPATH];
+	int			fd = -1;
 
 	XLogFilePath(path, tli, nextSegNo, state->segcxt.ws_segsize);
-	state->seg.ws_file = BasicOpenFile(path, O_RDONLY | PG_BINARY);
-	if (state->seg.ws_file >= 0)
-		return;
+	fd = BasicOpenFile(path, O_RDONLY | PG_BINARY);
+	if (fd >= 0)
+		return fd;
 
 	if (errno == ENOENT)
 		ereport(ERROR,
@@ -806,15 +807,16 @@ wal_segment_open(XLogReaderState *state, XLogSegNo nextSegNo,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
 				 errmsg("could not open file \"%s\": %m",
 						path)));
+
+	return -1;	/* keep compiler quiet */
 }
 
 /* stock XLogReaderRoutine->segment_close callback */
 void
-wal_segment_close(XLogReaderState *state)
+wal_segment_close(XLogReaderState *state, int fd)
 {
-	close(state->seg.ws_file);
+	close(fd);
 	/* need to check errno? */
-	state->seg.ws_file = -1;
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/backend/replication/walsender.c b/src/backend/replication/walsender.c
index 86847cbb54..c01eb2d2b6 100644
--- a/src/backend/replication/walsender.c
+++ b/src/backend/replication/walsender.c
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ static void LagTrackerWrite(XLogRecPtr lsn, TimestampTz local_flush_time);
 static TimeOffset LagTrackerRead(int head, XLogRecPtr lsn, TimestampTz now);
 static bool TransactionIdInRecentPast(TransactionId xid, uint32 epoch);
 
-static void WalSndSegmentOpen(XLogReaderState *state, XLogSegNo nextSegNo,
+static int	WalSndSegmentOpen(XLogReaderState *state, XLogSegNo nextSegNo,
 							  TimeLineID *tli_p);
 static void UpdateSpillStats(LogicalDecodingContext *ctx);
 
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ WalSndErrorCleanup(void)
 	pgstat_report_wait_end();
 
 	if (xlogreader != NULL && xlogreader->seg.ws_file >= 0)
-		wal_segment_close(xlogreader);
+		wal_segment_close(xlogreader, xlogreader->seg.ws_file);
 
 	if (MyReplicationSlot != NULL)
 		ReplicationSlotRelease();
@@ -2456,11 +2456,12 @@ WalSndKill(int code, Datum arg)
 }
 
 /* XLogReaderRoutine->segment_open callback */
-static void
+static int
 WalSndSegmentOpen(XLogReaderState *state, XLogSegNo nextSegNo,
 				  TimeLineID *tli_p)
 {
 	char		path[MAXPGPATH];
+	int			fd = -1;
 
 	/*-------
 	 * When reading from a historic timeline, and there is a timeline switch
@@ -2497,9 +2498,9 @@ WalSndSegmentOpen(XLogReaderState *state, XLogSegNo nextSegNo,
 	}
 
 	XLogFilePath(path, *tli_p, nextSegNo, state->segcxt.ws_segsize);
-	state->seg.ws_file = BasicOpenFile(path, O_RDONLY | PG_BINARY);
-	if (state->seg.ws_file >= 0)
-		return;
+	fd = BasicOpenFile(path, O_RDONLY | PG_BINARY);
+	if (fd >= 0)
+		return fd;
 
 	/*
 	 * If the file is not found, assume it's because the standby asked for a
@@ -2522,6 +2523,8 @@ WalSndSegmentOpen(XLogReaderState *state, XLogSegNo nextSegNo,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
 				 errmsg("could not open file \"%s\": %m",
 						path)));
+
+	return -1;	/* keep compiler quiet */
 }
 
 /*
@@ -2686,7 +2689,7 @@ XLogSendPhysical(void)
 	{
 		/* close the current file. */
 		if (xlogreader->seg.ws_file >= 0)
-			wal_segment_close(xlogreader);
+			wal_segment_close(xlogreader, xlogreader->seg.ws_file);
 
 		/* Send CopyDone */
 		pq_putmessage_noblock('c', NULL, 0);
@@ -2791,7 +2794,7 @@ retry:
 
 		if (reload && xlogreader->seg.ws_file >= 0)
 		{
-			wal_segment_close(xlogreader);
+			wal_segment_close(xlogreader, xlogreader->seg.ws_file);
 
 			goto retry;
 		}
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_waldump/pg_waldump.c b/src/bin/pg_waldump/pg_waldump.c
index d1a0678935..6410a869f3 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_waldump/pg_waldump.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_waldump/pg_waldump.c
@@ -280,13 +280,14 @@ identify_target_directory(char *directory, char *fname)
 }
 
 /* pg_waldump's XLogReaderRoutine->segment_open callback */
-static void
+static int
 WALDumpOpenSegment(XLogReaderState *state, XLogSegNo nextSegNo,
 				   TimeLineID *tli_p)
 {
 	TimeLineID	tli = *tli_p;
 	char		fname[MAXPGPATH];
 	int			tries;
+	int			fd = -1;
 
 	XLogFileName(fname, tli, nextSegNo, state->segcxt.ws_segsize);
 
@@ -298,9 +299,9 @@ WALDumpOpenSegment(XLogReaderState *state, XLogSegNo nextSegNo,
 	 */
 	for (tries = 0; tries < 10; tries++)
 	{
-		state->seg.ws_file = open_file_in_directory(state->segcxt.ws_dir, fname);
-		if (state->seg.ws_file >= 0)
-			return;
+		fd = open_file_in_directory(state->segcxt.ws_dir, fname);
+		if (fd >= 0)
+			return fd;
 		if (errno == ENOENT)
 		{
 			int			save_errno = errno;
@@ -316,6 +317,7 @@ WALDumpOpenSegment(XLogReaderState *state, XLogSegNo nextSegNo,
 	}
 
 	fatal_error("could not find file \"%s\": %m", fname);
+	return -1;	/* keep compiler quiet */
 }
 
 /*
@@ -323,11 +325,10 @@ WALDumpOpenSegment(XLogReaderState *state, XLogSegNo nextSegNo,
  * wal_segment_close
  */
 static void
-WALDumpCloseSegment(XLogReaderState *state)
+WALDumpCloseSegment(XLogReaderState *state, int fd)
 {
-	close(state->seg.ws_file);
+	close(fd);
 	/* need to check errno? */
-	state->seg.ws_file = -1;
 }
 
 /* pg_waldump's XLogReaderRoutine->page_read callback */