diff --git a/contrib/pg_standby/pg_standby.c b/contrib/pg_standby/pg_standby.c
index 97b6482..d9cb118 100644
--- a/contrib/pg_standby/pg_standby.c
+++ b/contrib/pg_standby/pg_standby.c
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ int			maxwaittime = 0;	/* how long are we prepared to wait for? */
 int			keepfiles = 0;		/* number of WAL files to keep, 0 keep all */
 int			maxretries = 3;		/* number of retries on restore command */
 bool		debug = false;		/* are we debugging? */
+bool		progress = true;	/* are we reporting progress? */
 bool		need_cleanup = false;		/* do we need to remove files from
 										 * archive? */
 
@@ -480,21 +481,18 @@ RestoreWALFileForRecovery(void)
 	int			rc = 0;
 	int			numretries = 0;
 
-	if (debug)
-	{
-		fprintf(stderr, "running restore		:");
-		fflush(stderr);
-	}
+	if (progress)
+		fprintf(stdout, "Running restore     :");
 
 	while (numretries <= maxretries)
 	{
 		rc = system(restoreCommand);
 		if (rc == 0)
 		{
-			if (debug)
+			if (progress)
 			{
-				fprintf(stderr, " OK\n");
-				fflush(stderr);
+				fprintf(stdout, " OK\n");
+				fflush(stdout);
 			}
 			return true;
 		}
@@ -504,8 +502,8 @@ RestoreWALFileForRecovery(void)
 	/*
 	 * Allow caller to add additional info
 	 */
-	if (debug)
-		fprintf(stderr, "not restored\n");
+	if (progress)
+		fprintf(stdout, " not restored\n");
 	return false;
 }
 
@@ -522,10 +520,11 @@ usage(void)
 		   "  restore_command = 'pg_standby -l /mnt/server/archiverdir %%f %%p %%r'\n");
 	printf("\nOptions:\n");
 	printf("  -c                 copies file from archive (default)\n");
-	printf("  -d                 generate lots of debugging output (testing only)\n");
+	printf("  -d                 generate lots of debugging output (testing only, to STDERR)\n");
 	printf("  -k NUMFILESTOKEEP  if RESTARTWALFILE not used, removes files prior to limit\n"
 		   "                     (0 keeps all)\n");
 	printf("  -l                 does nothing; use of link is now deprecated\n");
+	printf("  -p                 report progress of replay activity (to STDOUT)\n");
 	printf("  -r MAXRETRIES      max number of times to retry, with progressive wait\n"
 		   "                     (default=3)\n");
 	printf("  -s SLEEPTIME       seconds to wait between file checks (min=1, max=60,\n"
@@ -623,6 +622,9 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 				restoreCommandType = RESTORE_COMMAND_LINK;
 #endif
 				break;
+			case 'p':			/* Report Progress mode */
+				progress = true;
+				break;
 			case 'r':			/* Retries */
 				maxretries = atoi(optarg);
 				if (maxretries < 0)
@@ -718,23 +720,23 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	need_cleanup = SetWALFileNameForCleanup();
 
-	if (debug)
+	if (progress)
 	{
-		fprintf(stderr, "Trigger file 		: %s\n", triggerPath ? triggerPath : "<not set>");
-		fprintf(stderr, "Waiting for WAL file	: %s\n", nextWALFileName);
-		fprintf(stderr, "WAL file path		: %s\n", WALFilePath);
-		fprintf(stderr, "Restoring to		: %s\n", xlogFilePath);
-		fprintf(stderr, "Sleep interval		: %d second%s\n",
+		fprintf(stdout, "Trigger file 		: %s\n", triggerPath ? triggerPath : "<not set>");
+		fprintf(stdout, "Waiting for WAL file	: %s\n", nextWALFileName);
+		fprintf(stdout, "WAL file path		: %s\n", WALFilePath);
+		fprintf(stdout, "Restoring to		: %s\n", xlogFilePath);
+		fprintf(stdout, "Sleep interval		: %d second%s\n",
 				sleeptime, (sleeptime > 1 ? "s" : " "));
-		fprintf(stderr, "Max wait interval	: %d %s\n",
+		fprintf(stdout, "Max wait interval	: %d %s\n",
 				maxwaittime, (maxwaittime > 0 ? "seconds" : "forever"));
-		fprintf(stderr, "Command for restore	: %s\n", restoreCommand);
-		fprintf(stderr, "Keep archive history	: ");
+		fprintf(stdout, "Command for restore	: %s\n", restoreCommand);
+		fprintf(stdout, "Keep archive history	: ");
 		if (need_cleanup)
-			fprintf(stderr, "%s and later\n", exclusiveCleanupFileName);
+			fprintf(stdout, "%s and later\n", exclusiveCleanupFileName);
 		else
-			fprintf(stderr, "No cleanup required\n");
-		fflush(stderr);
+			fprintf(stdout, "No cleanup required\n");
+		fflush(stdout);
 	}
 
 	/*
@@ -747,6 +749,16 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 			   ".history") == 0)
 	{
 		nextWALFileType = XLOG_HISTORY;
+		/* error is ENOENT */
+		if (stat(nextWALFileName, &stat_buf) != 0) {
+			if (debug)
+			{
+				fprintf(stderr, "stat for history file failed (probably ok)\n");
+				fflush(stderr);
+			}
+			exit(1);
+		}
+
 		if (RestoreWALFileForRecovery())
 			exit(0);
 		else