BUG #4179: pg_standby reports "file size greater than expected"

The following bug has been logged online:

Bug reference: 4179
Logged by: Reinhard Zitzmann
Email address: rz2008@insode.de
PostgreSQL version: 8.3.1
Operating system: Centos 5
Description: pg_standby reports "file size greater than expected"
Details:

When copying a WAL file with "cp --sparse=always ..." to a remote NFS
directory, the remote file becomes 16777217 bytes long for a short time. Its
size is finally reduced to the expected size of 16777216 bytes. pg_standby
aborts with the error message: "file size greater than expected" when it
sees the file while it is being copied.