diff --git a/contrib/worker_spi/worker_spi.c b/contrib/worker_spi/worker_spi.c
index 84ac1b7730b..3a75bb3f4eb 100644
--- a/contrib/worker_spi/worker_spi.c
+++ b/contrib/worker_spi/worker_spi.c
@@ -154,10 +154,17 @@ initialize_worker_spi(worktable *table)
 }
 
 static void
-worker_spi_main(void *main_arg)
+worker_spi_main(Datum main_arg)
 {
-	worktable  *table = (worktable *) main_arg;
+	int			index = DatumGetInt32(main_arg);
+	worktable  *table;
 	StringInfoData buf;
+	char		name[20];
+
+	table = palloc(sizeof(worktable));
+	sprintf(name, "schema%d", index);
+	table->schema = pstrdup(name);
+	table->name = pstrdup("counted");
 
 	/* Establish signal handlers before unblocking signals. */
 	pqsignal(SIGHUP, worker_spi_sighup);
@@ -296,9 +303,7 @@ void
 _PG_init(void)
 {
 	BackgroundWorker worker;
-	worktable  *table;
 	unsigned int i;
-	char		name[20];
 
 	/* get the configuration */
 	DefineCustomIntVariable("worker_spi.naptime",
@@ -338,14 +343,8 @@ _PG_init(void)
 	 */
 	for (i = 1; i <= worker_spi_total_workers; i++)
 	{
-		sprintf(name, "worker %d", i);
-		worker.bgw_name = pstrdup(name);
-
-		table = palloc(sizeof(worktable));
-		sprintf(name, "schema%d", i);
-		table->schema = pstrdup(name);
-		table->name = pstrdup("counted");
-		worker.bgw_main_arg = (void *) table;
+		snprintf(worker.bgw_name, BGW_MAXLEN, "worker %d", i);
+		worker.bgw_main_arg = Int32GetDatum(i);
 
 		RegisterBackgroundWorker(&worker);
 	}
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/bgworker.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/bgworker.sgml
index 7d2ffd14fef..7ffeca5321a 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/bgworker.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/bgworker.sgml
@@ -40,12 +40,12 @@
 typedef void (*bgworker_main_type)(void *main_arg);
 typedef struct BackgroundWorker
 {
-    char       *bgw_name;
+    char        bgw_name[BGW_MAXLEN];
     int         bgw_flags;
     BgWorkerStartTime bgw_start_time;
     int         bgw_restart_time;       /* in seconds, or BGW_NEVER_RESTART */
-    bgworker_main_type  bgw_main;
-    void       *bgw_main_arg;
+    bgworker_main_type bgw_main;
+    Datum       bgw_main_arg;
 } BackgroundWorker;
 </programlisting>
   </para>
diff --git a/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c b/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
index 1e41a0e75ec..f219bd13013 100644
--- a/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
+++ b/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
@@ -5247,9 +5247,6 @@ RegisterBackgroundWorker(BackgroundWorker *worker)
 	}
 
 	rw->rw_worker = *worker;
-	rw->rw_worker.bgw_name = ((char *) rw) + sizeof(RegisteredBgWorker);
-	strlcpy(rw->rw_worker.bgw_name, worker->bgw_name, namelen + 1);
-
 	rw->rw_backend = NULL;
 	rw->rw_pid = 0;
 	rw->rw_child_slot = 0;
diff --git a/src/include/postmaster/bgworker.h b/src/include/postmaster/bgworker.h
index e91e344eb67..e0f468fab9e 100644
--- a/src/include/postmaster/bgworker.h
+++ b/src/include/postmaster/bgworker.h
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
 #define BGWORKER_BACKEND_DATABASE_CONNECTION		0x0002
 
 
-typedef void (*bgworker_main_type) (void *main_arg);
+typedef void (*bgworker_main_type) (Datum main_arg);
 
 /*
  * Points in time at which a bgworker can request to be started
@@ -66,15 +66,16 @@ typedef enum
 
 #define BGW_DEFAULT_RESTART_INTERVAL	60
 #define BGW_NEVER_RESTART				-1
+#define BGW_MAXLEN						64
 
 typedef struct BackgroundWorker
 {
-	char	   *bgw_name;
+	char	    bgw_name[BGW_MAXLEN];
 	int			bgw_flags;
 	BgWorkerStartTime bgw_start_time;
 	int			bgw_restart_time;		/* in seconds, or BGW_NEVER_RESTART */
 	bgworker_main_type bgw_main;
-	void	   *bgw_main_arg;
+	Datum		bgw_main_arg;
 } BackgroundWorker;
 
 /* Register a new bgworker */