diff --git a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
index a783d63df71..37ffa55d121 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
@@ -751,8 +751,12 @@ writeTarData(
 #ifdef HAVE_LIBZ
 	if (ztarfile != NULL)
 	{
+		errno = 0;
 		if (gzwrite(ztarfile, buf, r) != r)
 		{
+			/* if write didn't set errno, assume problem is no disk space */
+			if (errno == 0)
+				errno = ENOSPC;
 			fprintf(stderr,
 					_("%s: could not write to compressed file \"%s\": %s\n"),
 					progname, current_file, get_gz_error(ztarfile));
@@ -762,8 +766,12 @@ writeTarData(
 	else
 #endif
 	{
+		errno = 0;
 		if (fwrite(buf, r, 1, tarfile) != 1)
 		{
+			/* if write didn't set errno, assume problem is no disk space */
+			if (errno == 0)
+				errno = ENOSPC;
 			fprintf(stderr, _("%s: could not write to file \"%s\": %s\n"),
 					progname, current_file, strerror(errno));
 			disconnect_and_exit(1);
@@ -1368,8 +1376,12 @@ ReceiveAndUnpackTarFile(PGconn *conn, PGresult *res, int rownum)
 				continue;
 			}
 
+			errno = 0;
 			if (fwrite(copybuf, r, 1, file) != 1)
 			{
+				/* if write didn't set errno, assume problem is no disk space */
+				if (errno == 0)
+					errno = ENOSPC;
 				fprintf(stderr, _("%s: could not write to file \"%s\": %s\n"),
 						progname, filename, strerror(errno));
 				disconnect_and_exit(1);
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_dump/pg_backup_directory.c b/src/bin/pg_dump/pg_backup_directory.c
index b505499b952..2b3921b43ad 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_dump/pg_backup_directory.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_dump/pg_backup_directory.c
@@ -356,10 +356,15 @@ _WriteData(ArchiveHandle *AH, const void *data, size_t dLen)
 {
 	lclContext *ctx = (lclContext *) AH->formatData;
 
+	errno = 0;
 	if (dLen > 0 && cfwrite(data, dLen, ctx->dataFH) != dLen)
+	{
+		/* if write didn't set errno, assume problem is no disk space */
+		if (errno == 0)
+			errno = ENOSPC;
 		exit_horribly(modulename, "could not write to output file: %s\n",
 					  get_cfp_error(ctx->dataFH));
-
+	}
 
 	return;
 }
@@ -496,9 +501,15 @@ _WriteByte(ArchiveHandle *AH, const int i)
 	unsigned char c = (unsigned char) i;
 	lclContext *ctx = (lclContext *) AH->formatData;
 
+	errno = 0;
 	if (cfwrite(&c, 1, ctx->dataFH) != 1)
+	{
+		/* if write didn't set errno, assume problem is no disk space */
+		if (errno == 0)
+			errno = ENOSPC;
 		exit_horribly(modulename, "could not write to output file: %s\n",
 					  get_cfp_error(ctx->dataFH));
+	}
 
 	return 1;
 }
@@ -526,9 +537,15 @@ _WriteBuf(ArchiveHandle *AH, const void *buf, size_t len)
 {
 	lclContext *ctx = (lclContext *) AH->formatData;
 
+	errno = 0;
 	if (cfwrite(buf, len, ctx->dataFH) != len)
+	{
+		/* if write didn't set errno, assume problem is no disk space */
+		if (errno == 0)
+			errno = ENOSPC;
 		exit_horribly(modulename, "could not write to output file: %s\n",
 					  get_cfp_error(ctx->dataFH));
+	}
 
 	return;
 }