diff --git a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/check.c b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/check.c
index 8b9e81eb407..b79e54a2dc7 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/check.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/check.c
@@ -174,23 +174,25 @@ report_clusters_compatible(void)
 
 
 void
-issue_warnings(void)
+issue_warnings_and_set_wal_level(void)
 {
+	/*
+	 * We unconditionally start/stop the new server because pg_resetwal -o
+	 * set wal_level to 'minimum'.  If the user is upgrading standby
+	 * servers using the rsync instructions, they will need pg_upgrade
+	 * to write its final WAL record showing wal_level as 'replica'.
+	 */
+	start_postmaster(&new_cluster, true);
+
 	/* Create dummy large object permissions for old < PG 9.0? */
 	if (GET_MAJOR_VERSION(old_cluster.major_version) <= 804)
-	{
-		start_postmaster(&new_cluster, true);
 		new_9_0_populate_pg_largeobject_metadata(&new_cluster, false);
-		stop_postmaster(false);
-	}
 
 	/* Reindex hash indexes for old < 10.0 */
 	if (GET_MAJOR_VERSION(old_cluster.major_version) <= 906)
-	{
-		start_postmaster(&new_cluster, true);
 		old_9_6_invalidate_hash_indexes(&new_cluster, false);
-		stop_postmaster(false);
-	}
+
+	stop_postmaster(false);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.c b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.c
index ca1aa5cbb80..2a9c397277c 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.c
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	create_script_for_cluster_analyze(&analyze_script_file_name);
 	create_script_for_old_cluster_deletion(&deletion_script_file_name);
 
-	issue_warnings();
+	issue_warnings_and_set_wal_level();
 
 	pg_log(PG_REPORT, "\nUpgrade Complete\n");
 	pg_log(PG_REPORT, "----------------\n");
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.h b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.h
index 8fbf8acd7eb..e3a577a7823 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.h
+++ b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.h
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ void		output_check_banner(bool live_check);
 void		check_and_dump_old_cluster(bool live_check);
 void		check_new_cluster(void);
 void		report_clusters_compatible(void);
-void		issue_warnings(void);
+void		issue_warnings_and_set_wal_level(void);
 void output_completion_banner(char *analyze_script_file_name,
 						 char *deletion_script_file_name);
 void		check_cluster_versions(void);