diff --git a/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c b/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
index d294f9e0af2..a3c920bd702 100644
--- a/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
+++ b/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
@@ -1173,6 +1173,12 @@ PostmasterMain(int argc, char *argv[])
 		on_proc_exit(unlink_external_pid_file, 0);
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Remove old temporary files.  At this point there can be no other
+	 * Postgres processes running in this directory, so this should be safe.
+	 */
+	RemovePgTempFiles();
+
 	/*
 	 * If enabled, start up syslogger collection subprocess
 	 */
@@ -1230,13 +1236,6 @@ PostmasterMain(int argc, char *argv[])
 		 */
 	}
 
-
-	/*
-	 * Remove old temporary files.  At this point there can be no other
-	 * Postgres processes running in this directory, so this should be safe.
-	 */
-	RemovePgTempFiles();
-
 #ifdef HAVE_PTHREAD_IS_THREADED_NP
 
 	/*
@@ -6067,7 +6066,7 @@ read_backend_variables(char *id, Port *port)
 	fp = AllocateFile(id, PG_BINARY_R);
 	if (!fp)
 	{
-		write_stderr("could not read from backend variables file \"%s\": %s\n",
+		write_stderr("could not open backend variables file \"%s\": %s\n",
 					 id, strerror(errno));
 		exit(1);
 	}