diff --git a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/exec.c b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/exec.c
index a1bdbf373e3..c32b7a94207 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/exec.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/exec.c
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@
 #include "fe_utils/version.h"
 #include "pg_upgrade.h"
 
-static void check_data_dir(ClusterInfo *cluster);
-static void check_bin_dir(ClusterInfo *cluster, bool check_versions);
 static void get_bin_version(ClusterInfo *cluster);
 static void check_exec(const char *dir, const char *program, bool check_version);
 
@@ -244,15 +242,10 @@ pid_lock_file_exists(const char *datadir)
 
 
 /*
- * verify_directories()
- *
- * does all the hectic work of verifying directories and executables
- * of old and new server.
- *
- * NOTE: May update the values of all parameters
+ * Check that the current directory is writable
  */
 void
-verify_directories(void)
+check_current_dir_write_permissions(void)
 {
 #ifndef WIN32
 	if (access(".", R_OK | W_OK | X_OK) != 0)
@@ -260,14 +253,8 @@ verify_directories(void)
 	if (win32_check_directory_write_permissions() != 0)
 #endif
 		pg_fatal("You must have read and write access in the current directory.");
-
-	check_bin_dir(&old_cluster, false);
-	check_data_dir(&old_cluster);
-	check_bin_dir(&new_cluster, true);
-	check_data_dir(&new_cluster);
 }
 
-
 #ifdef WIN32
 /*
  * win32_check_directory_write_permissions()
@@ -329,7 +316,7 @@ check_single_dir(const char *pg_data, const char *subdir)
  *	us) we display an error message and exit()
  *
  */
-static void
+void
 check_data_dir(ClusterInfo *cluster)
 {
 	const char *pg_data = cluster->pgdata;
@@ -361,7 +348,7 @@ check_data_dir(ClusterInfo *cluster)
  *	against the version of this pg_upgrade.  This is for checking the target
  *	bindir.
  */
-static void
+void
 check_bin_dir(ClusterInfo *cluster, bool check_versions)
 {
 	struct stat statBuf;
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/option.c b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/option.c
index f01d2f92d95..179eaf0d5e6 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/option.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/option.c
@@ -422,9 +422,10 @@ check_required_directory(char **dirpath, const char *envVarName, bool useCwd,
  * by querying the running server.  This has limited checking because we
  * can't check for a running server because we can't find postmaster.pid.
  *
- * On entry, cluster->pgdata has been set from command line or env variable,
- * but cluster->pgconfig isn't set.  We fill both variables with corrected
- * values.
+ * On entry, cluster->bindir has already been set, and cluster->pgdata has
+ * been initially set from the command line or env variable.  We fill
+ * cluster->pgconfig, and adjust cluster->pgdata with a corrected value if the
+ * real data directory is in a different location.
  */
 void
 adjust_data_dir(ClusterInfo *cluster)
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.c b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.c
index c0fadb3f317..6d01084e4b0 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.c
@@ -66,7 +66,8 @@ static void create_new_objects(void);
 static void copy_xact_xlog_xid(void);
 static void set_frozenxids(void);
 static void make_outputdirs(char *pgdata);
-static void setup(char *argv0);
+static void check_bin_dirs(char *argv0);
+static void check_clusters_stopped(void);
 static void create_logical_replication_slots(void);
 static void create_conflict_detection_slot(void);
 
@@ -106,6 +107,12 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	get_restricted_token();
 
+	/*
+	 * Resolve old and new binary dirs before adjust_data_dir(), because
+	 * adjust_data_dir() might need to call the binaries.
+	 */
+	check_bin_dirs(argv[0]);
+
 	adjust_data_dir(&old_cluster);
 	adjust_data_dir(&new_cluster);
 
@@ -125,7 +132,11 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	 */
 	make_outputdirs(new_cluster.pgdata);
 
-	setup(argv[0]);
+	check_current_dir_write_permissions();
+
+	check_data_dir(&old_cluster);
+	check_data_dir(&new_cluster);
+	check_clusters_stopped();
 
 	output_check_banner();
 
@@ -359,14 +370,8 @@ make_outputdirs(char *pgdata)
 
 
 static void
-setup(char *argv0)
+check_bin_dirs(char *argv0)
 {
-	/*
-	 * make sure the user has a clean environment, otherwise, we may confuse
-	 * libpq when we connect to one (or both) of the servers.
-	 */
-	check_pghost_envvar();
-
 	/*
 	 * In case the user hasn't specified the directory for the new binaries
 	 * with -B, default to using the path of the currently executed pg_upgrade
@@ -384,7 +389,18 @@ setup(char *argv0)
 		new_cluster.bindir = pg_strdup(exec_path);
 	}
 
-	verify_directories();
+	check_bin_dir(&old_cluster, false);
+	check_bin_dir(&new_cluster, true);
+}
+
+static void
+check_clusters_stopped(void)
+{
+	/*
+	 * make sure the user has a clean environment, otherwise, we may confuse
+	 * libpq when we connect to one (or both) of the servers.
+	 */
+	check_pghost_envvar();
 
 	/* no postmasters should be running, except for a live check */
 	if (pid_lock_file_exists(old_cluster.pgdata))
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.h b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.h
index 4cb79bb780e..30a2e263d2d 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.h
+++ b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/pg_upgrade.h
@@ -391,7 +391,9 @@ void		generate_old_dump(void);
 
 bool		exec_prog(const char *log_filename, const char *opt_log_file,
 					  bool report_error, bool exit_on_error, const char *fmt, ...) pg_attribute_printf(5, 6);
-void		verify_directories(void);
+void		check_current_dir_write_permissions(void);
+void		check_bin_dir(ClusterInfo *cluster, bool check_versions);
+void		check_data_dir(ClusterInfo *cluster);
 bool		pid_lock_file_exists(const char *datadir);
 
 
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/t/002_pg_upgrade.pl b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/t/002_pg_upgrade.pl
index 9590625fc32..be57b2d838c 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_upgrade/t/002_pg_upgrade.pl
+++ b/src/bin/pg_upgrade/t/002_pg_upgrade.pl
@@ -561,35 +561,12 @@ $oldnode->safe_psql(
 # Upgrade the instance.
 $oldnode->stop;
 
-# Cause a failure at the start of pg_upgrade, this should create the logging
-# directory pg_upgrade_output.d but leave it around.  Keep --check for an
-# early exit.
-command_checks_all(
-	[
-		'pg_upgrade', '--no-sync',
-		'--old-datadir' => $oldnode->data_dir,
-		'--new-datadir' => $newnode->data_dir,
-		'--old-bindir' => $oldbindir . '/does/not/exist/',
-		'--new-bindir' => $newbindir,
-		'--socketdir' => $newnode->host,
-		'--old-port' => $oldnode->port,
-		'--new-port' => $newnode->port,
-		$mode, '--check',
-	],
-	1,
-	[qr{check for ".*?does/not/exist" failed}],
-	[],
-	'run of pg_upgrade --check for new instance with incorrect binary path');
-ok(-d $newnode->data_dir . "/pg_upgrade_output.d",
-	"pg_upgrade_output.d/ not removed after pg_upgrade failure");
-rmtree($newnode->data_dir . "/pg_upgrade_output.d");
-
 # Check that pg_upgrade aborts when encountering an invalid database
 # (However, versions that were out of support by commit c66a7d75e652 don't
 # know how to do this, so skip this test there.)
 SKIP:
 {
-	skip "database invalidation not implemented", 1
+	skip "database invalidation not implemented", 4
 	  if $oldnode->pg_version < 11;
 
 	command_checks_all(
@@ -608,6 +585,12 @@ SKIP:
 		[qr/datconnlimit/],
 		[qr/^$/],
 		'invalid database causes failure');
+
+	# Check that the failure creates the logging directory pg_upgrade_output.d
+	# and leaves it around
+	ok(-d $newnode->data_dir . "/pg_upgrade_output.d",
+		"pg_upgrade_output.d/ not removed after pg_upgrade failure");
+
 	rmtree($newnode->data_dir . "/pg_upgrade_output.d");
 }