diff --git a/contrib/start-scripts/freebsd b/contrib/start-scripts/freebsd
index 758574b427f..87d9b9b357a 100644
--- a/contrib/start-scripts/freebsd
+++ b/contrib/start-scripts/freebsd
@@ -48,10 +48,10 @@ case $1 in
 	echo -n ' postgresql'
 	;;
     stop)
-	su -l $PGUSER -c "$PGCTL stop -D '$PGDATA' -s -m fast"
+	su -l $PGUSER -c "$PGCTL stop -D '$PGDATA' -s"
 	;;
     restart)
-	su -l $PGUSER -c "$PGCTL stop -D '$PGDATA' -s -m fast -w"
+	su -l $PGUSER -c "$PGCTL stop -D '$PGDATA' -s -w"
 	su -l $PGUSER -c "$DAEMON -D '$PGDATA' &" >>$PGLOG 2>&1
 	;;
     status)
diff --git a/contrib/start-scripts/linux b/contrib/start-scripts/linux
index c88433a0e2b..d7499c9d1e3 100644
--- a/contrib/start-scripts/linux
+++ b/contrib/start-scripts/linux
@@ -97,12 +97,12 @@ case $1 in
 	;;
   stop)
 	echo -n "Stopping PostgreSQL: "
-	su - $PGUSER -c "$PGCTL stop -D '$PGDATA' -s -m fast"
+	su - $PGUSER -c "$PGCTL stop -D '$PGDATA' -s"
 	echo "ok"
 	;;
   restart)
 	echo -n "Restarting PostgreSQL: "
-	su - $PGUSER -c "$PGCTL stop -D '$PGDATA' -s -m fast -w"
+	su - $PGUSER -c "$PGCTL stop -D '$PGDATA' -s -w"
 	test -e "$PG_OOM_ADJUST_FILE" && echo "$PG_MASTER_OOM_SCORE_ADJ" > "$PG_OOM_ADJUST_FILE"
 	su - $PGUSER -c "$DAEMON_ENV $DAEMON -D '$PGDATA' &" >>$PGLOG 2>&1
 	echo "ok"
diff --git a/contrib/start-scripts/osx/PostgreSQL b/contrib/start-scripts/osx/PostgreSQL
index d38504dcc26..48c098c8f13 100755
--- a/contrib/start-scripts/osx/PostgreSQL
+++ b/contrib/start-scripts/osx/PostgreSQL
@@ -90,14 +90,14 @@ StartService () {
 
 StopService () {
     ConsoleMessage "Stopping PostgreSQL database server"
-    sudo -u $PGUSER sh -c "$PGCTL stop -D '${PGDATA}' -s -m fast"
+    sudo -u $PGUSER sh -c "$PGCTL stop -D '${PGDATA}' -s"
 }
 
 RestartService () {
     if [ "${POSTGRESQL:=-NO-}" = "-YES-" ]; then
         ConsoleMessage "Restarting PostgreSQL database server"
         # should match StopService:
-        sudo -u $PGUSER sh -c "$PGCTL stop -D '${PGDATA}' -s -m fast"
+        sudo -u $PGUSER sh -c "$PGCTL stop -D '${PGDATA}' -s"
         # should match StartService:
         if [ "${ROTATELOGS}" = "1" ]; then
             sudo -u $PGUSER sh -c "${DAEMON} -D '${PGDATA}' &" 2>&1 | ${LOGUTIL} "${PGLOG}" ${ROTATESEC} &
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_ctl-ref.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_ctl-ref.sgml
index 5fb68986998..3f168005ec3 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_ctl-ref.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_ctl-ref.sgml
@@ -615,7 +615,7 @@ PostgreSQL documentation
     The <option>-m</option> option allows control over
     <emphasis>how</emphasis> the server shuts down:
 <screen>
-<prompt>$</prompt> <userinput>pg_ctl stop -m fast</userinput>
+<prompt>$</prompt> <userinput>pg_ctl stop -m smart</userinput>
 </screen></para>
   </refsect2>
 
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_ctl/t/001_start_stop.pl b/src/bin/pg_ctl/t/001_start_stop.pl
index cbe99d79ad5..b328f224877 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_ctl/t/001_start_stop.pl
+++ b/src/bin/pg_ctl/t/001_start_stop.pl
@@ -42,14 +42,14 @@ command_ok([ 'pg_ctl', 'start', '-D', "$tempdir/data", '-w' ],
 sleep 3 if ($windows_os);
 command_fails([ 'pg_ctl', 'start', '-D', "$tempdir/data", '-w' ],
 	'second pg_ctl start -w fails');
-command_ok([ 'pg_ctl', 'stop', '-D', "$tempdir/data", '-w', '-m', 'fast' ],
+command_ok([ 'pg_ctl', 'stop', '-D', "$tempdir/data", '-w' ],
 	'pg_ctl stop -w');
-command_fails([ 'pg_ctl', 'stop', '-D', "$tempdir/data", '-w', '-m', 'fast' ],
+command_fails([ 'pg_ctl', 'stop', '-D', "$tempdir/data", '-w' ],
 	'second pg_ctl stop fails');
 
-command_ok([ 'pg_ctl', 'restart', '-D', "$tempdir/data", '-w', '-m', 'fast' ],
+command_ok([ 'pg_ctl', 'restart', '-D', "$tempdir/data", '-w' ],
 	'pg_ctl restart with server not running');
-command_ok([ 'pg_ctl', 'restart', '-D', "$tempdir/data", '-w', '-m', 'fast' ],
+command_ok([ 'pg_ctl', 'restart', '-D', "$tempdir/data", '-w' ],
 	'pg_ctl restart with server running');
 
-system_or_bail 'pg_ctl', 'stop', '-D', "$tempdir/data", '-m', 'fast';
+system_or_bail 'pg_ctl', 'stop', '-D', "$tempdir/data";
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_ctl/t/002_status.pl b/src/bin/pg_ctl/t/002_status.pl
index 98e171e394f..606d10560fc 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_ctl/t/002_status.pl
+++ b/src/bin/pg_ctl/t/002_status.pl
@@ -22,4 +22,4 @@ system_or_bail 'pg_ctl', '-l', "$tempdir/logfile", '-D',
 command_exit_is([ 'pg_ctl', 'status', '-D', $node->data_dir ],
 	0, 'pg_ctl status with server running');
 
-system_or_bail 'pg_ctl', 'stop', '-D', $node->data_dir, '-m', 'fast';
+system_or_bail 'pg_ctl', 'stop', '-D', $node->data_dir;
diff --git a/src/test/regress/pg_regress.c b/src/test/regress/pg_regress.c
index baebcc8c320..d4d00d9c66f 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/pg_regress.c
+++ b/src/test/regress/pg_regress.c
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ stop_postmaster(void)
 		fflush(stderr);
 
 		snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf),
-				 "\"%s%spg_ctl\" stop -D \"%s/data\" -s -m fast",
+				 "\"%s%spg_ctl\" stop -D \"%s/data\" -s",
 				 bindir ? bindir : "",
 				 bindir ? "/" : "",
 				 temp_instance);
diff --git a/src/tools/msvc/vcregress.pl b/src/tools/msvc/vcregress.pl
index bcf22677acd..f575e400529 100644
--- a/src/tools/msvc/vcregress.pl
+++ b/src/tools/msvc/vcregress.pl
@@ -465,7 +465,7 @@ sub upgradecheck
 	@args = ('pg_dumpall', '-f', "$tmp_root/dump1.sql");
 	system(@args) == 0 or exit 1;
 	print "\nStopping old cluster\n\n";
-	system("pg_ctl -m fast stop") == 0 or exit 1;
+	system("pg_ctl stop") == 0 or exit 1;
 	$ENV{PGDATA} = "$data";
 	print "\nSetting up new cluster\n\n";
 	standard_initdb() or exit 1;
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ sub upgradecheck
 	@args = ('pg_dumpall', '-f', "$tmp_root/dump2.sql");
 	system(@args) == 0 or exit 1;
 	print "\nStopping new cluster\n\n";
-	system("pg_ctl -m fast stop") == 0 or exit 1;
+	system("pg_ctl stop") == 0 or exit 1;
 	print "\nDeleting old cluster\n\n";
 	system(".\\delete_old_cluster.bat") == 0 or exit 1;
 	print "\nComparing old and new cluster dumps\n\n";