diff --git a/src/backend/replication/walreceiver.c b/src/backend/replication/walreceiver.c
index 0158ae06826..5f181d118da 100644
--- a/src/backend/replication/walreceiver.c
+++ b/src/backend/replication/walreceiver.c
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@ WalReceiverMain(void)
 	/* use volatile pointer to prevent code rearrangement */
 	volatile WalRcvData *walrcv = WalRcv;
 	TimestampTz last_recv_timestamp;
+	TimestampTz now;
 	bool		ping_sent;
 
 	/*
@@ -203,6 +204,8 @@ WalReceiverMain(void)
 	 */
 	Assert(walrcv != NULL);
 
+	now = GetCurrentTimestamp();
+
 	/*
 	 * Mark walreceiver as running in shared memory.
 	 *
@@ -233,6 +236,7 @@ WalReceiverMain(void)
 		case WALRCV_RESTARTING:
 		default:
 			/* Shouldn't happen */
+			SpinLockRelease(&walrcv->mutex);
 			elog(PANIC, "walreceiver still running according to shared memory state");
 	}
 	/* Advertise our PID so that the startup process can kill us */
@@ -245,7 +249,8 @@ WalReceiverMain(void)
 	startpointTLI = walrcv->receiveStartTLI;
 
 	/* Initialise to a sanish value */
-	walrcv->lastMsgSendTime = walrcv->lastMsgReceiptTime = walrcv->latestWalEndTime = GetCurrentTimestamp();
+	walrcv->lastMsgSendTime =
+		walrcv->lastMsgReceiptTime = walrcv->latestWalEndTime = now;
 
 	SpinLockRelease(&walrcv->mutex);