diff --git a/src/backend/replication/walreceiver.c b/src/backend/replication/walreceiver.c
index ed3ef55ebe7..bff667f577b 100644
--- a/src/backend/replication/walreceiver.c
+++ b/src/backend/replication/walreceiver.c
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ WalReceiverMain(void)
 
 	/* use volatile pointer to prevent code rearrangement */
 	volatile WalRcvData *walrcv = WalRcv;
+	TimestampTz now;
 
 	/*
 	 * WalRcv should be set up already (if we are a backend, we inherit this
@@ -182,6 +183,8 @@ WalReceiverMain(void)
 	 */
 	Assert(walrcv != NULL);
 
+	now = GetCurrentTimestamp();
+
 	/*
 	 * Mark walreceiver as running in shared memory.
 	 *
@@ -209,6 +212,7 @@ WalReceiverMain(void)
 
 		case WALRCV_RUNNING:
 			/* 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 */
@@ -220,7 +224,8 @@ WalReceiverMain(void)
 	startpoint = walrcv->receiveStart;
 
 	/* Initialise to a sanish value */
-	walrcv->lastMsgSendTime = walrcv->lastMsgReceiptTime = walrcv->latestWalEndTime = GetCurrentTimestamp();
+	walrcv->lastMsgSendTime =
+		walrcv->lastMsgReceiptTime = walrcv->latestWalEndTime = now;
 
 	SpinLockRelease(&walrcv->mutex);