diff --git a/src/backend/postmaster/autovacuum.c b/src/backend/postmaster/autovacuum.c
index eea76fb6a2d..8c4b3dcc9f3 100644
--- a/src/backend/postmaster/autovacuum.c
+++ b/src/backend/postmaster/autovacuum.c
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
  *
  *
  * IDENTIFICATION
- *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/postmaster/autovacuum.c,v 1.71.2.9 2009/06/09 19:36:42 alvherre Exp $
+ *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/postmaster/autovacuum.c,v 1.71.2.10 2009/08/24 17:23:28 alvherre Exp $
  *
  *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  */
@@ -646,7 +646,7 @@ AutoVacLauncherMain(int argc, char *argv[])
 				 * of a worker will continue to fail in the same way.
 				 */
 				AutoVacuumShmem->av_signal[AutoVacForkFailed] = false;
-				pg_usleep(100000L);		/* 100ms */
+				pg_usleep(1000000L);		/* 1s */
 				SendPostmasterSignal(PMSIGNAL_START_AUTOVAC_WORKER);
 				continue;
 			}
diff --git a/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c b/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
index 8c6fb05a257..ebac2299fed 100644
--- a/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
+++ b/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
  *
  *
  * IDENTIFICATION
- *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c,v 1.551.2.3 2009/08/11 11:51:20 mha Exp $
+ *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c,v 1.551.2.4 2009/08/24 17:23:28 alvherre Exp $
  *
  * NOTES
  *
@@ -269,6 +269,8 @@ bool		redirection_done = false;	/* stderr redirected for syslogger? */
 
 /* received START_AUTOVAC_LAUNCHER signal */
 static volatile sig_atomic_t start_autovac_launcher = false;
+/* the launcher needs to be signalled to communicate some condition */
+static volatile bool		avlauncher_needs_signal = false;
 
 /*
  * State for assigning random salts and cancel keys.
@@ -1321,6 +1323,14 @@ ServerLoop(void)
 		if (PgStatPID == 0 && pmState == PM_RUN)
 			PgStatPID = pgstat_start();
 
+		/* If we need to signal the autovacuum launcher, do so now */
+		if (avlauncher_needs_signal)
+		{
+			avlauncher_needs_signal = false;
+			if (AutoVacPID != 0)
+				kill(AutoVacPID, SIGUSR1);
+		}
+
 		/*
 		 * Touch the socket and lock file every 58 minutes, to ensure that
 		 * they are not removed by overzealous /tmp-cleaning tasks.  We assume
@@ -4155,12 +4165,16 @@ StartAutovacuumWorker(void)
 	/*
 	 * Report the failure to the launcher, if it's running.  (If it's not, we
 	 * might not even be connected to shared memory, so don't try to call
-	 * AutoVacWorkerFailed.)
+	 * AutoVacWorkerFailed.)  Note that we also need to signal it so that it
+	 * responds to the condition, but we don't do that here, instead waiting
+	 * for ServerLoop to do it.  This way we avoid a ping-pong signalling in
+	 * quick succession between the autovac launcher and postmaster in case
+	 * things get ugly.
 	 */
 	if (AutoVacPID != 0)
 	{
 		AutoVacWorkerFailed();
-		kill(AutoVacPID, SIGUSR1);
+		avlauncher_needs_signal = true;
 	}
 }