diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pgbench.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pgbench.sgml
index e3a0abb4c7..7be9c81c43 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pgbench.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pgbench.sgml
@@ -193,12 +193,25 @@ pgbench <optional> <replaceable>options</replaceable> </optional> <replaceable>d
           </listitem>
          </varlistentry>
          <varlistentry>
-          <term><literal>g</literal> (Generate data)</term>
+          <term><literal>g</literal> or <literal>G</literal> (Generate data, client-side or server-side)</term>
           <listitem>
            <para>
             Generate data and load it into the standard tables,
             replacing any data already present.
            </para>
+           <para>
+            With <literal>g</literal> (client-side data generation),
+            data is generated in <command>pgbench</command> client and then
+            sent to the server. This uses the client/server bandwidth
+            extensively through a <command>COPY</command>.
+           </para>
+           <para>
+            With <literal>G</literal> (server-side data generation),
+            only limited queries are sent from <command>pgbench</command>
+            client and then data is actually generated in the server.
+            No significant bandwidth is required for this variant, but
+            the server will do more work.
+           </para>
           </listitem>
          </varlistentry>
          <varlistentry>
diff --git a/src/bin/pgbench/pgbench.c b/src/bin/pgbench/pgbench.c
index 03bcd22996..7f5c1d00c8 100644
--- a/src/bin/pgbench/pgbench.c
+++ b/src/bin/pgbench/pgbench.c
@@ -131,8 +131,14 @@ static int	pthread_join(pthread_t th, void **thread_return);
 /********************************************************************
  * some configurable parameters */
 
+/*
+ * we do all data generation in one transaction to enable the backend's
+ * data-loading optimizations
+ */
 #define DEFAULT_INIT_STEPS "dtgvp"	/* default -I setting */
 
+#define ALL_INIT_STEPS "dtgGvpf"	/* all possible steps */
+
 #define LOG_STEP_SECONDS	5	/* seconds between log messages */
 #define DEFAULT_NXACTS	10		/* default nxacts */
 
@@ -627,7 +633,7 @@ usage(void)
 		   "  %s [OPTION]... [DBNAME]\n"
 		   "\nInitialization options:\n"
 		   "  -i, --initialize         invokes initialization mode\n"
-		   "  -I, --init-steps=[dtgvpf]+ (default \"dtgvp\")\n"
+		   "  -I, --init-steps=[" ALL_INIT_STEPS "]+ (default \"" DEFAULT_INIT_STEPS "\")\n"
 		   "                           run selected initialization steps\n"
 		   "  -F, --fillfactor=NUM     set fill factor\n"
 		   "  -n, --no-vacuum          do not run VACUUM during initialization\n"
@@ -3803,10 +3809,23 @@ append_fillfactor(char *opts, int len)
 }
 
 /*
- * Fill the standard tables with some data
+ * truncate away any old data, in one command in case there are foreign keys
  */
 static void
-initGenerateData(PGconn *con)
+initTruncateTables(PGconn *con)
+{
+	executeStatement(con, "truncate table "
+					 "pgbench_accounts, "
+					 "pgbench_branches, "
+					 "pgbench_history, "
+					 "pgbench_tellers");
+}
+
+/*
+ * Fill the standard tables with some data, from the client side
+ */
+static void
+initGenerateDataClientSide(PGconn *con)
 {
 	char		sql[256];
 	PGresult   *res;
@@ -3820,7 +3839,7 @@ initGenerateData(PGconn *con)
 				remaining_sec;
 	int			log_interval = 1;
 
-	fprintf(stderr, "generating data...\n");
+	fprintf(stderr, "generating data client side...\n");
 
 	/*
 	 * we do all of this in one transaction to enable the backend's
@@ -3828,15 +3847,7 @@ initGenerateData(PGconn *con)
 	 */
 	executeStatement(con, "begin");
 
-	/*
-	 * truncate away any old data, in one command in case there are foreign
-	 * keys
-	 */
-	executeStatement(con, "truncate table "
-					 "pgbench_accounts, "
-					 "pgbench_branches, "
-					 "pgbench_history, "
-					 "pgbench_tellers");
+	initTruncateTables(con);
 
 	/*
 	 * fill branches, tellers, accounts in that order in case foreign keys
@@ -3940,6 +3951,49 @@ initGenerateData(PGconn *con)
 	executeStatement(con, "commit");
 }
 
+/*
+ * Fill the standard tables with some data, from the server side
+ *
+ * As already the case with the client-side filling, the filler
+ * column defaults to NULL in pgbench_branches and pgbench_tellers,
+ * and is a blank-padded string in pgbench_accounts.
+ */
+static void
+initGenerateDataServerSide(PGconn *con)
+{
+	char		sql[256];
+
+	fprintf(stderr, "generating data server side...\n");
+
+	/*
+	 * we do all of this in one transaction to enable the backend's
+	 * data-loading optimizations
+	 */
+	executeStatement(con, "begin");
+
+	initTruncateTables(con);
+
+	snprintf(sql, sizeof(sql),
+			 "insert into pgbench_branches(bid,bbalance) "
+			 "select bid, 0 "
+			 "from generate_series(1, %d) as bid", nbranches * scale);
+	executeStatement(con, sql);
+
+	snprintf(sql, sizeof(sql),
+			 "insert into pgbench_tellers(tid,bid,tbalance) "
+			 "select tid, (tid - 1) / %d + 1, 0 "
+			 "from generate_series(1, %d) as tid", ntellers, ntellers * scale);
+	executeStatement(con, sql);
+
+	snprintf(sql, sizeof(sql),
+			 "insert into pgbench_accounts(aid,bid,abalance,filler) "
+			 "select aid, (aid - 1) / %d + 1, 0, '' "
+			 "from generate_series(1, "INT64_FORMAT") as aid", naccounts, (int64) naccounts * scale);
+	executeStatement(con, sql);
+
+	executeStatement(con, "commit");
+}
+
 /*
  * Invoke vacuum on the standard tables
  */
@@ -4020,21 +4074,20 @@ initCreateFKeys(PGconn *con)
 static void
 checkInitSteps(const char *initialize_steps)
 {
-	const char *step;
-
 	if (initialize_steps[0] == '\0')
 	{
 		fprintf(stderr, "no initialization steps specified\n");
 		exit(1);
 	}
 
-	for (step = initialize_steps; *step != '\0'; step++)
+	for (const char *step = initialize_steps; *step != '\0'; step++)
 	{
-		if (strchr("dtgvpf ", *step) == NULL)
+		if (strchr(ALL_INIT_STEPS " ", *step) == NULL)
 		{
-			fprintf(stderr, "unrecognized initialization step \"%c\"\n",
+			fprintf(stderr,
+					"unrecognized initialization step \"%c\"\n"
+					"Allowed step characters are: \"" ALL_INIT_STEPS "\".\n",
 					*step);
-			fprintf(stderr, "allowed steps are: \"d\", \"t\", \"g\", \"v\", \"p\", \"f\"\n");
 			exit(1);
 		}
 	}
@@ -4075,8 +4128,12 @@ runInitSteps(const char *initialize_steps)
 				initCreateTables(con);
 				break;
 			case 'g':
-				op = "generate";
-				initGenerateData(con);
+				op = "client generate";
+				initGenerateDataClientSide(con);
+				break;
+			case 'G':
+				op = "server generate";
+				initGenerateDataServerSide(con);
 				break;
 			case 'v':
 				op = "vacuum";
diff --git a/src/bin/pgbench/t/001_pgbench_with_server.pl b/src/bin/pgbench/t/001_pgbench_with_server.pl
index c441626d7c..4384d0072a 100644
--- a/src/bin/pgbench/t/001_pgbench_with_server.pl
+++ b/src/bin/pgbench/t/001_pgbench_with_server.pl
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ pgbench(
 
 # Test interaction of --init-steps with legacy step-selection options
 pgbench(
-	'--initialize --init-steps=dtpvgvv --no-vacuum --foreign-keys --unlogged-tables --partitions=3',
+	'--initialize --init-steps=dtpvGvv --no-vacuum --foreign-keys --unlogged-tables --partitions=3',
 	0,
 	[qr{^$}],
 	[
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ pgbench(
 		qr{creating tables},
 		qr{creating 3 partitions},
 		qr{creating primary keys},
-		qr{.* of .* tuples \(.*\) done},
+		qr{generating data server side},
 		qr{creating foreign keys},
 		qr{(?!vacuuming)}, # no vacuum
 		qr{done in \d+\.\d\d s }
diff --git a/src/bin/pgbench/t/002_pgbench_no_server.pl b/src/bin/pgbench/t/002_pgbench_no_server.pl
index 1e9542af3f..8b6d442812 100644
--- a/src/bin/pgbench/t/002_pgbench_no_server.pl
+++ b/src/bin/pgbench/t/002_pgbench_no_server.pl
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ my @options = (
 	[
 		'invalid init step',
 		'-i -I dta',
-		[ qr{unrecognized initialization step}, qr{allowed steps are} ]
+		[ qr{unrecognized initialization step}, qr{Allowed step characters are} ]
 	],
 	[
 		'bad random seed',
