diff --git a/src/backend/replication/slot.c b/src/backend/replication/slot.c
index 505445f2dc..b89b6da768 100644
--- a/src/backend/replication/slot.c
+++ b/src/backend/replication/slot.c
@@ -99,6 +99,8 @@ ReplicationSlot *MyReplicationSlot = NULL;
 int			max_replication_slots = 0;	/* the maximum number of replication
 										 * slots */
 
+static bool ReplicationSlotIsActive(ReplicationSlot *slot, int *active_pid);
+static void DeactivateReplicationSlot(ReplicationSlot *slot);
 static void ReplicationSlotDropAcquired(void);
 static void ReplicationSlotDropPtr(ReplicationSlot *slot);
 
@@ -1080,6 +1082,61 @@ ReplicationSlotReserveWal(void)
 	}
 }
 
+/*
+ * Is the specified replication slot currently actively being used?
+ *
+ * Set *active_pid to the PID of the process using this slot if active.
+ */
+static bool
+ReplicationSlotIsActive(ReplicationSlot *slot, int *active_pid)
+{
+	int		pid;
+
+	SpinLockAcquire(&slot->mutex);
+	pid = slot->active_pid;
+	SpinLockRelease(&slot->mutex);
+
+	if (active_pid != NULL)
+		*active_pid = pid;
+
+	return (pid != 0);
+}
+
+/*
+ * Deactivate the specified replication slot.
+ *
+ * Terminate the process using this slot if active.
+ */
+static void
+DeactivateReplicationSlot(ReplicationSlot *slot)
+{
+	int		active_pid;
+	bool	killed = false;
+
+	/* Quick exit if already inactive */
+	if (!ReplicationSlotIsActive(slot, &active_pid))
+		return;
+
+	ereport(LOG,
+			(errmsg("terminating the process %d using replication slot \"%s\"",
+					active_pid, NameStr(slot->data.name))));
+
+	ConditionVariablePrepareToSleep(&slot->active_cv);
+	do
+	{
+		/*
+		 * Signal to terminate the process using the replication slot.
+		 *
+		 * Try to signal every 100ms until it succeeds.
+		 */
+		if (!killed && kill(active_pid, SIGTERM) == 0)
+			killed = true;
+		ConditionVariableTimedSleep(&slot->active_cv, 100,
+									WAIT_EVENT_REPLICATION_SLOT_DROP);
+	} while (ReplicationSlotIsActive(slot, NULL));
+	ConditionVariableCancelSleep();
+}
+
 /*
  * Mark any slot that points to an LSN older than the given segment
  * as invalid; it requires WAL that's about to be removed.
@@ -1105,37 +1162,18 @@ restart:
 			continue;
 
 		SpinLockAcquire(&s->mutex);
-		if (s->data.restart_lsn == InvalidXLogRecPtr ||
-			s->data.restart_lsn >= oldestLSN)
-		{
-			SpinLockRelease(&s->mutex);
-			continue;
-		}
-
 		slotname = s->data.name;
 		restart_lsn = s->data.restart_lsn;
-
 		SpinLockRelease(&s->mutex);
+
+		if (XLogRecPtrIsInvalid(restart_lsn) || restart_lsn >= oldestLSN)
+			continue;
 		LWLockRelease(ReplicationSlotControlLock);
 
-		for (;;)
-		{
-			int			wspid = ReplicationSlotAcquire(NameStr(slotname),
-													   SAB_Inquire);
-
-			/* no walsender? success! */
-			if (wspid == 0)
-				break;
-
-			ereport(LOG,
-					(errmsg("terminating walsender %d because replication slot \"%s\" is too far behind",
-							wspid, NameStr(slotname))));
-			(void) kill(wspid, SIGTERM);
-
-			ConditionVariableTimedSleep(&s->active_cv, 10,
-										WAIT_EVENT_REPLICATION_SLOT_DROP);
-		}
-		ConditionVariableCancelSleep();
+		DeactivateReplicationSlot(s);
+		SpinLockAcquire(&s->mutex);
+		s->data.restart_lsn = InvalidXLogRecPtr;
+		SpinLockRelease(&s->mutex);
 
 		ereport(LOG,
 				(errmsg("invalidating slot \"%s\" because its restart_lsn %X/%X exceeds max_slot_wal_keep_size",
@@ -1143,11 +1181,6 @@ restart:
 						(uint32) (restart_lsn >> 32),
 						(uint32) restart_lsn)));
 
-		SpinLockAcquire(&s->mutex);
-		s->data.restart_lsn = InvalidXLogRecPtr;
-		SpinLockRelease(&s->mutex);
-		ReplicationSlotRelease();
-
 		/* if we did anything, start from scratch */
 		CHECK_FOR_INTERRUPTS();
 		goto restart;