diff --git a/src/backend/replication/walsender.c b/src/backend/replication/walsender.c
index 3f756b470a..9a2b154797 100644
--- a/src/backend/replication/walsender.c
+++ b/src/backend/replication/walsender.c
@@ -1545,6 +1545,9 @@ exec_replication_command(const char *cmd_string)
 
 	CHECK_FOR_INTERRUPTS();
 
+	/*
+	 * Parse the command.
+	 */
 	cmd_context = AllocSetContextCreate(CurrentMemoryContext,
 										"Replication command context",
 										ALLOCSET_DEFAULT_SIZES);
@@ -1560,15 +1563,38 @@ exec_replication_command(const char *cmd_string)
 
 	cmd_node = replication_parse_result;
 
+	/*
+	 * If it's a SQL command, just clean up our mess and return false; the
+	 * caller will take care of executing it.
+	 */
+	if (IsA(cmd_node, SQLCmd))
+	{
+		if (MyDatabaseId == InvalidOid)
+			ereport(ERROR,
+					(errmsg("cannot execute SQL commands in WAL sender for physical replication")));
+
+		MemoryContextSwitchTo(old_context);
+		MemoryContextDelete(cmd_context);
+
+		/* Tell the caller that this wasn't a WalSender command. */
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * Report query to various monitoring facilities.  For this purpose, we
+	 * report replication commands just like SQL commands.
+	 */
+	debug_query_string = cmd_string;
+
+	pgstat_report_activity(STATE_RUNNING, cmd_string);
+
 	/*
 	 * Log replication command if log_replication_commands is enabled. Even
 	 * when it's disabled, log the command with DEBUG1 level for backward
-	 * compatibility. Note that SQL commands are not logged here, and will be
-	 * logged later if log_statement is enabled.
+	 * compatibility.
 	 */
-	if (cmd_node->type != T_SQLCmd)
-		ereport(log_replication_commands ? LOG : DEBUG1,
-				(errmsg("received replication command: %s", cmd_string)));
+	ereport(log_replication_commands ? LOG : DEBUG1,
+			(errmsg("received replication command: %s", cmd_string)));
 
 	/*
 	 * CREATE_REPLICATION_SLOT ... LOGICAL exports a snapshot. If it was
@@ -1578,10 +1604,9 @@ exec_replication_command(const char *cmd_string)
 		SnapBuildClearExportedSnapshot();
 
 	/*
-	 * For aborted transactions, don't allow anything except pure SQL, the
-	 * exec_simple_query() will handle it correctly.
+	 * Disallow replication commands in aborted transaction blocks.
 	 */
-	if (IsAbortedTransactionBlockState() && !IsA(cmd_node, SQLCmd))
+	if (IsAbortedTransactionBlockState())
 		ereport(ERROR,
 				(errcode(ERRCODE_IN_FAILED_SQL_TRANSACTION),
 				 errmsg("current transaction is aborted, "
@@ -1597,9 +1622,6 @@ exec_replication_command(const char *cmd_string)
 	initStringInfo(&reply_message);
 	initStringInfo(&tmpbuf);
 
-	/* Report to pgstat that this process is running */
-	pgstat_report_activity(STATE_RUNNING, NULL);
-
 	switch (cmd_node->type)
 	{
 		case T_IdentifySystemCmd:
@@ -1651,17 +1673,6 @@ exec_replication_command(const char *cmd_string)
 			}
 			break;
 
-		case T_SQLCmd:
-			if (MyDatabaseId == InvalidOid)
-				ereport(ERROR,
-						(errmsg("cannot execute SQL commands in WAL sender for physical replication")));
-
-			/* Report to pgstat that this process is now idle */
-			pgstat_report_activity(STATE_IDLE, NULL);
-
-			/* Tell the caller that this wasn't a WalSender command. */
-			return false;
-
 		default:
 			elog(ERROR, "unrecognized replication command node tag: %u",
 				 cmd_node->type);
@@ -1677,6 +1688,7 @@ exec_replication_command(const char *cmd_string)
 
 	/* Report to pgstat that this process is now idle */
 	pgstat_report_activity(STATE_IDLE, NULL);
+	debug_query_string = NULL;
 
 	return true;
 }