--- a/src/interfaces/libpq/fe-misc.c
+++ b/src/interfaces/libpq/fe-misc.c
@@ -616,6 +616,17 @@ pqReadData(PGconn *conn)
 {
 	int			available;
 
+	/*
+	 * NOT FOR COMMIT: repro aid.  Delay reading so that a backend that sends
+	 * an error and exits is gone before we read: the race the Windows
+	 * abortive close loses.
+	 */
+	{
+		const char *d = getenv("PGREPRO_READ_DELAY_MS");
+
+		if (d != NULL && conn->status != CONNECTION_OK)
+			pg_usleep(atoi(d) * 1000L);
+	}
 	if (conn->sock == PGINVALID_SOCKET)
 	{
 		libpq_append_conn_error(conn, "connection not open");