*** a/src/backend/replication/walreceiver.c
--- b/src/backend/replication/walreceiver.c
***************
*** 62,67 **** walrcv_connect_type walrcv_connect = NULL;
--- 62,69 ----
  walrcv_receive_type walrcv_receive = NULL;
  walrcv_send_type walrcv_send = NULL;
  walrcv_disconnect_type walrcv_disconnect = NULL;
+ int			wal_receiver_replication_timeout = 60 * 1000;	/* maximum time to receive one
+ 												 * WAL data message */
  
  #define NAPTIME_PER_CYCLE 100	/* max sleep time between cycles (100ms) */
  
***************
*** 174,179 **** WalReceiverMain(void)
--- 176,184 ----
  	/* use volatile pointer to prevent code rearrangement */
  	volatile WalRcvData *walrcv = WalRcv;
  
+ 	TimestampTz last_recv_timestamp;
+ 	TimestampTz timeout = 0;
+ 
  	/*
  	 * WalRcv should be set up already (if we are a backend, we inherit this
  	 * by fork() or EXEC_BACKEND mechanism from the postmaster).
***************
*** 282,287 **** WalReceiverMain(void)
--- 287,295 ----
  	MemSet(&reply_message, 0, sizeof(reply_message));
  	MemSet(&feedback_message, 0, sizeof(feedback_message));
  
+ 	/* Initialize the last recv timestamp */
+ 	last_recv_timestamp = GetCurrentTimestamp();
+ 
  	/* Loop until end-of-streaming or error */
  	for (;;)
  	{
***************
*** 316,327 **** WalReceiverMain(void)
--- 324,343 ----
  		/* Wait a while for data to arrive */
  		if (walrcv_receive(NAPTIME_PER_CYCLE, &type, &buf, &len))
  		{
+ 			/* Something is received from master, so reset last receive time*/
+ 			last_recv_timestamp = GetCurrentTimestamp();
+ 			
  			/* Accept the received data, and process it */
  			XLogWalRcvProcessMsg(type, buf, len);
  
  			/* Receive any more data we can without sleeping */
  			while (walrcv_receive(0, &type, &buf, &len))
+ 			{
+ 				/* Something is received from master, so reset last receive time*/
+ 				last_recv_timestamp = GetCurrentTimestamp();
+ 				
  				XLogWalRcvProcessMsg(type, buf, len);
+ 			}
  
  			/* Let the master know that we received some data. */
  			XLogWalRcvSendReply();
***************
*** 334,339 **** WalReceiverMain(void)
--- 350,369 ----
  		}
  		else
  		{
+ 			/* Check if time since last receive from standby has reached the configured limit
+ 			 * No need to check if it is disabled by giving value as 0*/
+ 			if (wal_receiver_replication_timeout > 0)
+ 			{
+ 				timeout = TimestampTzPlusMilliseconds(last_recv_timestamp,
+ 														  wal_receiver_replication_timeout);
+ 
+ 				if (GetCurrentTimestamp() >= timeout)
+ 				{
+ 					ereport(ERROR,
+ 						(errmsg("Could not receive any message from WalSender for configured timeout period")));
+ 				}
+ 			}
+ 		
  			/*
  			 * We didn't receive anything new, but send a status update to the
  			 * master anyway, to report any progress in applying WAL.
*** a/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c
--- b/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c
***************
*** 2382,2387 **** static struct config_int ConfigureNamesInt[] =
--- 2382,2398 ----
  		NULL, NULL, NULL
  	},
  
+ 	{
+ 		{"wal_receiver_replication_timeout", PGC_SIGHUP, REPLICATION_STANDBY,
+ 			gettext_noop("Sets the maximum wait time to receive data from master."),
+ 			NULL,
+ 			GUC_UNIT_MS
+ 		},
+ 		&wal_receiver_replication_timeout,
+ 		60 * 1000, 0, INT_MAX,
+ 		NULL, NULL, NULL
+ 	},
+ 		
  	/* End-of-list marker */
  	{
  		{NULL, 0, 0, NULL, NULL}, NULL, 0, 0, 0, NULL, NULL, NULL
*** a/src/backend/utils/misc/postgresql.conf.sample
--- b/src/backend/utils/misc/postgresql.conf.sample
***************
*** 237,242 ****
--- 237,244 ----
  					# 0 disables
  #hot_standby_feedback = off		# send info from standby to prevent
  					# query conflicts
+ #wal_receiver_replication_timeout = 60s	# in milliseconds; 0 disables; time 
+ 					# till receiver waits for communication from master.
  
  
  #------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*** a/src/include/replication/walreceiver.h
--- b/src/include/replication/walreceiver.h
***************
*** 19,24 ****
--- 19,25 ----
  
  extern int	wal_receiver_status_interval;
  extern bool hot_standby_feedback;
+ extern int wal_receiver_replication_timeout;
  
  /*
   * MAXCONNINFO: maximum size of a connection string.