diff --git a/HISTORY b/HISTORY
index f384e151..6a629bf2 100644
--- a/HISTORY
+++ b/HISTORY
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
           it will actually be possible to stream from the target node (Ian)
         repmgr: "standby switchover": improve handling of connection URIs when
           executing "node rejoin" on the demotion candidate; GitHub #525 (Ian)
+        repmgr: check for stale connections during "standby clone" (Ian)
         repmgr: fix long node ID display in "cluster show" (Ian)
         repmgr: check for primary server before executing "witness register";
            GitHub #538 (Ian)
diff --git a/dbutils.c b/dbutils.c
index fd5bb677..fc9c24c3 100644
--- a/dbutils.c
+++ b/dbutils.c
@@ -4272,6 +4272,25 @@ connection_ping(PGconn *conn)
 }
 
 
+ExecStatusType
+connection_ping_reconnect(PGconn *conn)
+{
+	ExecStatusType ping_result = connection_ping(conn);
+
+	if (PQstatus(conn) != CONNECTION_OK)
+	{
+		log_warning(_("connection error, attempting to reset"));
+		log_detail("%s", PQerrorMessage(conn));
+		PQreset(conn);
+		ping_result = connection_ping(conn);
+	}
+
+	log_verbose(LOG_DEBUG, "connection_ping_reconnect(): result is %s", PQresStatus(ping_result));
+
+	return ping_result;
+}
+
+
 
 /* ==================== */
 /* monitoring functions */
diff --git a/dbutils.h b/dbutils.h
index 2aa640c1..6f8b0b4b 100644
--- a/dbutils.h
+++ b/dbutils.h
@@ -516,6 +516,7 @@ int			wait_connection_availability(PGconn *conn, long long timeout);
 bool		is_server_available(const char *conninfo);
 bool		is_server_available_params(t_conninfo_param_list *param_list);
 ExecStatusType	connection_ping(PGconn *conn);
+ExecStatusType	connection_ping_reconnect(PGconn *conn);
 
 /* monitoring functions  */
 void
diff --git a/doc/appendix-release-notes.sgml b/doc/appendix-release-notes.sgml
index 8aeda485..926748e7 100644
--- a/doc/appendix-release-notes.sgml
+++ b/doc/appendix-release-notes.sgml
@@ -185,6 +185,14 @@ REPMGRD_OPTS="--daemonize=false"</programlisting>
             </para>
           </listitem>
 
+         <listitem>
+            <para>
+              &repmgr;: when executing <link linkend="repmgr-standby-clone"><command>repmgr standby clone</command></link>,
+              recheck primary/upstream connection(s) after the data copy operation is complete, as these may
+              have gone away.
+            </para>
+          </listitem>
+
          <listitem>
             <para>
               &repmgr;: when executing <link linkend="repmgr-standby-switchover"><command>repmgr standby switchover</command></link>,
diff --git a/repmgr-action-standby.c b/repmgr-action-standby.c
index 1394eac6..ebe75ec9 100644
--- a/repmgr-action-standby.c
+++ b/repmgr-action-standby.c
@@ -605,7 +605,6 @@ do_standby_clone(void)
 			log_error(_("unknown clone mode"));
 	}
 
-
 	/* If the backup failed then exit */
 	if (r != SUCCESS)
 	{
@@ -5794,6 +5793,12 @@ run_basebackup(t_node_info *node_record)
 	if (r != 0)
 		return ERR_BAD_BASEBACKUP;
 
+	/* check connections are still available */
+	(void)connection_ping_reconnect(primary_conn);
+
+	if (source_conn != primary_conn)
+		(void)connection_ping_reconnect(source_conn);
+
 	/*
 	 * If replication slots in use, check the created slot is on the correct
 	 * node; the slot will initially get created on the source node, and will
@@ -6396,6 +6401,15 @@ stop_backup:
 				RecordStatus record_status = RECORD_NOT_FOUND;
 				PGconn	   *upstream_conn = NULL;
 
+
+				/* check connections are still available */
+				(void)connection_ping_reconnect(primary_conn);
+
+				if (source_conn != primary_conn)
+					(void)connection_ping_reconnect(source_conn);
+
+				(void)connection_ping_reconnect(source_conn);
+
 				record_status = get_node_record(source_conn, upstream_node_id, &upstream_node_record);
 
 				if (record_status != RECORD_FOUND)