diff --git a/dbutils.c b/dbutils.c
index 3f126eb6..fe9ff684 100644
--- a/dbutils.c
+++ b/dbutils.c
@@ -2137,3 +2137,19 @@ get_last_wal_receive_location(PGconn *conn)
 
 	return ptr;
 }
+
+
+bool
+is_server_available(const char *conninfo)
+{
+	PGPing		status = PQping(conninfo);
+
+	log_verbose(LOG_DEBUG, "is_server_available(): ping status for \"%s\" is %i\n", conninfo, (int)status);
+
+	if (status == PQPING_OK)
+		return true;
+
+	log_warning("is_server_available(): ping status for \"%s\" is %i\n", conninfo, (int)status);
+
+	return false;
+}
diff --git a/dbutils.h b/dbutils.h
index 9b16877c..8b226e31 100644
--- a/dbutils.h
+++ b/dbutils.h
@@ -146,5 +146,6 @@ int			get_data_checksum_version(const char *data_directory);
 /* backported from repmgr 4.x */
 XLogRecPtr	parse_lsn(const char *str);
 XLogRecPtr	get_last_wal_receive_location(PGconn *conn);
+bool		is_server_available(const char *conninfo);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/repmgrd.c b/repmgrd.c
index 676554c9..f9cdc496 100644
--- a/repmgrd.c
+++ b/repmgrd.c
@@ -879,9 +879,7 @@ standby_monitor(void)
 	 * local_options.reconnect_interval seconds
 	 */
 
-	check_connection(&upstream_conn, upstream_node_type, upstream_conninfo);
-
-	if (PQstatus(upstream_conn) != CONNECTION_OK)
+	if (!check_connection(&upstream_conn, upstream_node_type, upstream_conninfo))
 	{
 		int previous_master_node_id = master_options.node;
 
@@ -2137,8 +2135,11 @@ check_connection(PGconn **conn, const char *type, const char *conninfo)
 {
 	int			connection_retries;
 
+	if (conninfo != NULL && is_server_available(conninfo))
+		return true;
+
 	/*
-	 * Check if the node is still available if after
+	 * Check if the node is still available; if after
 	 * local_options.reconnect_attempts * local_options.reconnect_interval
 	 * seconds of retries we cannot reconnect return false
 	 */