diff --git a/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c b/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
index 45b17f5..353c259 100644
--- a/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
+++ b/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
@@ -66,7 +66,6 @@ extern uint32 bootstrap_data_checksum_version;
 #define RECOVERY_COMMAND_FILE	"recovery.conf"
 #define RECOVERY_COMMAND_DONE	"recovery.done"
 #define PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE "promote"
-#define FAST_PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE "fast_promote"
 
 
 /* User-settable parameters */
@@ -225,9 +224,6 @@ static char *TriggerFile = NULL;
 /* are we currently in standby mode? */
 bool		StandbyMode = false;
 
-/* whether request for fast promotion has been made yet */
-static bool fast_promote = false;
-
 /* if recoveryStopsHere returns true, it saves actual stop xid/time/name here */
 static TransactionId recoveryStopXid;
 static TimestampTz recoveryStopTime;
@@ -4866,7 +4862,7 @@ StartupXLOG(void)
 	DBState		dbstate_at_startup;
 	XLogReaderState *xlogreader;
 	XLogPageReadPrivate private;
-	bool		fast_promoted = false;
+	bool		checkpoint_skip = false;
 
 	/*
 	 * Read control file and check XLOG status looks valid.
@@ -5962,43 +5958,40 @@ StartupXLOG(void)
 		 * the rule that TLI only changes in shutdown checkpoints, which
 		 * allows some extra error checking in xlog_redo.
 		 *
-		 * In fast promotion, only create a lightweight end-of-recovery record
+		 * In promotion, only create a lightweight end-of-recovery record
 		 * instead of a full checkpoint. A checkpoint is requested later,
 		 * after we're fully out of recovery mode and already accepting
 		 * queries.
 		 */
 		if (bgwriterLaunched)
 		{
-			if (fast_promote)
+			checkPointLoc = ControlFile->prevCheckPoint;
+
+			/*
+			 * Confirm the last checkpoint is available for us to recover
+			 * from if we fail. Note that we don't check for the secondary
+			 * checkpoint since that isn't available in most base backups.
+			 */
+			record = ReadCheckpointRecord(xlogreader, checkPointLoc, 1, false);
+			if (record != NULL)
 			{
-				checkPointLoc = ControlFile->prevCheckPoint;
+				checkpoint_skip = true;
 
 				/*
-				 * Confirm the last checkpoint is available for us to recover
-				 * from if we fail. Note that we don't check for the secondary
-				 * checkpoint since that isn't available in most base backups.
+				 * Insert a special WAL record to mark the end of
+				 * recovery, since we aren't doing a checkpoint. That
+				 * means that the checkpointer process may likely be in
+				 * the middle of a time-smoothed restartpoint and could
+				 * continue to be for minutes after this. That sounds
+				 * strange, but the effect is roughly the same and it
+				 * would be stranger to try to come out of the
+				 * restartpoint and then checkpoint. We request a
+				 * checkpoint later anyway, just for safety.
 				 */
-				record = ReadCheckpointRecord(xlogreader, checkPointLoc, 1, false);
-				if (record != NULL)
-				{
-					fast_promoted = true;
-
-					/*
-					 * Insert a special WAL record to mark the end of
-					 * recovery, since we aren't doing a checkpoint. That
-					 * means that the checkpointer process may likely be in
-					 * the middle of a time-smoothed restartpoint and could
-					 * continue to be for minutes after this. That sounds
-					 * strange, but the effect is roughly the same and it
-					 * would be stranger to try to come out of the
-					 * restartpoint and then checkpoint. We request a
-					 * checkpoint later anyway, just for safety.
-					 */
-					CreateEndOfRecoveryRecord();
-				}
+				CreateEndOfRecoveryRecord();
 			}
 
-			if (!fast_promoted)
+			if (!checkpoint_skip)
 				RequestCheckpoint(CHECKPOINT_END_OF_RECOVERY |
 								  CHECKPOINT_IMMEDIATE |
 								  CHECKPOINT_WAIT);
@@ -6111,12 +6104,12 @@ StartupXLOG(void)
 	WalSndWakeup();
 
 	/*
-	 * If this was a fast promotion, request an (online) checkpoint now. This
+	 * If checkpoint_skip is true, request an (online) checkpoint now. This
 	 * isn't required for consistency, but the last restartpoint might be far
 	 * back, and in case of a crash, recovering from it might take a longer
 	 * than is appropriate now that we're not in standby mode anymore.
 	 */
-	if (fast_promoted)
+	if (checkpoint_skip)
 		RequestCheckpoint(CHECKPOINT_FORCE);
 }
 
@@ -9931,16 +9924,11 @@ CheckForStandbyTrigger(void)
 		 * process do the unlink. This allows Startup to know whether we're
 		 * doing fast or normal promotion. Fast promotion takes precedence.
 		 */
-		if (stat(FAST_PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE, &stat_buf) == 0)
-		{
-			unlink(FAST_PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE);
-			unlink(PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE);
-			fast_promote = true;
-		}
-		else if (stat(PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE, &stat_buf) == 0)
+		if (stat(PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE, &stat_buf) == 0)
 		{
+			if (TriggerFile != NULL)
+				unlink(PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE);
 			unlink(PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE);
-			fast_promote = false;
 		}
 
 		ereport(LOG, (errmsg("received promote request")));
@@ -9957,9 +9945,9 @@ CheckForStandbyTrigger(void)
 	{
 		ereport(LOG,
 				(errmsg("trigger file found: %s", TriggerFile)));
+		unlink(PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE);
 		unlink(TriggerFile);
 		triggered = true;
-		fast_promote = true;
 		return true;
 	}
 	return false;
@@ -9974,8 +9962,7 @@ CheckPromoteSignal(void)
 {
 	struct stat stat_buf;
 
-	if (stat(PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE, &stat_buf) == 0 ||
-		stat(FAST_PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE, &stat_buf) == 0)
+	if (stat(PROMOTE_SIGNAL_FILE, &stat_buf) == 0)
 		return true;
 
 	return false;
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_ctl/pg_ctl.c b/src/bin/pg_ctl/pg_ctl.c
index 9045e00..9e2b6c2 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_ctl/pg_ctl.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_ctl/pg_ctl.c
@@ -1099,12 +1099,10 @@ do_promote(void)
 	}
 
 	/*
-	 * For 9.3 onwards, use fast promotion as the default option. Promotion
-	 * with a full checkpoint is still possible by writing a file called
-	 * "promote", e.g. snprintf(promote_file, MAXPGPATH, "%s/promote",
-	 * pg_data);
+	 * For 9.3 onwards, use fast promotion as the default option.
+	 * This means a lightweight CheckPoint is executed when promoting.
 	 */
-	snprintf(promote_file, MAXPGPATH, "%s/fast_promote", pg_data);
+	snprintf(promote_file, MAXPGPATH, "%s/promote", pg_data);
 
 	if ((prmfile = fopen(promote_file, "w")) == NULL)
 	{