diff --git a/safekeeper/src/wal_backup.rs b/safekeeper/src/wal_backup.rs
index a4b779649d..1723d03ee3 100644
--- a/safekeeper/src/wal_backup.rs
+++ b/safekeeper/src/wal_backup.rs
@@ -204,6 +204,7 @@ impl WalBackupTask {
                 l.give_up().await;
             }
 
+            info!("acquiring leadership");
             match broker::get_leader(&self.election).await {
                 Ok(l) => {
                     self.leader = Some(l);
@@ -214,6 +215,7 @@ impl WalBackupTask {
                     continue;
                 }
             }
+            info!("acquired leadership");
 
             // offload loop
             loop {
@@ -268,7 +270,7 @@ impl WalBackupTask {
                     {
                         Ok(leader) => {
                             if !leader {
-                                info!("leader has changed");
+                                info!("lost leadership");
                                 break;
                             }
                         }
diff --git a/test_runner/batch_others/test_wal_acceptor.py b/test_runner/batch_others/test_wal_acceptor.py
index 35b7d9585a..40a9b48a18 100644
--- a/test_runner/batch_others/test_wal_acceptor.py
+++ b/test_runner/batch_others/test_wal_acceptor.py
@@ -414,6 +414,22 @@ def test_wal_removal(zenith_env_builder: ZenithEnvBuilder):
         time.sleep(0.5)
 
 
+def wait_segment_offload(tenant_id, timeline_id, live_sk, seg_end):
+    started_at = time.time()
+    http_cli = live_sk.http_client()
+    while True:
+        tli_status = http_cli.timeline_status(tenant_id, timeline_id)
+        log.info(f"live sk status is {tli_status}")
+
+        if lsn_from_hex(tli_status.backup_lsn) >= lsn_from_hex(seg_end):
+            break
+        elapsed = time.time() - started_at
+        if elapsed > 20:
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                f"timed out waiting {elapsed:.0f}s for segment ending at {seg_end} get offloaded")
+        time.sleep(0.5)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('storage_type', ['mock_s3', 'local_fs'])
 def test_wal_backup(zenith_env_builder: ZenithEnvBuilder, storage_type: str):
     zenith_env_builder.num_safekeepers = 3
@@ -446,23 +462,21 @@ def test_wal_backup(zenith_env_builder: ZenithEnvBuilder, storage_type: str):
         # roughly fills one segment
         cur.execute("insert into t select generate_series(1,250000), 'payload'")
         live_sk = [sk for sk in env.safekeepers if sk != victim][0]
-        http_cli = live_sk.http_client()
 
-        started_at = time.time()
-        while True:
-            tli_status = http_cli.timeline_status(tenant_id, timeline_id)
-            log.info(f"live sk status is {tli_status}")
-
-            if lsn_from_hex(tli_status.backup_lsn) >= lsn_from_hex(seg_end):
-                break
-            elapsed = time.time() - started_at
-            if elapsed > 20:
-                raise RuntimeError(
-                    f"timed out waiting {elapsed:.0f}s segment ending at {seg_end} get offloaded")
-            time.sleep(0.5)
+        wait_segment_offload(tenant_id, timeline_id, live_sk, seg_end)
 
         victim.start()
 
+    # put one of safekeepers down again
+    env.safekeepers[0].stop()
+    # restart postgres
+    pg.stop_and_destroy().create_start('test_safekeepers_wal_backup')
+    # and ensure offloading still works
+    with closing(pg.connect()) as conn:
+        with conn.cursor() as cur:
+            cur.execute("insert into t select generate_series(1,250000), 'payload'")
+    wait_segment_offload(tenant_id, timeline_id, env.safekeepers[1], '0/5000000')
+
 
 class ProposerPostgres(PgProtocol):
     """Object for running postgres without ZenithEnv"""