diff --git a/walkeeper/src/pq_protocol.rs b/walkeeper/src/pq_protocol.rs
index 286d563b73..299b830d5e 100644
--- a/walkeeper/src/pq_protocol.rs
+++ b/walkeeper/src/pq_protocol.rs
@@ -146,20 +146,20 @@ impl<'a> BeMessage<'a> {
 
             BeMessage::RowDescription(rows) => {
                 buf.put_u8(b'T');
-                let total_len: u32 = rows
-                    .iter()
-                    .fold(0, |acc, row| acc + row.name.len() as u32 + 3 * (4 + 2));
-                buf.put_u32(4 + 2 + total_len);
+
+                let mut body = BytesMut::new();
+                body.put_i16(rows.len() as i16); // # of fields
                 for row in rows.iter() {
-                    buf.put_i16(row.name.len() as i16);
-                    buf.put_slice(row.name);
-                    buf.put_i32(0); /* table oid */
-                    buf.put_i16(0); /* attnum */
-                    buf.put_u32(row.typoid);
-                    buf.put_i16(row.typlen);
-                    buf.put_i32(-1); /* typmod */
-                    buf.put_i16(0); /* format code */
+                    body.put_slice(row.name);
+                    body.put_i32(0); /* table oid */
+                    body.put_i16(0); /* attnum */
+                    body.put_u32(row.typoid);
+                    body.put_i16(row.typlen);
+                    body.put_i32(-1); /* typmod */
+                    body.put_i16(0); /* format code */
                 }
+                buf.put_i32((4 + body.len()) as i32); // # of bytes, including len field itself
+                buf.put(body);
             }
 
             BeMessage::DataRow(vals) => {
diff --git a/walkeeper/src/wal_service.rs b/walkeeper/src/wal_service.rs
index 5570781123..6e17f41f06 100644
--- a/walkeeper/src/wal_service.rs
+++ b/walkeeper/src/wal_service.rs
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ pub fn thread_main(conf: WalAcceptorConf) {
     info!("Starting wal acceptor on {}", conf.listen_addr);
 
     runtime.block_on(async {
-        let _unused = main_loop(&conf).await;
+        main_loop(&conf).await.unwrap();
     });
 }
 
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ impl System {
         return shared_state.hs_feedback;
     }
 
-    // Load and lock control file (prevent running more than one instance of safekeeper
+    // Load and lock control file (prevent running more than one instance of safekeeper)
     fn load_control_file(&self, conf: &WalAcceptorConf) {
         let control_file_path = conf
             .data_dir
@@ -678,6 +678,7 @@ impl Connection {
         // Add far as replication in postgres is initiated by receiver, we should use callme mechanism
         if let Err(e) = self.request_callback().await {
             // Do not treate it as fatal error and continue work
+            // FIXME: we should retry after a while...
             error!("Failed to send callme request to pageserver: {}", e);
         }
 
@@ -893,11 +894,11 @@ impl Connection {
         );
         BeMessage::write(
             &mut self.outbuf,
-            &BeMessage::DataRow(&[Some(lsn_bytes), Some(tli_bytes), Some(sysid_bytes), None]),
+            &BeMessage::DataRow(&[Some(sysid_bytes), Some(tli_bytes), Some(lsn_bytes), None]),
         );
         BeMessage::write(
             &mut self.outbuf,
-            &BeMessage::CommandComplete(b"IDENTIFY_SYSTEM"),
+            &BeMessage::CommandComplete(b"IDENTIFY_SYSTEM\0"),
         );
         BeMessage::write(&mut self.outbuf, &BeMessage::ReadyForQuery);
         self.send().await?;