diff --git a/safekeeper/src/control_file.rs b/safekeeper/src/control_file.rs
index 6c4ad24323..653e938bb7 100644
--- a/safekeeper/src/control_file.rs
+++ b/safekeeper/src/control_file.rs
@@ -191,6 +191,12 @@ impl Storage for FileStorage {
                 control_partial_path.display()
             )
         })?;
+        control_partial.flush().await.with_context(|| {
+            format!(
+                "failed to flush safekeeper state into control file at: {}",
+                control_partial_path.display()
+            )
+        })?;
 
         // fsync the file
         if !self.conf.no_sync {
diff --git a/safekeeper/src/pull_timeline.rs b/safekeeper/src/pull_timeline.rs
index 61ba37efaa..8d8ef6192c 100644
--- a/safekeeper/src/pull_timeline.rs
+++ b/safekeeper/src/pull_timeline.rs
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ async fn pull_timeline(status: TimelineStatus, host: String) -> Result<Response>
         let mut response = client.get(&http_url).send().await?;
         while let Some(chunk) = response.chunk().await? {
             file.write_all(&chunk).await?;
+            file.flush().await?;
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/safekeeper/src/send_wal.rs b/safekeeper/src/send_wal.rs
index abca0a86b1..92a7bb703a 100644
--- a/safekeeper/src/send_wal.rs
+++ b/safekeeper/src/send_wal.rs
@@ -403,16 +403,18 @@ impl SafekeeperPostgresHandler {
         };
 
         // take the latest commit_lsn if don't have stop_pos
-        let mut end_pos = stop_pos.unwrap_or(*commit_lsn_watch_rx.borrow());
+        let end_pos = stop_pos.unwrap_or(*commit_lsn_watch_rx.borrow());
 
         if end_pos < start_pos {
-            warn!("start_pos {} is ahead of end_pos {}", start_pos, end_pos);
-            end_pos = start_pos;
+            warn!(
+                "requested start_pos {} is ahead of available WAL end_pos {}",
+                start_pos, end_pos
+            );
         }
 
         info!(
-            "starting streaming from {:?} till {:?}",
-            start_pos, stop_pos
+            "starting streaming from {:?} till {:?}, available WAL ends at {}",
+            start_pos, stop_pos, end_pos
         );
 
         // switch to copy
@@ -547,12 +549,14 @@ impl<IO: AsyncRead + AsyncWrite + Unpin> WalSender<'_, IO> {
             self.end_pos = *self.commit_lsn_watch_rx.borrow();
             if self.end_pos > self.start_pos {
                 // We have something to send.
+                trace!("got end_pos {:?}, streaming", self.end_pos);
                 return Ok(());
             }
 
             // Wait for WAL to appear, now self.end_pos == self.start_pos.
             if let Some(lsn) = wait_for_lsn(&mut self.commit_lsn_watch_rx, self.start_pos).await? {
                 self.end_pos = lsn;
+                trace!("got end_pos {:?}, streaming", self.end_pos);
                 return Ok(());
             }
 
diff --git a/safekeeper/src/wal_storage.rs b/safekeeper/src/wal_storage.rs
index 687e1ba6b6..61270a8d0b 100644
--- a/safekeeper/src/wal_storage.rs
+++ b/safekeeper/src/wal_storage.rs
@@ -248,6 +248,10 @@ impl PhysicalStorage {
         };
 
         file.write_all(buf).await?;
+        // Note: flush just ensures write above reaches the OS (this is not
+        // needed in case of sync IO as Write::write there calls directly write
+        // syscall, but needed in case of async). It does *not* fsyncs the file.
+        file.flush().await?;
 
         if xlogoff + buf.len() == self.wal_seg_size {
             // If we reached the end of a WAL segment, flush and close it.
@@ -716,6 +720,7 @@ async fn write_zeroes(file: &mut File, mut count: usize) -> Result<()> {
         count -= XLOG_BLCKSZ;
     }
     file.write_all(&ZERO_BLOCK[0..count]).await?;
+    file.flush().await?;
     Ok(())
 }