diff --git a/pageserver/src/walredo.rs b/pageserver/src/walredo.rs
index 3127f8a712..9bb44cd855 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/walredo.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/walredo.rs
@@ -73,12 +73,95 @@ pub(crate) struct BufferTag {
 struct ProcessInput {
     stdin: tokio::process::ChildStdin,
     n_requests: usize,
+    poison: poison::Poison,
 }
 
 struct ProcessOutput {
     stdout: tokio::process::ChildStdout,
     pending_responses: VecDeque<Option<Bytes>>,
     n_processed_responses: usize,
+    poison: poison::Poison,
+}
+
+mod poison {
+    use std::time::Instant;
+
+    use tracing::warn;
+
+    pub struct Poison {
+        what: &'static str,
+        state: State,
+    }
+
+    #[derive(Clone, Copy)]
+    enum State {
+        Clean,
+        Armed,
+        Poisoned { at: Instant },
+    }
+
+    impl Poison {
+        pub fn new(what: &'static str) -> Self {
+            Self {
+                what,
+                state: State::Clean,
+            }
+        }
+        pub fn check_and_arm(&mut self) -> Result<Guard, Error> {
+            match self.state {
+                State::Clean => {
+                    *self = State::Armed;
+                    Ok(Guard(self))
+                }
+                State::Armed => unreachable!("transient state"),
+                State::Poisoned { at } => Err(Error::Poisoned {
+                    what: self.what,
+                    at,
+                }),
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    struct Guard<'a>(&'a mut Poison);
+
+    impl<'a> Guard<'a> {
+        pub fn disarm(mut self) {
+            match self.0.state {
+                State::Clean => unreachable!("we set it to Armed in check_and_arm()"),
+                State::Armed => {
+                    *self = State::Clean;
+                }
+                State::Poisoned { at } => {
+                    unreachable!("we fail check_and_arm() if it's in that state")
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    impl<'a> Drop for Guard<'a> {
+        fn drop(&mut self) {
+            match self.0.state {
+                State::Clean => {
+                    // set by disarm()
+                }
+                State::Armed => {
+                    // still armed => poison it
+                    let at = Instant::now();
+                    self.0.state = State::Poisoned { at };
+                    warn!(at=%at, "poisoning {}", self.0.what);
+                }
+                State::Poisoned { at } => {
+                    unreachable!("we fail check_and_arm() if it's in that state")
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[derive(thiserror::Error, Debug)]
+    enum Error {
+        #[error("poisoned at {at}: {what}")]
+        Poisoned { what: &'static str, at: Instant },
+    }
 }
 
 ///
@@ -748,11 +831,13 @@ impl WalRedoProcess {
             stdin: tokio::sync::Mutex::new(ProcessInput {
                 stdin,
                 n_requests: 0,
+                poison: poison::Poison::clean("stdin"),
             }),
             stdout: tokio::sync::Mutex::new(ProcessOutput {
                 stdout,
                 pending_responses: VecDeque::new(),
                 n_processed_responses: 0,
+                poison: poison::Poison::clean("stdout"),
             }),
             #[cfg(feature = "testing")]
             dump_sequence: AtomicUsize::default(),
@@ -817,6 +902,7 @@ impl WalRedoProcess {
 
     async fn apply_wal_records0(&self, writebuf: &[u8]) -> anyhow::Result<Bytes> {
         let mut input = self.stdin.lock().await;
+        let poison = input.poison.check_and_arm()?;
         input
             .stdin
             .write_all(writebuf)
@@ -824,6 +910,7 @@ impl WalRedoProcess {
             .context("write to walredo stdin")?;
         let request_no = input.n_requests;
         input.n_requests += 1;
+        poison.disarm();
         drop(input);
 
         // To improve walredo performance we separate sending requests and receiving
@@ -839,6 +926,7 @@ impl WalRedoProcess {
         // advancing processed responses number.
 
         let mut output = self.stdout.lock().await;
+        let poison = output.poison.check_and_arm()?;
         let n_processed_responses = output.n_processed_responses;
         while n_processed_responses + output.pending_responses.len() <= request_no {
             // We expect the WAL redo process to respond with an 8k page image. We read it