diff --git a/pageserver/src/timelines.rs b/pageserver/src/timelines.rs
index 42cb6cb156..6002e8b2d9 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/timelines.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/timelines.rs
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ pub(crate) fn create_timeline(
         return Ok(None);
     }
 
-    let _new_timeline = match ancestor_timeline_id {
+    match ancestor_timeline_id {
         Some(ancestor_timeline_id) => {
             let ancestor_timeline = repo
                 .get_timeline_load(ancestor_timeline_id)
diff --git a/pageserver/src/walreceiver/connection_manager.rs b/pageserver/src/walreceiver/connection_manager.rs
index ae1c787517..5b6a211566 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/walreceiver/connection_manager.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/walreceiver/connection_manager.rs
@@ -233,13 +233,23 @@ async fn subscribe_for_timeline_updates(
 const DEFAULT_BASE_BACKOFF_SECONDS: f64 = 0.1;
 const DEFAULT_MAX_BACKOFF_SECONDS: f64 = 3.0;
 
-async fn exponential_backoff(n: u32, base: f64, max_seconds: f64) {
+fn exponential_backoff_duration_seconds(n: u32, base_increment: f64, max_seconds: f64) -> f64 {
     if n == 0 {
-        return;
+        0.0
+    } else {
+        (1.0 + base_increment).powf(f64::from(n)).min(max_seconds)
+    }
+}
+
+async fn exponential_backoff(n: u32, base_increment: f64, max_seconds: f64) {
+    let backoff_duration_seconds =
+        exponential_backoff_duration_seconds(n, base_increment, max_seconds);
+    if backoff_duration_seconds > 0.0 {
+        info!(
+            "Backoff: waiting {backoff_duration_seconds} seconds before proceeding with the task",
+        );
+        tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_secs_f64(backoff_duration_seconds)).await;
     }
-    let seconds_to_wait = base.powf(f64::from(n) - 1.0).min(max_seconds);
-    info!("Backoff: waiting {seconds_to_wait} seconds before proceeding with the task");
-    tokio::time::sleep(Duration::from_secs_f64(seconds_to_wait)).await;
 }
 
 /// All data that's needed to run endless broker loop and keep the WAL streaming connection alive, if possible.
@@ -1217,3 +1227,34 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod backoff_defaults_tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn backoff_defaults_produce_growing_backoff_sequence() {
+        let mut current_backoff_value = None;
+
+        for i in 0..10_000 {
+            let new_backoff_value = exponential_backoff_duration_seconds(
+                i,
+                DEFAULT_BASE_BACKOFF_SECONDS,
+                DEFAULT_MAX_BACKOFF_SECONDS,
+            );
+
+            if let Some(old_backoff_value) = current_backoff_value.replace(new_backoff_value) {
+                assert!(
+                    old_backoff_value <= new_backoff_value,
+                    "{i}th backoff value {new_backoff_value} is smaller than the previous one {old_backoff_value}"
+                )
+            }
+        }
+
+        assert_eq!(
+            current_backoff_value.expect("Should have produced backoff values to compare"),
+            DEFAULT_MAX_BACKOFF_SECONDS,
+            "Given big enough of retries, backoff should reach its allowed max value"
+        );
+    }
+}