diff --git a/pageserver/src/page_service.rs b/pageserver/src/page_service.rs
index 0287a2bdb5..c04f6e2b47 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/page_service.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/page_service.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ use std::task::{Context, Poll};
 use std::time::{Duration, Instant, SystemTime};
 use std::{io, str};
 
-use anyhow::{Context as _, anyhow, bail};
+use anyhow::{Context as _, bail};
 use bytes::{Buf as _, BufMut as _, BytesMut};
 use futures::future::BoxFuture;
 use futures::{FutureExt, Stream};
@@ -2608,18 +2608,9 @@ impl PageServerHandler {
         } else {
             let mut writer = BufWriter::new(pgb.copyout_writer());
 
-            let cached = {
-                // Basebackup is cached only for this combination of parameters.
-                if timeline.is_basebackup_cache_enabled()
-                    && gzip
-                    && lsn.is_some()
-                    && prev_lsn.is_none()
-                {
-                    timeline.get_cached_basebackup(lsn.unwrap()).await
-                } else {
-                    None
-                }
-            };
+            let cached = timeline
+                .get_cached_basebackup_if_enabled(lsn, prev_lsn, full_backup, replica, gzip)
+                .await;
 
             if let Some(mut cached) = cached {
                 from_cache = true;
@@ -3555,21 +3546,41 @@ impl proto::PageService for GrpcPageServiceHandler {
                 page_api::BaseBackupCompression::Gzip => Some(async_compression::Level::Fastest),
             };
 
-            let result = basebackup::send_basebackup_tarball(
-                &mut simplex_write,
-                &timeline,
-                req.lsn,
-                None,
-                req.full,
-                req.replica,
-                gzip_level,
-                &ctx,
-            )
-            .instrument(span) // propagate request span
-            .await;
-            simplex_write.shutdown().await.map_err(|err| {
-                BasebackupError::Server(anyhow!("simplex shutdown failed: {err}"))
-            })?;
+            // Check for a cached basebackup.
+            let cached = timeline
+                .get_cached_basebackup_if_enabled(
+                    req.lsn,
+                    None,
+                    req.full,
+                    req.replica,
+                    gzip_level.is_some(),
+                )
+                .await;
+
+            let result = if let Some(mut cached) = cached {
+                // If we have a cached basebackup, send it.
+                tokio::io::copy(&mut cached, &mut simplex_write)
+                    .await
+                    .map(|_| ())
+                    .map_err(|err| BasebackupError::Client(err, "cached,copy"))
+            } else {
+                basebackup::send_basebackup_tarball(
+                    &mut simplex_write,
+                    &timeline,
+                    req.lsn,
+                    None,
+                    req.full,
+                    req.replica,
+                    gzip_level,
+                    &ctx,
+                )
+                .instrument(span) // propagate request span
+                .await
+            };
+            simplex_write
+                .shutdown()
+                .await
+                .map_err(|err| BasebackupError::Client(err, "simplex_write"))?;
             result
         });
 
diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline.rs
index bec2f0ed52..04a4bb84a3 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/timeline.rs
@@ -2507,6 +2507,30 @@ impl Timeline {
             .await
     }
 
+    /// Convenience method to attempt fetching a basebackup for the timeline if enabled and safe for
+    /// the given request parameters.
+    ///
+    /// TODO: consider moving this onto GrpcPageServiceHandler once the libpq handler is gone.
+    pub async fn get_cached_basebackup_if_enabled(
+        &self,
+        lsn: Option<Lsn>,
+        prev_lsn: Option<Lsn>,
+        full: bool,
+        replica: bool,
+        gzip: bool,
+    ) -> Option<tokio::fs::File> {
+        if !self.is_basebackup_cache_enabled() || !self.basebackup_cache.is_enabled() {
+            return None;
+        }
+        // We have to know which LSN to fetch the basebackup for.
+        let lsn = lsn?;
+        // We only cache gzipped, non-full basebackups for primary computes with automatic prev_lsn.
+        if prev_lsn.is_some() || full || replica || !gzip {
+            return None;
+        }
+        self.get_cached_basebackup(lsn).await
+    }
+
     /// Prepare basebackup for the given LSN and store it in the basebackup cache.
     /// The method is asynchronous and returns immediately.
     /// The actual basebackup preparation is performed in the background