diff --git a/pgxn/neon/libpagestore.c b/pgxn/neon/libpagestore.c
index 28c96d95df..386f91e812 100644
--- a/pgxn/neon/libpagestore.c
+++ b/pgxn/neon/libpagestore.c
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@
 #include "neon.h"
 #include "walproposer.h"
 #include "neon_utils.h"
-#include "control_plane_connector.h"
 
 #define PageStoreTrace DEBUG5
 
@@ -62,12 +61,31 @@ bool	(*old_redo_read_buffer_filter) (XLogReaderState *record, uint8 block_id) =
 static bool pageserver_flush(shardno_t shard_no);
 static void pageserver_disconnect(shardno_t shard_no);
 static void AssignPageserverConnstring(const char *newval, void *extra);
+static bool CheckPageserverConnstring(char **newval, void **extra, GucSource source);
 
 static shmem_startup_hook_type prev_shmem_startup_hook;
 #if PG_VERSION_NUM>=150000
 static shmem_request_hook_type prev_shmem_request_hook;
 #endif
 
+/*
+ * ShardMap is kept in shared memory. It contains the connection strings for
+ * each shard.
+ *
+ * There is "neon.pageserver_connstring" GUC with PGC_SIGHUP option, allowing to change it using
+ * pg_reload_conf(). It is used by control plane to update shards information if page server is crashed,
+ * relocated or new shards are added. This GUC variable contains comma separated list of connection strings.
+ * It is copied to shared memory because config can not be loaded during query execution and we need to
+ * reestablish connection to page server.
+ *
+ * So usually copying connection string to shared memory is done by postmaster. And other backends
+ * should check update counter to determine of connection URL is changed and connection needs to be reestablished.
+ *
+ * But at startup shared memory is not yet initialized and so we need to copy in some other process.
+ * Moreover, we can not use standard Postgres LW-locks, because postmaster has proc entry and so can not wait
+ * on this primitive. This is why lockless access algorithm is implemented using two atomic counters to enforce
+ * consistent reading of connection string value from shared memory.
+ */
 typedef struct
 {
 	size_t n_shards;
@@ -88,7 +106,7 @@ typedef struct
 	PGconn	   *conn;
     /*
 	 * WaitEventSet containing:
-	 * - WL_SOCKET_READABLE on pageserver_conn,
+	 * - WL_SOCKET_READABLE on 'conn'
 	 * - WL_LATCH_SET on MyLatch, and
 	 * - WL_EXIT_ON_PM_DEATH.
 	 */
@@ -146,6 +164,8 @@ psm_init(void)
 
 /*
  * Reload page map if needed and return number of shards and connection string for the specified shard
+ * 'connstr' is an output buffer. If not NULL, it must point to a buffer at least MAX_PS_CONNSTR_LEN bytes
+ * long. The connection string for the gven shard is copied to it.
  */
 static shardno_t
 load_shard_map(shardno_t shard_no, char* connstr)
@@ -168,7 +188,14 @@ load_shard_map(shardno_t shard_no, char* connstr)
 			neon_log(ERROR, "Shard %d is greater or equal than number of shards %d", shard_no, n_shards);
 
 		if (connstr)
-			strncpy(connstr, shard_map->shard_connstr[shard_no], MAX_PS_CONNSTR_LEN);
+		{
+			/*
+			 * We need to use strlcpy here because due to race condition string oin shared memory
+			 * may be not zero terminated.
+			 */
+			strlcpy(connstr, shard_map->shard_connstr[shard_no], MAX_PS_CONNSTR_LEN);
+			pg_memory_barrier();
+		}
 
 	}
 	while (begin_update_counter != end_update_counter
@@ -546,17 +573,56 @@ check_neon_id(char **newval, void **extra, GucSource source)
 	return **newval == '\0' || HexDecodeString(id, *newval, 16);
 }
 
+static bool
+CheckPageserverConnstring(char **newval, void **extra, GucSource source)
+{
+	const char* shard_connstr = *newval;
+	const char* sep;
+	size_t connstr_len;
+	int i = 0;
+	do
+	{
+		sep = strchr(shard_connstr, ',');
+		connstr_len = sep != NULL ? sep - shard_connstr : strlen(shard_connstr);
+		if (connstr_len == 0)
+			break; /* trailing comma */
+		if (i >= MAX_SHARDS)
+		{
+			neon_log(LOG, "Too many shards");
+			return false;
+		}
+		if (connstr_len >= MAX_PS_CONNSTR_LEN)
+		{
+			neon_log(LOG, "Connection string too long");
+			return false;
+		}
+		shard_connstr = sep + 1;
+		i += 1;
+	} while (sep != NULL);
+
+	if (i == 0)
+	{
+		neon_log(LOG, "No shards were specified");
+		return false;
+	}
+	return true;
+}
+
 static void
 AssignPageserverConnstring(const char *newval, void *extra)
 {
 	/*
 	 * Load shard map only at Postmaster.
 	 * If old page server is not available, then backends can be blocked in attempts to reconnect to it and do not reload config in this loop
+	 *
+	 * Copying GUC value to shared memory is usually performed by postmaster. But in case of startup,
+	 * shared memory is not yet initialized. So it has to be performed by any other process.
+	 * It is not a problem if more than one process do this initialization.
 	 */
 	if (shard_map != NULL && UsedShmemSegAddr != NULL && (MyProcPid == PostmasterPid || shard_map->n_shards == 0))
 	{
-		char const* shard_connstr = newval;
-		char const* sep;
+		const char* shard_connstr = newval;
+		const char* sep;
 		size_t connstr_len;
 		int i = 0;
 		bool shard_map_changed = false;
@@ -566,16 +632,8 @@ AssignPageserverConnstring(const char *newval, void *extra)
 			connstr_len = sep != NULL ? sep - shard_connstr : strlen(shard_connstr);
 			if (connstr_len == 0)
 				break; /* trailing comma */
-			if (i >= MAX_SHARDS)
-			{
-				neon_log(LOG, "Too many shards");
-				return;
-			}
-			if (connstr_len >= MAX_PS_CONNSTR_LEN)
-			{
-				neon_log(LOG, "Connection  string too long");
-				return;
-			}
+			Assert(i < MAX_SHARDS);
+			Assert(connstr_len < MAX_PS_CONNSTR_LEN);
 			if (i >= shard_map->n_shards ||
 				strcmp(shard_map->shard_connstr[i], shard_connstr) != 0)
 			{
@@ -590,14 +648,11 @@ AssignPageserverConnstring(const char *newval, void *extra)
 			i += 1;
 		} while (sep != NULL);
 
-		if (i == 0)
-		{
-			neon_log(LOG, "No shards were specified");
-			return;
-		}
+		Assert(i > 0);
 		if (shard_map_changed)
 		{
 			shard_map->n_shards = i;
+			pg_memory_barrier();
 			pg_atomic_add_fetch_u64(&shard_map->end_update_counter, 1);
 		}
 	}
@@ -616,7 +671,7 @@ pg_init_libpagestore(void)
 							   "",
 							   PGC_SIGHUP,
 							   0,	/* no flags required */
-							   NULL, AssignPageserverConnstring, NULL);
+							   CheckPageserverConnstring, AssignPageserverConnstring, NULL);
 
 	DefineCustomStringVariable("neon.timeline_id",
 							   "Neon timeline_id the server is running on",
diff --git a/pgxn/neon/pagestore_smgr.c b/pgxn/neon/pagestore_smgr.c
index 08ce24b570..ec8d55e1b3 100644
--- a/pgxn/neon/pagestore_smgr.c
+++ b/pgxn/neon/pagestore_smgr.c
@@ -953,8 +953,8 @@ page_server_request(void const *req)
 
 
 	/*
-	 * TODO: temporary workarround - we stream all WAL only to shard 0, so metadata and forks other than main
-	 * should be requested from shard 0. We still need to call get_shard_no() to check if shard map is up-to-date
+	 * Current sharding model assumes that all metadata is present only at shard 0.
+	 * We still need to call get_shard_no() to check if shard map is up-to-date.
 	 */
 	if (((NeonRequest *) req)->tag != T_NeonGetPageRequest || ((NeonGetPageRequest *) req)->forknum != MAIN_FORKNUM)
 	{
@@ -2861,7 +2861,7 @@ neon_extend_rel_size(NRelFileInfo rinfo, ForkNumber forknum, BlockNumber blkno,
 #define FSM_TREE_DEPTH	((SlotsPerFSMPage >= 1626) ? 3 : 4)
 
 /*
- * TODO: May be it is better to make correspondent fgunctio from freespace.c public?
+ * TODO: May be it is better to make correspondent function from freespace.c public?
  */
 static BlockNumber
 get_fsm_physical_block(BlockNumber heapblk)