diff --git a/pageserver/src/config.rs b/pageserver/src/config.rs
index 85ff3a27af..658e0ddbff 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/config.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/config.rs
@@ -96,8 +96,6 @@ pub mod defaults {
 
     pub const DEFAULT_EPHEMERAL_BYTES_PER_MEMORY_KB: usize = 0;
 
-    pub const DEFAULT_WALREDO_PROCESS_KIND: &str = crate::walredo::ProcessKind::DEFAULT_TOML;
-
     ///
     /// Default built-in configuration file.
     ///
@@ -140,8 +138,6 @@ pub mod defaults {
 
 #validate_vectored_get = '{DEFAULT_VALIDATE_VECTORED_GET}'
 
-#walredo_process_kind = '{DEFAULT_WALREDO_PROCESS_KIND}'
-
 [tenant_config]
 #checkpoint_distance = {DEFAULT_CHECKPOINT_DISTANCE} # in bytes
 #checkpoint_timeout = {DEFAULT_CHECKPOINT_TIMEOUT}
@@ -290,8 +286,6 @@ pub struct PageServerConf {
     ///
     /// Setting this to zero disables limits on total ephemeral layer size.
     pub ephemeral_bytes_per_memory_kb: usize,
-
-    pub walredo_process_kind: crate::walredo::ProcessKind,
 }
 
 /// We do not want to store this in a PageServerConf because the latter may be logged
@@ -414,8 +408,6 @@ struct PageServerConfigBuilder {
     validate_vectored_get: BuilderValue<bool>,
 
     ephemeral_bytes_per_memory_kb: BuilderValue<usize>,
-
-    walredo_process_kind: BuilderValue<crate::walredo::ProcessKind>,
 }
 
 impl PageServerConfigBuilder {
@@ -501,8 +493,6 @@ impl PageServerConfigBuilder {
             )),
             validate_vectored_get: Set(DEFAULT_VALIDATE_VECTORED_GET),
             ephemeral_bytes_per_memory_kb: Set(DEFAULT_EPHEMERAL_BYTES_PER_MEMORY_KB),
-
-            walredo_process_kind: Set(DEFAULT_WALREDO_PROCESS_KIND.parse().unwrap()),
         }
     }
 }
@@ -682,10 +672,6 @@ impl PageServerConfigBuilder {
         self.ephemeral_bytes_per_memory_kb = BuilderValue::Set(value);
     }
 
-    pub fn get_walredo_process_kind(&mut self, value: crate::walredo::ProcessKind) {
-        self.walredo_process_kind = BuilderValue::Set(value);
-    }
-
     pub fn build(self) -> anyhow::Result<PageServerConf> {
         let default = Self::default_values();
 
@@ -741,7 +727,6 @@ impl PageServerConfigBuilder {
                 max_vectored_read_bytes,
                 validate_vectored_get,
                 ephemeral_bytes_per_memory_kb,
-                walredo_process_kind,
             }
             CUSTOM LOGIC
             {
@@ -1034,9 +1019,6 @@ impl PageServerConf {
                 "ephemeral_bytes_per_memory_kb" => {
                     builder.get_ephemeral_bytes_per_memory_kb(parse_toml_u64("ephemeral_bytes_per_memory_kb", item)? as usize)
                 }
-                "walredo_process_kind" => {
-                    builder.get_walredo_process_kind(parse_toml_from_str("walredo_process_kind", item)?)
-                }
                 _ => bail!("unrecognized pageserver option '{key}'"),
             }
         }
@@ -1118,7 +1100,6 @@ impl PageServerConf {
             ),
             validate_vectored_get: defaults::DEFAULT_VALIDATE_VECTORED_GET,
             ephemeral_bytes_per_memory_kb: defaults::DEFAULT_EPHEMERAL_BYTES_PER_MEMORY_KB,
-            walredo_process_kind: defaults::DEFAULT_WALREDO_PROCESS_KIND.parse().unwrap(),
         }
     }
 }
@@ -1355,7 +1336,6 @@ background_task_maximum_delay = '334 s'
                 ),
                 validate_vectored_get: defaults::DEFAULT_VALIDATE_VECTORED_GET,
                 ephemeral_bytes_per_memory_kb: defaults::DEFAULT_EPHEMERAL_BYTES_PER_MEMORY_KB,
-                walredo_process_kind: defaults::DEFAULT_WALREDO_PROCESS_KIND.parse().unwrap(),
             },
             "Correct defaults should be used when no config values are provided"
         );
@@ -1427,7 +1407,6 @@ background_task_maximum_delay = '334 s'
                 ),
                 validate_vectored_get: defaults::DEFAULT_VALIDATE_VECTORED_GET,
                 ephemeral_bytes_per_memory_kb: defaults::DEFAULT_EPHEMERAL_BYTES_PER_MEMORY_KB,
-                walredo_process_kind: defaults::DEFAULT_WALREDO_PROCESS_KIND.parse().unwrap(),
             },
             "Should be able to parse all basic config values correctly"
         );
diff --git a/pageserver/src/walredo/process.rs b/pageserver/src/walredo/process.rs
index 912923e9a0..a8d0cece0e 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/walredo/process.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/walredo/process.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ use utils::lsn::Lsn;
 
 use crate::{config::PageServerConf, walrecord::NeonWalRecord};
 
+mod live_reconfig;
 mod no_leak_child;
 /// The IPC protocol that pageserver and walredo process speak over their shared pipe.
 mod protocol;
@@ -18,20 +19,9 @@ mod process_impl {
     pub(super) mod process_std;
 }
 
-#[derive(
-    Clone,
-    Copy,
-    Debug,
-    PartialEq,
-    Eq,
-    strum_macros::EnumString,
-    strum_macros::Display,
-    serde_with::DeserializeFromStr,
-    serde_with::SerializeDisplay,
-)]
-#[strum(serialize_all = "kebab-case")]
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize)]
 #[repr(u8)]
-pub enum Kind {
+pub(crate) enum Kind {
     Sync,
     Async,
 }
@@ -48,12 +38,7 @@ impl TryFrom<u8> for Kind {
     }
 }
 
-impl Kind {
-    pub const DEFAULT: Kind = Kind::Sync;
-    pub const DEFAULT_TOML: &'static str = "sync";
-}
-
-static PROCESS_KIND: AtomicU8 = AtomicU8::new(Kind::DEFAULT as u8);
+static PROCESS_KIND: AtomicU8 = AtomicU8::new(Kind::Async as u8);
 
 pub(crate) fn set_kind(kind: Kind) {
     PROCESS_KIND.store(kind as u8, std::sync::atomic::Ordering::Relaxed);
@@ -125,24 +110,3 @@ impl Process {
         }
     }
 }
-
-#[cfg(test)]
-mod tests {
-    use super::*;
-
-    #[test]
-    fn test_ensure_defaults_are_eq() {
-        #[derive(serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize, Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
-        struct Doc {
-            val: Kind,
-        }
-        let de = Doc { val: Kind::DEFAULT };
-        let default_toml = Kind::DEFAULT_TOML;
-        let ser = format!(
-            r#"
-        val = '{default_toml}'
-        "#
-        );
-        assert_eq!(de, toml_edit::de::from_str(&ser).unwrap(),);
-    }
-}
diff --git a/pageserver/src/walredo/process/live_reconfig.rs b/pageserver/src/walredo/process/live_reconfig.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8b13789179
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pageserver/src/walredo/process/live_reconfig.rs
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+