diff --git a/pageserver/src/page_service.rs b/pageserver/src/page_service.rs
index 59b1606b06..5271e31a25 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/page_service.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/page_service.rs
@@ -290,7 +290,9 @@ impl PageServerHandler {
         // find latest snapshot
         let snapshot_lsn =
             restore_local_repo::find_latest_snapshot(&self.conf, timelineid).unwrap();
-        let req_lsn = lsn.unwrap_or(snapshot_lsn);
+
+        let req_lsn = lsn.unwrap_or_else(|| timeline.get_last_valid_lsn());
+
         {
             let mut writer = CopyDataSink { pgb };
             let mut basebackup = basebackup::Basebackup::new(