diff --git a/src/backend/access/transam/parallel.c b/src/backend/access/transam/parallel.c
index 088700e17c..eef1dc2b18 100644
--- a/src/backend/access/transam/parallel.c
+++ b/src/backend/access/transam/parallel.c
@@ -810,7 +810,17 @@ HandleParallelMessage(ParallelContext *pcxt, int i, StringInfo msg)
 		case 'A':				/* NotifyResponse */
 			{
 				/* Propagate NotifyResponse. */
-				pq_putmessage(msg->data[0], &msg->data[1], msg->len - 1);
+				int32		pid;
+				const char *channel;
+				const char *payload;
+
+				pid = pq_getmsgint(msg, 4);
+				channel = pq_getmsgrawstring(msg);
+				payload = pq_getmsgrawstring(msg);
+				pq_endmessage(msg);
+
+				NotifyMyFrontEnd(channel, payload, pid);
+
 				break;
 			}
 
@@ -988,6 +998,12 @@ ParallelWorkerMain(Datum main_arg)
 	BackgroundWorkerInitializeConnectionByOid(fps->database_id,
 											  fps->authenticated_user_id);
 
+	/*
+	 * Set the client encoding to the database encoding, since that is what
+	 * the leader will expect.
+	 */
+	SetClientEncoding(GetDatabaseEncoding());
+
 	/* Restore GUC values from launching backend. */
 	gucspace = shm_toc_lookup(toc, PARALLEL_KEY_GUC);
 	Assert(gucspace != NULL);
diff --git a/src/backend/commands/async.c b/src/backend/commands/async.c
index c39ac3aeef..716f1c3318 100644
--- a/src/backend/commands/async.c
+++ b/src/backend/commands/async.c
@@ -390,9 +390,6 @@ static bool asyncQueueProcessPageEntries(volatile QueuePosition *current,
 							 char *page_buffer);
 static void asyncQueueAdvanceTail(void);
 static void ProcessIncomingNotify(void);
-static void NotifyMyFrontEnd(const char *channel,
-				 const char *payload,
-				 int32 srcPid);
 static bool AsyncExistsPendingNotify(const char *channel, const char *payload);
 static void ClearPendingActionsAndNotifies(void);
 
@@ -2076,7 +2073,7 @@ ProcessIncomingNotify(void)
 /*
  * Send NOTIFY message to my front end.
  */
-static void
+void
 NotifyMyFrontEnd(const char *channel, const char *payload, int32 srcPid)
 {
 	if (whereToSendOutput == DestRemote)
diff --git a/src/backend/commands/variable.c b/src/backend/commands/variable.c
index 962d75db6e..4ad8266a51 100644
--- a/src/backend/commands/variable.c
+++ b/src/backend/commands/variable.c
@@ -755,6 +755,30 @@ assign_client_encoding(const char *newval, void *extra)
 {
 	int			encoding = *((int *) extra);
 
+	/*
+	 * Parallel workers send data to the leader, not the client.  They always
+	 * send data using the database encoding.
+	 */
+	if (IsParallelWorker())
+	{
+		/*
+		 * During parallel worker startup, we want to accept the leader's
+		 * client_encoding setting so that anyone who looks at the value in
+		 * the worker sees the same value that they would see in the leader.
+		 */
+		if (InitializingParallelWorker)
+			return;
+
+		/*
+		 * A change other than during startup, for example due to a SET clause
+		 * attached to a function definition, should be rejected, as there is
+		 * nothing we can do inside the worker to make it take effect.
+		 */
+		ereport(ERROR,
+				(errcode(ERRCODE_INVALID_TRANSACTION_STATE),
+				 errmsg("cannot change client_encoding in a parallel worker")));
+	}
+
 	/* We do not expect an error if PrepareClientEncoding succeeded */
 	if (SetClientEncoding(encoding) < 0)
 		elog(LOG, "SetClientEncoding(%d) failed", encoding);
diff --git a/src/backend/libpq/pqformat.c b/src/backend/libpq/pqformat.c
index 4ddea8285f..b5d9d64e54 100644
--- a/src/backend/libpq/pqformat.c
+++ b/src/backend/libpq/pqformat.c
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@
  *		pq_copymsgbytes - copy raw data from a message buffer
  *		pq_getmsgtext	- get a counted text string (with conversion)
  *		pq_getmsgstring - get a null-terminated text string (with conversion)
+ *		pq_getmsgrawstring - get a null-terminated text string - NO conversion
  *		pq_getmsgend	- verify message fully consumed
  */
 
@@ -639,6 +640,35 @@ pq_getmsgstring(StringInfo msg)
 	return pg_client_to_server(str, slen);
 }
 
+/* --------------------------------
+ *		pq_getmsgrawstring - get a null-terminated text string - NO conversion
+ *
+ *		Returns a pointer directly into the message buffer.
+ * --------------------------------
+ */
+const char *
+pq_getmsgrawstring(StringInfo msg)
+{
+	char	   *str;
+	int			slen;
+
+	str = &msg->data[msg->cursor];
+
+	/*
+	 * It's safe to use strlen() here because a StringInfo is guaranteed to
+	 * have a trailing null byte.  But check we found a null inside the
+	 * message.
+	 */
+	slen = strlen(str);
+	if (msg->cursor + slen >= msg->len)
+		ereport(ERROR,
+				(errcode(ERRCODE_PROTOCOL_VIOLATION),
+				 errmsg("invalid string in message")));
+	msg->cursor += slen + 1;
+
+	return str;
+}
+
 /* --------------------------------
  *		pq_getmsgend	- verify message fully consumed
  * --------------------------------
diff --git a/src/backend/libpq/pqmq.c b/src/backend/libpq/pqmq.c
index 3225c1fa0e..0dcdee03db 100644
--- a/src/backend/libpq/pqmq.c
+++ b/src/backend/libpq/pqmq.c
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ pq_parse_errornotice(StringInfo msg, ErrorData *edata)
 			pq_getmsgend(msg);
 			break;
 		}
-		value = pq_getmsgstring(msg);
+		value = pq_getmsgrawstring(msg);
 
 		switch (code)
 		{
diff --git a/src/include/commands/async.h b/src/include/commands/async.h
index b4c13fac4a..95559df19f 100644
--- a/src/include/commands/async.h
+++ b/src/include/commands/async.h
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ extern volatile sig_atomic_t notifyInterruptPending;
 extern Size AsyncShmemSize(void);
 extern void AsyncShmemInit(void);
 
+extern void NotifyMyFrontEnd(const char *channel,
+							 const char *payload,
+							 int32 srcPid);
+
 /* notify-related SQL statements */
 extern void Async_Notify(const char *channel, const char *payload);
 extern void Async_Listen(const char *channel);
diff --git a/src/include/libpq/pqformat.h b/src/include/libpq/pqformat.h
index 65ebf37fbc..3c0d4b2622 100644
--- a/src/include/libpq/pqformat.h
+++ b/src/include/libpq/pqformat.h
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ extern const char *pq_getmsgbytes(StringInfo msg, int datalen);
 extern void pq_copymsgbytes(StringInfo msg, char *buf, int datalen);
 extern char *pq_getmsgtext(StringInfo msg, int rawbytes, int *nbytes);
 extern const char *pq_getmsgstring(StringInfo msg);
+extern const char *pq_getmsgrawstring(StringInfo msg);
 extern void pq_getmsgend(StringInfo msg);
 
 #endif   /* PQFORMAT_H */