diff --git a/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c b/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c
index 3983b23731..30e3701f92 100644
--- a/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c
+++ b/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c
@@ -3197,6 +3197,11 @@ setup_signals(void)
 #ifdef SIGPIPE
 	pqsignal(SIGPIPE, SIG_IGN);
 #endif
+
+	/* Prevent SIGSYS so we can probe for kernel calls that might not work */
+#ifdef SIGSYS
+	pqsignal(SIGSYS, SIG_IGN);
+#endif
 }