diff --git a/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c b/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
index 54d3c558c6..ad12ebc426 100644
--- a/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
+++ b/src/backend/access/transam/xlog.c
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 #include "catalog/pg_control.h"
 #include "catalog/pg_database.h"
 #include "commands/tablespace.h"
+#include "common/controldata_utils.h"
 #include "miscadmin.h"
 #include "pgstat.h"
 #include "port/atomics.h"
@@ -4754,51 +4755,14 @@ ReadControlFile(void)
 					PGC_INTERNAL, PGC_S_OVERRIDE);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Utility wrapper to update the control file.  Note that the control
+ * file gets flushed.
+ */
 void
 UpdateControlFile(void)
 {
-	int			fd;
-
-	INIT_CRC32C(ControlFile->crc);
-	COMP_CRC32C(ControlFile->crc,
-				(char *) ControlFile,
-				offsetof(ControlFileData, crc));
-	FIN_CRC32C(ControlFile->crc);
-
-	fd = BasicOpenFile(XLOG_CONTROL_FILE,
-					   O_RDWR | PG_BINARY);
-	if (fd < 0)
-		ereport(PANIC,
-				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not open file \"%s\": %m", XLOG_CONTROL_FILE)));
-
-	errno = 0;
-	pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_CONTROL_FILE_WRITE_UPDATE);
-	if (write(fd, ControlFile, sizeof(ControlFileData)) != sizeof(ControlFileData))
-	{
-		/* if write didn't set errno, assume problem is no disk space */
-		if (errno == 0)
-			errno = ENOSPC;
-		ereport(PANIC,
-				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not write to file \"%s\": %m",
-						XLOG_CONTROL_FILE)));
-	}
-	pgstat_report_wait_end();
-
-	pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_CONTROL_FILE_SYNC_UPDATE);
-	if (pg_fsync(fd) != 0)
-		ereport(PANIC,
-				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not fsync file \"%s\": %m",
-						XLOG_CONTROL_FILE)));
-	pgstat_report_wait_end();
-
-	if (close(fd))
-		ereport(PANIC,
-				(errcode_for_file_access(),
-				 errmsg("could not close file \"%s\": %m",
-						XLOG_CONTROL_FILE)));
+	update_controlfile(DataDir, NULL, ControlFile, true);
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_resetwal/pg_resetwal.c b/src/bin/pg_resetwal/pg_resetwal.c
index 2af8713216..a7b25ffe1c 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_resetwal/pg_resetwal.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_resetwal/pg_resetwal.c
@@ -49,8 +49,7 @@
 #include "access/multixact.h"
 #include "access/xlog.h"
 #include "access/xlog_internal.h"
-#include "catalog/catversion.h"
-#include "catalog/pg_control.h"
+#include "common/controldata_utils.h"
 #include "common/fe_memutils.h"
 #include "common/file_perm.h"
 #include "common/restricted_token.h"
@@ -918,18 +917,6 @@ PrintNewControlValues(void)
 static void
 RewriteControlFile(void)
 {
-	int			fd;
-	char		buffer[PG_CONTROL_FILE_SIZE];	/* need not be aligned */
-
-	/*
-	 * For good luck, apply the same static assertions as in backend's
-	 * WriteControlFile().
-	 */
-	StaticAssertStmt(sizeof(ControlFileData) <= PG_CONTROL_MAX_SAFE_SIZE,
-					 "pg_control is too large for atomic disk writes");
-	StaticAssertStmt(sizeof(ControlFileData) <= PG_CONTROL_FILE_SIZE,
-					 "sizeof(ControlFileData) exceeds PG_CONTROL_FILE_SIZE");
-
 	/*
 	 * Adjust fields as needed to force an empty XLOG starting at
 	 * newXlogSegNo.
@@ -961,53 +948,8 @@ RewriteControlFile(void)
 	ControlFile.max_prepared_xacts = 0;
 	ControlFile.max_locks_per_xact = 64;
 
-	/* Contents are protected with a CRC */
-	INIT_CRC32C(ControlFile.crc);
-	COMP_CRC32C(ControlFile.crc,
-				(char *) &ControlFile,
-				offsetof(ControlFileData, crc));
-	FIN_CRC32C(ControlFile.crc);
-
-	/*
-	 * We write out PG_CONTROL_FILE_SIZE bytes into pg_control, zero-padding
-	 * the excess over sizeof(ControlFileData).  This reduces the odds of
-	 * premature-EOF errors when reading pg_control.  We'll still fail when we
-	 * check the contents of the file, but hopefully with a more specific
-	 * error than "couldn't read pg_control".
-	 */
-	memset(buffer, 0, PG_CONTROL_FILE_SIZE);
-	memcpy(buffer, &ControlFile, sizeof(ControlFileData));
-
-	unlink(XLOG_CONTROL_FILE);
-
-	fd = open(XLOG_CONTROL_FILE,
-			  O_RDWR | O_CREAT | O_EXCL | PG_BINARY,
-			  pg_file_create_mode);
-	if (fd < 0)
-	{
-		fprintf(stderr, _("%s: could not create pg_control file: %s\n"),
-				progname, strerror(errno));
-		exit(1);
-	}
-
-	errno = 0;
-	if (write(fd, buffer, PG_CONTROL_FILE_SIZE) != PG_CONTROL_FILE_SIZE)
-	{
-		/* if write didn't set errno, assume problem is no disk space */
-		if (errno == 0)
-			errno = ENOSPC;
-		fprintf(stderr, _("%s: could not write pg_control file: %s\n"),
-				progname, strerror(errno));
-		exit(1);
-	}
-
-	if (fsync(fd) != 0)
-	{
-		fprintf(stderr, _("%s: fsync error: %s\n"), progname, strerror(errno));
-		exit(1);
-	}
-
-	close(fd);
+	/* The control file gets flushed here. */
+	update_controlfile(".", progname, &ControlFile, true);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_rewind/pg_rewind.c b/src/bin/pg_rewind/pg_rewind.c
index 7f1d6bf48a..3dcadb9b40 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_rewind/pg_rewind.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_rewind/pg_rewind.c
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	ControlFile_new.minRecoveryPoint = endrec;
 	ControlFile_new.minRecoveryPointTLI = endtli;
 	ControlFile_new.state = DB_IN_ARCHIVE_RECOVERY;
-	update_controlfile(datadir_target, progname, &ControlFile_new);
+	update_controlfile(datadir_target, progname, &ControlFile_new, do_sync);
 
 	pg_log(PG_PROGRESS, "syncing target data directory\n");
 	syncTargetDirectory();
diff --git a/src/common/controldata_utils.c b/src/common/controldata_utils.c
index 71e67a2eda..567281349e 100644
--- a/src/common/controldata_utils.c
+++ b/src/common/controldata_utils.c
@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@
 #include "common/controldata_utils.h"
 #include "common/file_perm.h"
 #include "port/pg_crc32c.h"
+
 #ifndef FRONTEND
+#include "pgstat.h"
 #include "storage/fd.h"
 #endif
 
@@ -144,13 +146,14 @@ get_controlfile(const char *DataDir, const char *progname, bool *crc_ok_p)
  * update_controlfile()
  *
  * Update controlfile values with the contents given by caller.  The
- * contents to write are included in "ControlFile".  Note that it is up
- * to the caller to fsync the updated file, and to properly lock
- * ControlFileLock when calling this routine in the backend.
+ * contents to write are included in "ControlFile". "do_sync" can be
+ * optionally used to flush the updated control file.  Note that it is up
+ * to the caller to properly lock ControlFileLock when calling this
+ * routine in the backend.
  */
 void
 update_controlfile(const char *DataDir, const char *progname,
-				   ControlFileData *ControlFile)
+				   ControlFileData *ControlFile, bool do_sync)
 {
 	int			fd;
 	char		buffer[PG_CONTROL_FILE_SIZE];
@@ -182,7 +185,12 @@ update_controlfile(const char *DataDir, const char *progname,
 	snprintf(ControlFilePath, sizeof(ControlFilePath), "%s/%s", DataDir, XLOG_CONTROL_FILE);
 
 #ifndef FRONTEND
-	if ((fd = OpenTransientFile(ControlFilePath, O_WRONLY | PG_BINARY)) == -1)
+
+	/*
+	 * All errors issue a PANIC, so no need to use OpenTransientFile() and to
+	 * worry about file descriptor leaks.
+	 */
+	if ((fd = BasicOpenFile(ControlFilePath, O_RDWR | PG_BINARY)) < 0)
 		ereport(PANIC,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
 				 errmsg("could not open file \"%s\": %m",
@@ -198,6 +206,9 @@ update_controlfile(const char *DataDir, const char *progname,
 #endif
 
 	errno = 0;
+#ifndef FRONTEND
+	pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_CONTROL_FILE_WRITE_UPDATE);
+#endif
 	if (write(fd, buffer, PG_CONTROL_FILE_SIZE) != PG_CONTROL_FILE_SIZE)
 	{
 		/* if write didn't set errno, assume problem is no disk space */
@@ -215,19 +226,41 @@ update_controlfile(const char *DataDir, const char *progname,
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 #endif
 	}
-
 #ifndef FRONTEND
-	if (CloseTransientFile(fd))
+	pgstat_report_wait_end();
+#endif
+
+	if (do_sync)
+	{
+#ifndef FRONTEND
+		pgstat_report_wait_start(WAIT_EVENT_CONTROL_FILE_SYNC_UPDATE);
+		if (pg_fsync(fd) != 0)
+			ereport(PANIC,
+					(errcode_for_file_access(),
+					 errmsg("could not fsync file \"%s\": %m",
+							ControlFilePath)));
+		pgstat_report_wait_end();
+#else
+		if (fsync(fd) != 0)
+		{
+			fprintf(stderr, _("%s: could not fsync file \"%s\": %s\n"),
+					progname, ControlFilePath, strerror(errno));
+			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+		}
+#endif
+	}
+
+	if (close(fd) < 0)
+	{
+#ifndef FRONTEND
 		ereport(PANIC,
 				(errcode_for_file_access(),
 				 errmsg("could not close file \"%s\": %m",
 						ControlFilePath)));
 #else
-	if (close(fd) < 0)
-	{
 		fprintf(stderr, _("%s: could not close file \"%s\": %s\n"),
 				progname, ControlFilePath, strerror(errno));
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-	}
 #endif
+	}
 }
diff --git a/src/include/common/controldata_utils.h b/src/include/common/controldata_utils.h
index 95317ebacf..750ba65164 100644
--- a/src/include/common/controldata_utils.h
+++ b/src/include/common/controldata_utils.h
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@
 #include "catalog/pg_control.h"
 
 extern ControlFileData *get_controlfile(const char *DataDir,
-										const char *progname,
-										bool *crc_ok_p);
+				const char *progname,
+				bool *crc_ok_p);
 extern void update_controlfile(const char *DataDir, const char *progname,
-							   ControlFileData *ControlFile);
+				   ControlFileData *ControlFile, bool do_sync);
 
 #endif							/* COMMON_CONTROLDATA_UTILS_H */