diff --git a/src/backend/storage/file/fd.c b/src/backend/storage/file/fd.c
index 28933f8bbe..06b57ae71f 100644
--- a/src/backend/storage/file/fd.c
+++ b/src/backend/storage/file/fd.c
@@ -801,17 +801,20 @@ durable_unlink(const char *fname, int elevel)
 }
 
 /*
- * durable_rename_excl -- rename a file in a durable manner, without
- * overwriting an existing target file
+ * durable_rename_excl -- rename a file in a durable manner.
  *
- * Similar to durable_rename(), except that this routine will fail if the
- * target file already exists.
+ * Similar to durable_rename(), except that this routine tries (but does not
+ * guarantee) not to overwrite the target file.
  *
  * Note that a crash in an unfortunate moment can leave you with two links to
  * the target file.
  *
  * Log errors with the caller specified severity.
  *
+ * On Windows, using a hard link followed by unlink() causes concurrency
+ * issues, while a simple rename() does not cause that, so be careful when
+ * changing the logic of this routine.
+ *
  * Returns 0 if the operation succeeded, -1 otherwise. Note that errno is not
  * valid upon return.
  */
@@ -825,6 +828,7 @@ durable_rename_excl(const char *oldfile, const char *newfile, int elevel)
 	if (fsync_fname_ext(oldfile, false, false, elevel) != 0)
 		return -1;
 
+#ifdef HAVE_WORKING_LINK
 	if (link(oldfile, newfile) < 0)
 	{
 		ereport(elevel,
@@ -834,6 +838,16 @@ durable_rename_excl(const char *oldfile, const char *newfile, int elevel)
 		return -1;
 	}
 	unlink(oldfile);
+#else
+	if (rename(oldfile, newfile) < 0)
+	{
+		ereport(elevel,
+				(errcode_for_file_access(),
+				 errmsg("could not rename file \"%s\" to \"%s\": %m",
+						oldfile, newfile)));
+		return -1;
+	}
+#endif
 
 	/*
 	 * Make change persistent in case of an OS crash, both the new entry and
diff --git a/src/include/pg_config_manual.h b/src/include/pg_config_manual.h
index f10ad0acd6..e28c990382 100644
--- a/src/include/pg_config_manual.h
+++ b/src/include/pg_config_manual.h
@@ -135,6 +135,13 @@
 #define EXEC_BACKEND
 #endif
 
+/*
+ * Define this if your operating system supports link()
+ */
+#if !defined(WIN32) && !defined(__CYGWIN__)
+#define HAVE_WORKING_LINK 1
+#endif
+
 /*
  * USE_POSIX_FADVISE controls whether Postgres will attempt to use the
  * posix_fadvise() kernel call.  Usually the automatic configure tests are