diff --git a/docs/production/deployment.md b/docs/production/deployment.md
index a036990c02..37b5f2ba68 100644
--- a/docs/production/deployment.md
+++ b/docs/production/deployment.md
@@ -836,6 +836,14 @@ based on the `pg_hba.conf` file; if you are using password
 authentication, you can set a `postgresql_replication_password` secret
 for authentication.
 
+#### `skip_backups`
+
+If set to as true value, inhibits the nightly [`wal-g` backups][wal-g] which
+would be taken on all non-replicated hosts and [all warm standby
+replicas](#postgresql-warm-standby). This is generally only set if you have
+multiple warm standby replicas, in order to avoid taking multiple backups, one
+per replica.
+
 #### `ssl_ca_file`
 
 Set to the path to the PEM-encoded certificate authority used to
diff --git a/puppet/zulip/files/nagios_plugins/zulip_postgresql_backups/check_postgresql_backup b/puppet/zulip/files/nagios_plugins/zulip_postgresql_backups/check_postgresql_backup
index 5a14fd7630..2f3e268b5f 100755
--- a/puppet/zulip/files/nagios_plugins/zulip_postgresql_backups/check_postgresql_backup
+++ b/puppet/zulip/files/nagios_plugins/zulip_postgresql_backups/check_postgresql_backup
@@ -19,13 +19,39 @@ def report(state: str, msg: str) -> None:
     sys.exit(states[state])
 
 
-if (
-    subprocess.check_output(
-        ["psql", "-v", "ON_ERROR_STOP=1", "postgres", "-t", "-c", "SELECT pg_is_in_recovery()"]
-    ).strip()
-    != b"f"
-):
-    report("OK", "this is not the primary")
+replicas = subprocess.check_output(
+    [
+        "psql",
+        "-v",
+        "ON_ERROR_STOP=1",
+        "postgres",
+        "-t",
+        "-c",
+        "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM pg_stat_replication",
+    ],
+    stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+    text=True,
+).strip()
+if int(replicas) > 0:
+    # We are the primary and we have replicas; we expect that backups
+    # will be taken on one of them.
+    report("OK", "this is the primary, with backups taken on the replicas")
+
+skip_backups = subprocess.run(
+    ["crudini", "--get", "/etc/zulip/zulip.conf", "postgresql", "skip_backups"],
+    capture_output=True,
+    text=True,
+)
+if skip_backups.returncode == 0 and skip_backups.stdout.strip().lower() in [
+    1,
+    "y",
+    "t",
+    "yes",
+    "true",
+    "enable",
+    "enabled",
+]:
+    report("OK", "backups are disabled on this host")
 
 try:
     with open("/var/lib/nagios_state/last_postgresql_backup") as f:
diff --git a/puppet/zulip/files/postgresql/pg_backup_and_purge b/puppet/zulip/files/postgresql/pg_backup_and_purge
index 9afd77c9bf..d35cc77fd8 100755
--- a/puppet/zulip/files/postgresql/pg_backup_and_purge
+++ b/puppet/zulip/files/postgresql/pg_backup_and_purge
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
+import configparser
 import glob
 import logging
 import os
@@ -14,14 +15,32 @@ logging.basicConfig(format="%(asctime)s %(levelname)s: %(message)s")
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-recovery_val = subprocess.check_output(
-    ["psql", "-v", "ON_ERROR_STOP=1", "-t", "-c", "SELECT pg_is_in_recovery()"],
+config_file = configparser.RawConfigParser()
+config_file.read("/etc/zulip/zulip.conf")
+
+
+def get_config(
+    section: str,
+    key: str,
+    default_value: str = "",
+) -> str:
+    if config_file.has_option(section, key):
+        return config_file.get(section, key)
+    return default_value
+
+
+replicas = subprocess.check_output(
+    ["psql", "-v", "ON_ERROR_STOP=1", "-t", "-c", "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM pg_stat_replication"],
+    stdin=subprocess.DEVNULL,
     text=True,
 ).strip()
-# Assertion to check that we're extracting the value correctly.
-assert recovery_val in ["t", "f"]
-if recovery_val == "t":
-    # Only run if we're the primary
+if int(replicas) > 0:
+    # We are the primary and we have replicas; we expect that backups
+    # will be taken on one of them.
+    sys.exit(0)
+
+skip_backups = get_config("postgresql", "skip_backups", "")
+if skip_backups.lower() in [1, "y", "t", "yes", "true", "enable", "enabled"]:
     sys.exit(0)
 
 is_rhel_based = os.path.exists("/etc/redhat-release")