diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml
index bee4afb..f6ada1f 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml
@@ -3127,11 +3127,22 @@ include_dir 'conf.d'
         Terminate replication connections that are inactive longer
         than the specified number of milliseconds. This is useful for
         the sending server to detect a standby crash or network outage.
-        A value of zero disables the timeout mechanism.  This parameter
-        can only be set in
-        the <filename>postgresql.conf</filename> file or on the server command line.
+        A value of zero disables the timeout mechanism.
+        Only superusers can change this parameter at session start,
+        and it cannot be changed at all within a session.
         The default value is 60 seconds.
        </para>
+
+       <tip>
+        <para>
+         You can also set this in <filename>recovery.conf</filename> as follows.  This
+         allows you to set a longer timeout for a standby in the remote data center
+         across the slow WAN.
+<programlisting>
+primary_conninfo = 'host=192.168.1.50 port=5432 user=foo password=foopass options=''-c wal_sender_timeout=5000'''
+</programlisting>
+        </para>
+       </tip>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
 
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c b/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c
index 0625eff..66783e4 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c
@@ -2539,7 +2539,7 @@ static struct config_int ConfigureNamesInt[] =
 	},
 
 	{
-		{"wal_sender_timeout", PGC_SIGHUP, REPLICATION_SENDING,
+		{"wal_sender_timeout", PGC_BACKEND, REPLICATION_SENDING,
 			gettext_noop("Sets the maximum time to wait for WAL replication."),
 			NULL,
 			GUC_UNIT_MS