diff --git a/src/rdb.c b/src/rdb.c
index 2c354bd5..5566acb0 100644
--- a/src/rdb.c
+++ b/src/rdb.c
@@ -1649,27 +1649,43 @@ int rdbSaveToSlavesSockets(void) {
         exitFromChild((retval == C_OK) ? 0 : 1);
     } else {
         /* Parent */
-        zfree(clientids); /* Not used by parent. Free ASAP. */
         server.stat_fork_time = ustime()-start;
         server.stat_fork_rate = (double) zmalloc_used_memory() * 1000000 / server.stat_fork_time / (1024*1024*1024); /* GB per second. */
         latencyAddSampleIfNeeded("fork",server.stat_fork_time/1000);
         if (childpid == -1) {
             serverLog(LL_WARNING,"Can't save in background: fork: %s",
                 strerror(errno));
-            zfree(fds);
+
+            /* Undo the state change. The caller will perform cleanup on
+             * all the slaves in BGSAVE_START state, but an early call to
+             * replicationSetupSlaveForFullResync() turned it into BGSAVE_END */
+            listRewind(server.slaves,&li);
+            while((ln = listNext(&li))) {
+                client *slave = ln->value;
+                int j;
+
+                for (j = 0; j < numfds; j++) {
+                    if (slave->id == clientids[j]) {
+                        slave->replstate = SLAVE_STATE_WAIT_BGSAVE_START;
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
             close(pipefds[0]);
             close(pipefds[1]);
-            return C_ERR;
+        } else {
+            serverLog(LL_NOTICE,"Background RDB transfer started by pid %d",
+                childpid);
+            server.rdb_save_time_start = time(NULL);
+            server.rdb_child_pid = childpid;
+            server.rdb_child_type = RDB_CHILD_TYPE_SOCKET;
+            updateDictResizePolicy();
         }
-        serverLog(LL_NOTICE,"Background RDB transfer started by pid %d",childpid);
-        server.rdb_save_time_start = time(NULL);
-        server.rdb_child_pid = childpid;
-        server.rdb_child_type = RDB_CHILD_TYPE_SOCKET;
-        updateDictResizePolicy();
+        zfree(clientids);
         zfree(fds);
-        return C_OK;
+        return (childpid == -1) ? C_ERR : C_OK;
     }
-    return C_OK; /* unreached */
+    return C_OK; /* Unreached. */
 }
 
 void saveCommand(client *c) {