diff --git a/src/rdb.cpp b/src/rdb.cpp
index 8c03fa60b..7198124c3 100644
--- a/src/rdb.cpp
+++ b/src/rdb.cpp
@@ -2361,6 +2361,7 @@ class rdbAsyncWorkThread
     std::mutex mutex;
     std::condition_variable cv;
     std::condition_variable cvThrottle;
+    fastlock m_lockPause { "rdbAsyncWork-Pause"};
     bool fLaunched = false;
     bool fExit = false;
     std::atomic<size_t> ckeysLoaded;
@@ -2409,6 +2410,14 @@ public:
             cv.notify_one();
     }
 
+    void pauseExecution() {
+        m_lockPause.lock();
+    }
+
+    void resumeExecution() {
+        m_lockPause.unlock();
+    }
+
     void enqueue(std::function<void()> &&fn) {
         std::unique_lock<std::mutex> l(mutex);
         bool fNotify = queuefn.empty();
@@ -2459,6 +2468,7 @@ public:
 
             vars.gcEpoch = g_pserver->garbageCollector.startEpoch();
             while (listLength(listJobs)) {
+                std::unique_lock<fastlock> ulPause(pqueue->m_lockPause);
                 rdbInsertJob &job = *((rdbInsertJob*)listNodeValue(listFirst(listJobs)));
 
                 redisObjectStack keyobj;
@@ -2547,6 +2557,7 @@ public:
             listRelease(listJobs);
 
             for (auto &fn : queuefn) {
+                std::unique_lock<fastlock> ulPause(pqueue->m_lockPause);
                 fn();
             }
 
@@ -2573,8 +2584,8 @@ void rdbLoadProgressCallback(rio *r, const void *buf, size_t len) {
         (r->keys_since_last_callback >= g_pserver->loading_process_events_interval_keys)))
     {
         rdbAsyncWorkThread *pwthread = reinterpret_cast<rdbAsyncWorkThread*>(r->chksum_arg);
-        if (pwthread && g_pserver->fActiveReplica)
-            pwthread->endWork();    // We can't have the work queue modifying the database while processEventsWhileBlocked does its thing
+        if (pwthread)
+            pwthread->pauseExecution();    // We can't have the work queue modifying the database while processEventsWhileBlocked does its thing
         listIter li;
         listNode *ln;
         listRewind(g_pserver->masters, &li);
@@ -2593,8 +2604,8 @@ void rdbLoadProgressCallback(rio *r, const void *buf, size_t len) {
         ping_argv[0] = createStringObject("PING",4);
         replicationFeedSlaves(g_pserver->slaves, g_pserver->replicaseldb, ping_argv, 1);
         decrRefCount(ping_argv[0]);
-        if (pwthread && g_pserver->fActiveReplica)
-            pwthread->start();
+        if (pwthread)
+            pwthread->resumeExecution();
 
         r->keys_since_last_callback = 0;
     }