diff --git a/server/dhcpd.c b/server/dhcpd.c
index a42d759..31d6acc 100644
--- a/server/dhcpd.c
+++ b/server/dhcpd.c
@@ -921,12 +921,9 @@ main(int argc, char **argv) {
 	omapi_set_int_value ((omapi_object_t *)dhcp_control_object,
 			     (omapi_object_t *)0, "state", server_running);
 
-#if defined(ENABLE_GENTLE_SHUTDOWN)
-	/* no signal handlers until we deal with the side effects */
-        /* install signal handlers */
 	signal(SIGINT, dhcp_signal_handler);   /* control-c */
-	signal(SIGTERM, dhcp_signal_handler);  /* kill */
-#endif
+	signal(SIGTERM, dhcp_signal_handler);  /* term, fast shutdown */
+	signal(SIGUSR2, dhcp_signal_handler);  /* perform recovery */
 
 	/* Log that we are about to start working */
 	log_info("Server starting service.");
@@ -1402,6 +1399,9 @@ int dhcpd_interface_setup_hook (struct interface_info *ip, struct iaddr *ia)
 static TIME shutdown_time;
 static int omapi_connection_count;
 enum dhcp_shutdown_state shutdown_state;
+#if defined (FAILOVER_PROTOCOL)
+static isc_boolean_t shutdown_do_recovery_on_startup;
+#endif
 
 isc_result_t dhcp_io_shutdown (omapi_object_t *obj, void *foo)
 {
@@ -1481,38 +1481,31 @@ static isc_result_t dhcp_io_shutdown_countdown (void *vlp)
 	}
 
 #if defined (FAILOVER_PROTOCOL)
-	/* Set all failover peers into the shutdown state. */
-	if (shutdown_state == shutdown_dhcp) {
-	    for (state = failover_states; state; state = state -> next) {
-		if (state -> me.state == normal) {
-		    dhcp_failover_set_state (state, shut_down);
-		    failover_connection_count++;
-		}
-		if (state -> me.state == shut_down &&
-		    state -> partner.state != partner_down)
-			failover_connection_count++;
+	if (shutdown_do_recovery_on_startup == ISC_TRUE) {
+	    /* Set all failover peers into the shutdown state. */
+	    if (shutdown_state == shutdown_dhcp) {
+	        for (state = failover_states; state; state = state -> next) {
+		    if (state -> me.state == normal) {
+		       dhcp_failover_set_state (state, shut_down);
+		       failover_connection_count++;
+		    }
+		    if (state -> me.state == shut_down &&
+		        state -> partner.state != partner_down)
+			    failover_connection_count++;
+	        }
 	    }
-	}
-
-	if (shutdown_state == shutdown_done) {
-	    for (state = failover_states; state; state = state -> next) {
-		if (state -> me.state == shut_down) {
-		    if (state -> link_to_peer)
-			dhcp_failover_link_dereference (&state -> link_to_peer,
-							MDL);
-		    dhcp_failover_set_state (state, recover);
-		}
+	    if (shutdown_state == shutdown_done) {
+	        for (state = failover_states; state; state = state -> next) {
+		    if (state -> me.state == shut_down) {
+		        if (state -> link_to_peer)
+			    dhcp_failover_link_dereference (&state -> link_to_peer,
+			    				    MDL);
+		        dhcp_failover_set_state (state, recover);
+		    }
+	        }
 	    }
-#if defined (DEBUG_MEMORY_LEAKAGE) && \
-		defined (DEBUG_MEMORY_LEAKAGE_ON_EXIT)
-	    free_everything ();
-	    omapi_print_dmalloc_usage_by_caller ();
+	}
 #endif
-	    if (no_pid_file == ISC_FALSE)
-		    (void) unlink(path_dhcpd_pid);
-	    exit (0);
-	}		
-#else
 	if (shutdown_state == shutdown_done) {
 #if defined (DEBUG_MEMORY_LEAKAGE) && \
 		defined (DEBUG_MEMORY_LEAKAGE_ON_EXIT)
@@ -1523,7 +1516,6 @@ static isc_result_t dhcp_io_shutdown_countdown (void *vlp)
 			(void) unlink(path_dhcpd_pid);
 		exit (0);
 	}
-#endif
 	if (shutdown_state == shutdown_dhcp &&
 #if defined(FAILOVER_PROTOCOL)
 	    !failover_connection_count &&
@@ -1552,14 +1544,25 @@ isc_result_t dhcp_set_control_state (control_object_state_t oldstate,
 		return ISC_R_SUCCESS;
 	shutdown_time = cur_time;
 	shutdown_state = shutdown_listeners;
+#if defined (FAILOVER_PROTOCOL)
+        shutdown_do_recovery_on_startup = ISC_FALSE;
+#endif
 	/* Called by user. */
 	if (shutdown_signal == 0) {
 		shutdown_signal = SIGUSR1;
+#if defined (FAILOVER_PROTOCOL)
+		shutdown_do_recovery_on_startup = ISC_TRUE;
+#endif
 		dhcp_io_shutdown_countdown (0);
 		return ISC_R_SUCCESS;
 	}
 	/* Called on signal. */
 	log_info("Received signal %d, initiating shutdown.", shutdown_signal);
+#if defined (FAILOVER_PROTOCOL)
+        if (shutdown_signal == SIGUSR2) {
+            shutdown_do_recovery_on_startup = ISC_TRUE;
+        }
+#endif
 	shutdown_signal = SIGUSR1;
 	
 	/*