diff --git a/src/aof.c b/src/aof.c
index 7e1512eb..8dc1dd18 100644
--- a/src/aof.c
+++ b/src/aof.c
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ void stopAppendOnly(void) {
 
         redisLog(REDIS_NOTICE,"Killing running AOF rewrite child: %ld",
             (long) server.aof_child_pid);
-        if (kill(server.aof_child_pid,SIGKILL) != -1)
+        if (kill(server.aof_child_pid,SIGUSR1) != -1)
             wait3(&statloc,0,NULL);
         /* reset the buffer accumulating changes while the child saves */
         aofRewriteBufferReset();
diff --git a/src/db.c b/src/db.c
index 1cb89e3c..a7b196f5 100644
--- a/src/db.c
+++ b/src/db.c
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ void flushallCommand(redisClient *c) {
     server.dirty += emptyDb();
     addReply(c,shared.ok);
     if (server.rdb_child_pid != -1) {
-        kill(server.rdb_child_pid,SIGKILL);
+        kill(server.rdb_child_pid,SIGUSR1);
         rdbRemoveTempFile(server.rdb_child_pid);
     }
     if (server.saveparamslen > 0) {
diff --git a/src/rdb.c b/src/rdb.c
index 17f2ef84..a5e4c47a 100644
--- a/src/rdb.c
+++ b/src/rdb.c
@@ -1194,7 +1194,10 @@ void backgroundSaveDoneHandler(int exitcode, int bysignal) {
         redisLog(REDIS_WARNING,
             "Background saving terminated by signal %d", bysignal);
         rdbRemoveTempFile(server.rdb_child_pid);
-        server.lastbgsave_status = REDIS_ERR;
+        /* SIGUSR1 is whitelisted, so we have a way to kill a child without
+         * tirggering an error conditon. */
+        if (bysignal != SIGUSR1)
+            server.lastbgsave_status = REDIS_ERR;
     }
     server.rdb_child_pid = -1;
     server.rdb_save_time_last = time(NULL)-server.rdb_save_time_start;
diff --git a/src/redis.c b/src/redis.c
index 00774bae..cb78de7e 100644
--- a/src/redis.c
+++ b/src/redis.c
@@ -1695,7 +1695,7 @@ int prepareForShutdown(int flags) {
        overwrite the synchronous saving did by SHUTDOWN. */
     if (server.rdb_child_pid != -1) {
         redisLog(REDIS_WARNING,"There is a child saving an .rdb. Killing it!");
-        kill(server.rdb_child_pid,SIGKILL);
+        kill(server.rdb_child_pid,SIGUSR1);
         rdbRemoveTempFile(server.rdb_child_pid);
     }
     if (server.aof_state != REDIS_AOF_OFF) {
@@ -1704,7 +1704,7 @@ int prepareForShutdown(int flags) {
         if (server.aof_child_pid != -1) {
             redisLog(REDIS_WARNING,
                 "There is a child rewriting the AOF. Killing it!");
-            kill(server.aof_child_pid,SIGKILL);
+            kill(server.aof_child_pid,SIGUSR1);
         }
         /* Append only file: fsync() the AOF and exit */
         redisLog(REDIS_NOTICE,"Calling fsync() on the AOF file.");