diff --git a/docs/replica_bootstrap.rst b/docs/replica_bootstrap.rst
index 77f27e66..2d1da113 100644
--- a/docs/replica_bootstrap.rst
+++ b/docs/replica_bootstrap.rst
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ arguments to them, i.e. the name of the cluster and the path to the data directo
         method: <custom_bootstrap_method_name>
         <custom_bootstrap_method_name>:
             command: <path_to_custom_bootstrap_script> [param1 [, ...]]
+            keep_existing_recovery_conf: False
             recovery_conf:
                 recovery_target_action: promote
                 recovery_target_timeline: latest
@@ -47,6 +48,9 @@ If a ``recovery_conf`` block is defined in the same section as the custom bootst
 ``recovery.conf`` before starting the newly bootstrapped instance. Typically, such recovery.conf should contain at least
 one of the ``recovery_target_*`` parameters, together with the ``recovery_target_timeline`` set to ``promote``.
 
+If ``keep_existing_recovery_conf`` is defined and set to ``True``, Patroni will not remove the existing ``recovery.conf`` file if it exists.
+This is useful when bootstrapping from a backup with tools like pgBackRest that generate the appropriate ``recovery.conf`` for you.
+
  .. note:: Bootstrap methods are neither chained, nor fallen-back to the default one in case the primary one fails
 
 
diff --git a/patroni/postgresql.py b/patroni/postgresql.py
index 742e1017..a4a076d4 100644
--- a/patroni/postgresql.py
+++ b/patroni/postgresql.py
@@ -556,7 +556,8 @@ class Postgresql(object):
 
         if 'recovery_conf' in config:
             self.write_recovery_conf(config['recovery_conf'])
-        elif os.path.isfile(self._recovery_conf) or os.path.islink(self._recovery_conf):
+        elif (os.path.isfile(self._recovery_conf) or os.path.islink(self._recovery_conf)) and \
+                not config.get('keep_existing_recovery_conf'):
             os.unlink(self._recovery_conf)
         return True