diff --git a/src/backend/access/heap/heapam.c b/src/backend/access/heap/heapam.c
index f55e612590..39e5d2d26a 100644
--- a/src/backend/access/heap/heapam.c
+++ b/src/backend/access/heap/heapam.c
@@ -4814,6 +4814,7 @@ heap_lock_updated_tuple_rec(Relation rel, ItemPointer tid, TransactionId xid,
 				old_infomask;
 	TransactionId xmax,
 				new_xmax;
+	TransactionId priorXmax = InvalidTransactionId;
 
 	ItemPointerCopy(tid, &tupid);
 
@@ -4839,6 +4840,18 @@ l4:
 		CHECK_FOR_INTERRUPTS();
 		LockBuffer(buf, BUFFER_LOCK_EXCLUSIVE);
 
+		/*
+		 * Check the tuple XMIN against prior XMAX, if any.  If we reached
+		 * the end of the chain, we're done, so return success.
+		 */
+		if (TransactionIdIsValid(priorXmax) &&
+			!TransactionIdEquals(HeapTupleHeaderGetXmin(mytup.t_data),
+								 priorXmax))
+		{
+			UnlockReleaseBuffer(buf);
+			return HeapTupleMayBeUpdated;
+		}
+
 		old_infomask = mytup.t_data->t_infomask;
 		xmax = HeapTupleHeaderGetRawXmax(mytup.t_data);
 
@@ -4939,6 +4952,7 @@ l4:
 		}
 
 		/* tail recursion */
+		priorXmax = HeapTupleHeaderGetUpdateXid(mytup.t_data);
 		ItemPointerCopy(&(mytup.t_data->t_ctid), &tupid);
 		UnlockReleaseBuffer(buf);
 	}