diff --git a/db.go b/db.go
index c9f3b35..65feea4 100644
--- a/db.go
+++ b/db.go
@@ -1025,66 +1025,65 @@ func (db *DB) copyToShadowWAL(filename string) (newSize int64, err error) {
 		return 0, fmt.Errorf("last checksum: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	// Seek to correct position on both files.
+	// Seek to correct position on real wal.
 	if _, err := r.Seek(origSize, io.SeekStart); err != nil {
-		return 0, fmt.Errorf("wal seek: %w", err)
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("real wal seek: %w", err)
+	} else if _, err := w.Seek(origSize, io.SeekStart); err != nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("shadow wal seek: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	// Read through WAL from last position to find the page of the last
 	// committed transaction.
-	tmpSz := origSize
+	frame := make([]byte, db.pageSize+WALFrameHeaderSize)
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	offset := origSize
 	lastCommitSize := origSize
-	buf := make([]byte, db.pageSize+WALFrameHeaderSize)
 	for {
-		Tracef("%s: copy-shadow: %s @ %d", db.path, filename, tmpSz)
-
 		// Read next page from WAL file.
-		if _, err := io.ReadFull(r, buf); err == io.EOF || err == io.ErrUnexpectedEOF {
-			Tracef("%s: copy-shadow: break %s", db.path, err)
+		if _, err := io.ReadFull(r, frame); err == io.EOF || err == io.ErrUnexpectedEOF {
+			Tracef("%s: copy-shadow: break %s @ %d; err=%s", db.path, filename, offset, err)
 			break // end of file or partial page
 		} else if err != nil {
 			return 0, fmt.Errorf("read wal: %w", err)
 		}
 
 		// Read frame salt & compare to header salt. Stop reading on mismatch.
-		salt0 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(buf[8:])
-		salt1 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(buf[12:])
+		salt0 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(frame[8:])
+		salt1 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(frame[12:])
 		if salt0 != hsalt0 || salt1 != hsalt1 {
 			Tracef("%s: copy-shadow: break: salt mismatch", db.path)
 			break
 		}
 
 		// Verify checksum of page is valid.
-		fchksum0 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(buf[16:])
-		fchksum1 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(buf[20:])
-		chksum0, chksum1 = Checksum(bo, chksum0, chksum1, buf[:8])  // frame header
-		chksum0, chksum1 = Checksum(bo, chksum0, chksum1, buf[24:]) // frame data
+		fchksum0 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(frame[16:])
+		fchksum1 := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(frame[20:])
+		chksum0, chksum1 = Checksum(bo, chksum0, chksum1, frame[:8])  // frame header
+		chksum0, chksum1 = Checksum(bo, chksum0, chksum1, frame[24:]) // frame data
 		if chksum0 != fchksum0 || chksum1 != fchksum1 {
-			log.Printf("copy shadow: checksum mismatch, skipping: offset=%d (%x,%x) != (%x,%x)", tmpSz, chksum0, chksum1, fchksum0, fchksum1)
+			log.Printf("copy shadow: checksum mismatch, skipping: offset=%d (%x,%x) != (%x,%x)", offset, chksum0, chksum1, fchksum0, fchksum1)
 			break
 		}
 
 		// Add page to the new size of the shadow WAL.
-		tmpSz += int64(len(buf))
+		buf.Write(frame)
 
-		// Mark commit record.
-		newDBSize := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(buf[4:])
+		Tracef("%s: copy-shadow: ok %s offset=%d salt=%x %x", db.path, filename, offset, salt0, salt1)
+		offset += int64(len(frame))
+
+		// Flush to shadow WAL if commit record.
+		newDBSize := binary.BigEndian.Uint32(frame[4:])
 		if newDBSize != 0 {
-			lastCommitSize = tmpSz
+			if _, err := buf.WriteTo(w); err != nil {
+				return 0, fmt.Errorf("write shadow wal: %w", err)
+			}
+			buf.Reset()
+			lastCommitSize = offset
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Seek to correct position on both files.
-	if _, err := r.Seek(origSize, io.SeekStart); err != nil {
-		return 0, fmt.Errorf("wal seek: %w", err)
-	} else if _, err := w.Seek(origSize, io.SeekStart); err != nil {
-		return 0, fmt.Errorf("shadow wal seek: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	// Copy bytes, sync & close.
-	if _, err := io.CopyN(w, r, lastCommitSize-origSize); err != nil {
-		return 0, err
-	} else if err := w.Sync(); err != nil {
+	// Sync & close.
+	if err := w.Sync(); err != nil {
 		return 0, err
 	} else if err := w.Close(); err != nil {
 		return 0, err
@@ -1107,6 +1106,8 @@ func (db *DB) ShadowWALReader(pos Pos) (r *ShadowWALReader, err error) {
 		return nil, err
 	} else if r.N() > 0 {
 		return r, nil
+	} else if err := r.Close(); err != nil { // no data, close, try next
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	// Otherwise attempt to read the start of the next WAL file.
@@ -1180,6 +1181,9 @@ type ShadowWALReader struct {
 	pos Pos
 }
 
+// Name returns the filename of the underlying file.
+func (r *ShadowWALReader) Name() string { return r.f.Name() }
+
 // Close closes the underlying WAL file handle.
 func (r *ShadowWALReader) Close() error { return r.f.Close() }
 
@@ -1297,6 +1301,11 @@ func (db *DB) checkpointAndInit(generation, mode string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// Copy shadow WAL before checkpoint to copy as much as possible.
+	if _, err := db.copyToShadowWAL(shadowWALPath); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("cannot copy to end of shadow wal before checkpoint: %w", err)
+	}
+
 	// Execute checkpoint and immediately issue a write to the WAL to ensure
 	// a new page is written.
 	if err := db.checkpoint(mode); err != nil {
diff --git a/litestream.go b/litestream.go
index f887372..edca37a 100644
--- a/litestream.go
+++ b/litestream.go
@@ -95,9 +95,9 @@ type Pos struct {
 // String returns a string representation.
 func (p Pos) String() string {
 	if p.IsZero() {
-		return "<>"
+		return ""
 	}
-	return fmt.Sprintf("<%s,%08x,%d>", p.Generation, p.Index, p.Offset)
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s/%08x:%d", p.Generation, p.Index, p.Offset)
 }
 
 // IsZero returns true if p is the zero value.
diff --git a/replica.go b/replica.go
index 8987485..f9b2726 100644
--- a/replica.go
+++ b/replica.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package litestream
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"encoding/binary"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
@@ -598,6 +599,8 @@ func (r *FileReplica) Sync(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 	}
 	generation := dpos.Generation
 
+	Tracef("%s(%s): replica sync: db.pos=%s", r.db.Path(), r.Name(), dpos)
+
 	// Create snapshot if no snapshots exist for generation.
 	if n, err := r.snapshotN(generation); err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -617,6 +620,7 @@ func (r *FileReplica) Sync(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 			return fmt.Errorf("cannot determine replica position: %s", err)
 		}
 
+		Tracef("%s(%s): replica sync: calc new pos: %s", r.db.Path(), r.Name(), pos)
 		r.mu.Lock()
 		r.pos = pos
 		r.mu.Unlock()
@@ -669,10 +673,47 @@ func (r *FileReplica) syncWAL(ctx context.Context) (err error) {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	n, err := io.Copy(w, rd)
-	r.walBytesCounter.Add(float64(n))
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
+	// Copy header if at offset zero.
+	var psalt uint64 // previous salt value
+	if pos := rd.Pos(); pos.Offset == 0 {
+		buf := make([]byte, WALHeaderSize)
+		if _, err := io.ReadFull(rd, buf); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		psalt = binary.BigEndian.Uint64(buf[16:24])
+
+		n, err := w.Write(buf)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		r.walBytesCounter.Add(float64(n))
+	}
+
+	// Copy frames.
+	for {
+		pos := rd.Pos()
+		assert(pos.Offset == frameAlign(pos.Offset, r.db.pageSize), "shadow wal reader not frame aligned")
+
+		buf := make([]byte, WALFrameHeaderSize+r.db.pageSize)
+		if _, err := io.ReadFull(rd, buf); err == io.EOF {
+			break
+		} else if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		// Verify salt matches the previous frame/header read.
+		salt := binary.BigEndian.Uint64(buf[8:16])
+		if psalt != 0 && psalt != salt {
+			return fmt.Errorf("replica salt mismatch: %s", filepath.Base(filename))
+		}
+		psalt = salt
+
+		n, err := w.Write(buf)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		r.walBytesCounter.Add(float64(n))
 	}
 
 	if err := w.Sync(); err != nil {