diff --git a/br/pkg/checkpoint/BUILD.bazel b/br/pkg/checkpoint/BUILD.bazel
index baae284d545fb..76a30d72885be 100644
--- a/br/pkg/checkpoint/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/br/pkg/checkpoint/BUILD.bazel
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ go_library(
     importpath = "github.com/pingcap/tidb/br/pkg/checkpoint",
     visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
     deps = [
+        "//br/pkg/logutil",
         "//br/pkg/metautil",
         "//br/pkg/rtree",
         "//br/pkg/storage",
diff --git a/br/pkg/checkpoint/checkpoint.go b/br/pkg/checkpoint/checkpoint.go
index bbe2d4e44d1df..c462e78e949ad 100644
--- a/br/pkg/checkpoint/checkpoint.go
+++ b/br/pkg/checkpoint/checkpoint.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/pingcap/errors"
 	backuppb "github.com/pingcap/kvproto/pkg/brpb"
 	"github.com/pingcap/log"
+	"github.com/pingcap/tidb/br/pkg/logutil"
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb/br/pkg/metautil"
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb/br/pkg/rtree"
 	"github.com/pingcap/tidb/br/pkg/storage"
@@ -240,7 +241,7 @@ func StartCheckpointRunnerForTest(ctx context.Context, storage storage.ExternalS
 
 		appendCh: make(chan *CheckpointMessage),
 		metaCh:   make(chan map[string]*RangeGroups),
-		errCh:    make(chan error),
+		errCh:    make(chan error, 1),
 	}
 
 	runner.startCheckpointLoop(ctx, tick)
@@ -258,7 +259,7 @@ func StartCheckpointRunner(ctx context.Context, storage storage.ExternalStorage,
 
 		appendCh: make(chan *CheckpointMessage),
 		metaCh:   make(chan map[string]*RangeGroups),
-		errCh:    make(chan error),
+		errCh:    make(chan error, 1),
 	}
 
 	runner.startCheckpointLoop(ctx, tickDuration)
@@ -344,6 +345,14 @@ func (r *CheckpointRunner) startCheckpointRunner(ctx context.Context, wg *sync.W
 	return errCh
 }
 
+func (r *CheckpointRunner) sendError(err error) {
+	select {
+	case r.errCh <- err:
+	default:
+		log.Error("errCh is blocked", logutil.ShortError(err))
+	}
+}
+
 func (r *CheckpointRunner) startCheckpointLoop(ctx context.Context, tickDuration time.Duration) {
 	r.wg.Add(1)
 	checkpointLoop := func(ctx context.Context) {
@@ -360,14 +369,14 @@ func (r *CheckpointRunner) startCheckpointLoop(ctx context.Context, tickDuration
 				return
 			case <-ticker.C:
 				if err := r.flushMeta(ctx, errCh); err != nil {
-					r.errCh <- err
+					r.sendError(err)
 					return
 				}
 			case msg, ok := <-r.appendCh:
 				if !ok {
 					log.Info("stop checkpoint runner")
 					if err := r.flushMeta(ctx, errCh); err != nil {
-						r.errCh <- err
+						r.sendError(err)
 					}
 					// close the channel to flush worker
 					// and wait it to consumes all the metas
@@ -386,7 +395,7 @@ func (r *CheckpointRunner) startCheckpointLoop(ctx context.Context, tickDuration
 				groups.Groups = append(groups.Groups, msg.Group)
 			case err := <-errCh:
 				// pass flush worker's error back
-				r.errCh <- err
+				r.sendError(err)
 				return
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/br/pkg/task/backup.go b/br/pkg/task/backup.go
index 451fa5f6ba572..63e3f43ae5d30 100644
--- a/br/pkg/task/backup.go
+++ b/br/pkg/task/backup.go
@@ -427,6 +427,7 @@ func RunBackup(c context.Context, g glue.Glue, cmdName string, cfg *BackupConfig
 	defer func() {
 		// don't reset the gc-safe-point if checkpoint mode is used and backup is not finished
 		if cfg.UseCheckpoint && !gcSafePointKeeperRemovable {
+			log.Info("skip removing gc-safepoint keeper for next retry", zap.String("gc-id", sp.ID))
 			return
 		}
 		log.Info("start to remove gc-safepoint keeper")