diff --git a/migration/migration.c b/migration/migration.c
index d46e776e24..64f4f40ae3 100644
--- a/migration/migration.c
+++ b/migration/migration.c
@@ -95,6 +95,9 @@ enum mig_rp_message_type {
     MIG_RP_MSG_MAX
 };
 
+/* Migration channel types */
+enum { CH_MAIN, CH_MULTIFD, CH_POSTCOPY };
+
 /* When we add fault tolerance, we could have several
    migrations at once.  For now we don't need to add
    dynamic creation of migration */
@@ -931,9 +934,8 @@ static void migration_incoming_setup(QEMUFile *f)
 {
     MigrationIncomingState *mis = migration_incoming_get_current();
 
-    if (!mis->from_src_file) {
-        mis->from_src_file = f;
-    }
+    assert(!mis->from_src_file);
+    mis->from_src_file = f;
     qemu_file_set_blocking(f, false);
 }
 
@@ -985,28 +987,19 @@ void migration_fd_process_incoming(QEMUFile *f)
     migration_incoming_process();
 }
 
-/*
- * Returns true when we want to start a new incoming migration process,
- * false otherwise.
- */
-static bool migration_should_start_incoming(bool main_channel)
+static bool migration_has_main_and_multifd_channels(void)
 {
-    /* Multifd doesn't start unless all channels are established */
-    if (migrate_multifd()) {
-        return migration_has_all_channels();
+    MigrationIncomingState *mis = migration_incoming_get_current();
+    if (!mis->from_src_file) {
+        /* main channel not established */
+        return false;
     }
 
-    /* Preempt channel only starts when the main channel is created */
-    if (migrate_postcopy_preempt()) {
-        return main_channel;
+    if (migrate_multifd() && !multifd_recv_all_channels_created()) {
+        return false;
     }
 
-    /*
-     * For all the rest types of migration, we should only reach here when
-     * it's the main channel that's being created, and we should always
-     * proceed with this channel.
-     */
-    assert(main_channel);
+    /* main and all multifd channels are established */
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -1015,59 +1008,81 @@ void migration_ioc_process_incoming(QIOChannel *ioc, Error **errp)
     MigrationIncomingState *mis = migration_incoming_get_current();
     Error *local_err = NULL;
     QEMUFile *f;
-    bool default_channel = true;
+    uint8_t channel;
     uint32_t channel_magic = 0;
     int ret = 0;
 
-    if (migrate_multifd() && !migrate_mapped_ram() &&
-        !migrate_postcopy_ram() &&
-        qio_channel_has_feature(ioc, QIO_CHANNEL_FEATURE_READ_MSG_PEEK)) {
-        /*
-         * With multiple channels, it is possible that we receive channels
-         * out of order on destination side, causing incorrect mapping of
-         * source channels on destination side. Check channel MAGIC to
-         * decide type of channel. Please note this is best effort, postcopy
-         * preempt channel does not send any magic number so avoid it for
-         * postcopy live migration. Also tls live migration already does
-         * tls handshake while initializing main channel so with tls this
-         * issue is not possible.
-         */
-        ret = migration_channel_read_peek(ioc, (void *)&channel_magic,
-                                          sizeof(channel_magic), errp);
+    if (!migration_has_main_and_multifd_channels()) {
+        if (qio_channel_has_feature(ioc, QIO_CHANNEL_FEATURE_READ_MSG_PEEK)) {
+            /*
+             * With multiple channels, it is possible that we receive channels
+             * out of order on destination side, causing incorrect mapping of
+             * source channels on destination side. Check channel MAGIC to
+             * decide type of channel. Please note this is best effort,
+             * postcopy preempt channel does not send any magic number so
+             * avoid it for postcopy live migration. Also tls live migration
+             * already does tls handshake while initializing main channel so
+             * with tls this issue is not possible.
+             */
+            ret = migration_channel_read_peek(ioc, (void *)&channel_magic,
+                                              sizeof(channel_magic), errp);
+            if (ret != 0) {
+                return;
+            }
 
-        if (ret != 0) {
+            channel_magic = be32_to_cpu(channel_magic);
+            if (channel_magic == QEMU_VM_FILE_MAGIC) {
+                channel = CH_MAIN;
+            } else if (channel_magic == MULTIFD_MAGIC) {
+                assert(migrate_multifd());
+                channel = CH_MULTIFD;
+            } else if (!mis->from_src_file &&
+                        mis->state == MIGRATION_STATUS_POSTCOPY_PAUSED) {
+                /* reconnect main channel for postcopy recovery */
+                channel = CH_MAIN;
+            } else {
+                error_setg(errp, "unknown channel magic: %u", channel_magic);
+                return;
+            }
+        } else if (mis->from_src_file && migrate_multifd()) {
+            /*
+             * Non-peekable channels like tls/file are processed as
+             * multifd channels when multifd is enabled.
+             */
+            channel = CH_MULTIFD;
+        } else if (!mis->from_src_file) {
+            channel = CH_MAIN;
+        } else {
+            error_setg(errp, "non-peekable channel used without multifd");
             return;
         }
-
-        default_channel = (channel_magic == cpu_to_be32(QEMU_VM_FILE_MAGIC));
     } else {
-        default_channel = !mis->from_src_file;
+        assert(migrate_postcopy_preempt());
+        channel = CH_POSTCOPY;
     }
 
     if (multifd_recv_setup(errp) != 0) {
         return;
     }
 
-    if (default_channel) {
+    if (channel == CH_MAIN) {
         f = qemu_file_new_input(ioc);
         migration_incoming_setup(f);
-    } else {
+    } else if (channel == CH_MULTIFD) {
         /* Multiple connections */
-        assert(migration_needs_multiple_sockets());
-        if (migrate_multifd()) {
-            multifd_recv_new_channel(ioc, &local_err);
-        } else {
-            assert(migrate_postcopy_preempt());
-            f = qemu_file_new_input(ioc);
-            postcopy_preempt_new_channel(mis, f);
-        }
+        multifd_recv_new_channel(ioc, &local_err);
         if (local_err) {
             error_propagate(errp, local_err);
             return;
         }
+    } else if (channel == CH_POSTCOPY) {
+        assert(!mis->postcopy_qemufile_dst);
+        f = qemu_file_new_input(ioc);
+        postcopy_preempt_new_channel(mis, f);
+        return;
     }
 
-    if (migration_should_start_incoming(default_channel)) {
+    if (migration_has_main_and_multifd_channels()) {
         /* If it's a recovery, we're done */
         if (postcopy_try_recover()) {
             return;
@@ -1084,20 +1099,15 @@ void migration_ioc_process_incoming(QIOChannel *ioc, Error **errp)
  */
 bool migration_has_all_channels(void)
 {
+    if (!migration_has_main_and_multifd_channels()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
     MigrationIncomingState *mis = migration_incoming_get_current();
-
-    if (!mis->from_src_file) {
+    if (migrate_postcopy_preempt() && !mis->postcopy_qemufile_dst) {
         return false;
     }
 
-    if (migrate_multifd()) {
-        return multifd_recv_all_channels_created();
-    }
-
-    if (migrate_postcopy_preempt()) {
-        return mis->postcopy_qemufile_dst != NULL;
-    }
-
     return true;
 }
 
