diff --git a/sql/rpl_rli.h b/sql/rpl_rli.h
index 87516c366fb..69988fe5995 100644
--- a/sql/rpl_rli.h
+++ b/sql/rpl_rli.h
@@ -94,6 +94,16 @@ public:
   */
   MYSQL_BIN_LOG relay_log;
   LOG_INFO linfo;
+
+  /*
+   cur_log
+     Pointer that either points at relay_log.get_log_file() or
+     &rli->cache_buf, depending on whether the log is hot or there was
+     the need to open a cold relay_log.
+
+   cache_buf 
+     IO_CACHE used when opening cold relay logs.
+   */
   IO_CACHE cache_buf,*cur_log;
 
   /* The following variables are safe to read any time */
diff --git a/sql/slave.cc b/sql/slave.cc
index f1e0962e7e8..bd9017e6318 100644
--- a/sql/slave.cc
+++ b/sql/slave.cc
@@ -4349,12 +4349,66 @@ static Log_event* next_event(Relay_log_info* rli)
         DBUG_ASSERT(rli->cur_log_fd == -1);
 
         /*
-          Read pointer has to be at the start since we are the only
-          reader.
-          We must keep the LOCK_log to read the 4 first bytes, as this is a hot
-          log (same as when we call read_log_event() above: for a hot log we
-          take the mutex).
+           When the SQL thread is [stopped and] (re)started the
+           following may happen:
+
+           1. Log was hot at stop time and remains hot at restart
+
+              SQL thread reads again from hot_log (SQL thread was
+              reading from the active log when it was stopped and the
+              very same log is still active on SQL thread restart).
+
+              In this case, my_b_seek is performed on cur_log, while
+              cur_log points to relay_log.get_log_file();
+
+           2. Log was hot at stop time but got cold before restart
+
+              The log was hot when SQL thread stopped, but it is not
+              anymore when the SQL thread restarts.
+
+              In this case, the SQL thread reopens the log, using
+              cache_buf, ie, cur_log points to &cache_buf, and thence
+              its coordinates are reset.
+
+           3. Log was already cold at stop time
+
+              The log was not hot when the SQL thread stopped, and, of
+              course, it will not be hot when it restarts.
+
+              In this case, the SQL thread opens the cold log again,
+              using cache_buf, ie, cur_log points to &cache_buf, and
+              thence its coordinates are reset.
+
+           4. Log was hot at stop time, DBA changes to previous cold
+              log and restarts SQL thread
+
+              The log was hot when the SQL thread was stopped, but the
+              user changed the coordinates of the SQL thread to
+              restart from a previous cold log.
+
+              In this case, at start time, cur_log points to a cold
+              log, opened using &cache_buf as cache, and coordinates
+              are reset. However, as it moves on to the next logs, it
+              will eventually reach the hot log. If the hot log is the
+              same at the time the SQL thread was stopped, then
+              coordinates were not reset - the cur_log will point to
+              relay_log.get_log_file(), and not a freshly opened
+              IO_CACHE through cache_buf. For this reason we need to
+              deploy a my_b_seek before calling check_binlog_magic at
+              this point of the code (see: BUG#55263 for more
+              details).
+          
+          NOTES: 
+            - We must keep the LOCK_log to read the 4 first bytes, as
+              this is a hot log (same as when we call read_log_event()
+              above: for a hot log we take the mutex).
+
+            - Because of scenario #4 above, we need to have a
+              my_b_seek here. Otherwise, we might hit the assertion
+              inside check_binlog_magic.
         */
+
+        my_b_seek(cur_log, (my_off_t) 0);
         if (check_binlog_magic(cur_log,&errmsg))
         {
           if (!hot_log) pthread_mutex_unlock(log_lock);