diff --git a/backup.sh b/backup.sh
index e20daa7..709964b 100755
--- a/backup.sh
+++ b/backup.sh
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ else
 fi
 
 if [[ \ $*\  != *\ --skip-backup\ * ]]; then
+    rm -rf "${backup_path}"
+
 	for service in "${services[@]}"; do
 		echo "service: $service"
 		details=$(docker service inspect "$service" --format "{{ json .Spec.Labels }}")
@@ -100,7 +102,7 @@ if [[ \ $*\  != *\ --skip-backup\ * ]]; then
 				# creates the parent folder, so `docker cp` has reliable behaviour no matter if $p ends with `/` or `/.`
 				dir=$backup_path/$service/$(dirname "$p")
 				test -d "$dir" || mkdir -p "$dir"
-				docker cp "$container:$p" "$dir/$(basename "$p")"
+				docker cp -a "$container:$p" "$dir/$(basename "$p")"
 			done
 
 			if [ "$post" != "null" ]; then
@@ -122,4 +124,3 @@ if [[ \ $*\  != *\ --skip-upload\ * ]]; then
 	_restic backup --host "$server_name" --tag coop-cloud "$backup_path"
 fi
 
-rm -rf "${backup_path}"
\ No newline at end of file