diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml
index 72b4710..5ceffa4 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/release.yml
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ jobs:
           ssh-keyscan -H $HOST >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
           # stop services
           ssh ${USERNAME}@${HOST} systemctl --user stop pod-futtern
+          # backup database
+          ssh ${USERNAME}@${HOST} cp ${TARGETDIR}/app/var/data.db ${TARGETDIR}/backup/data.db-$(date +"%Y%m%d%H%M%S")
+          # only keep last 10 backupts
+          ssh ${USERNAME}@${HOST} ls -1tr ${TARGETDIR}/backup/ | head -n -10 | xargs -d '\n' rm -f --
           # SCP files to the remote host
           rsync -avz --delete deploy/ ${USERNAME}@${HOST}:${TARGETDIR} --exclude=var
           # run update script