diff --git a/backup.py b/backup.py
index b27c93e..45cc40e 100755
--- a/backup.py
+++ b/backup.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class BackupError(Exception):
 class Backup(object):
 
     RSYNC = os.environ.get('RSYNC', 'rsync')
-    RSYNC_DEFAULT_ARGS = ['-aO', '--partial', '--delete']
+    RSYNC_DEFAULT_ARGS = ['-rtO', '--partial', '--delete']
     RSYNC_EXTRA_ARGS = shlex.split(os.environ.get('RSYNC_EXTRA_ARGS', ''))
 
     DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILENAME = 'backups.ini'