diff --git a/bin/backup b/bin/backup
index 2a8d154..13a07e0 100755
--- a/bin/backup
+++ b/bin/backup
@@ -54,11 +54,14 @@ do_local_backup () {
 
 	. /etc/backup/local.config
 
+	# define an empty default if BACKUP_ARGS is not set
+	BACKUP_ARGS=${BACKUP_ARGS:-""}
+
         if [[ -x /etc/backup/local.pre ]]; then
         	/etc/backup/local.pre $TARGET
  	fi
 
-	$RESTIC --exclude-file /etc/backup/local.exclude backup --hostname $BACKUP_HOSTNAME $BACKUP_DIR
+	$RESTIC --exclude-file /etc/backup/local.exclude backup --hostname $BACKUP_HOSTNAME $BACKUP_ARGS $BACKUP_DIR
 
         if [[ -x /etc/backup/local.post ]]; then
                 /etc/backup/local.post $TARGET
diff --git a/etc/backup/local.config b/etc/backup/local.config
index 6f37118..a59749c 100644
--- a/etc/backup/local.config
+++ b/etc/backup/local.config
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 BACKUP_HOSTNAME="backuphost.example.org"
 BACKUP_DIR="/"
+BACKUP_ARGS="--tag filesystem"
 # HEALTHCHECK_URL="<URL from https://healthchecks.io/checks/ to notify>"