diff --git a/postgres-appliance/scripts/postgres_backup.sh b/postgres-appliance/scripts/postgres_backup.sh
index ce5850d3..5fd03bf8 100755
--- a/postgres-appliance/scripts/postgres_backup.sh
+++ b/postgres-appliance/scripts/postgres_backup.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+set -o pipefail
+
 function log
 {
     echo "$(date "+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%3N") - $0 - $*"
@@ -9,9 +11,9 @@ function log
 
 log "I was called as: $0 $*"
 
-
 readonly PGDATA=$1
-DAYS_TO_RETAIN=$BACKUP_NUM_TO_RETAIN
+BACKUP_NUM_TO_RETAIN=${BACKUP_NUM_TO_RETAIN:-2}
+DAYS_TO_RETAIN=${DAYS_TO_RETAIN:-$BACKUP_NUM_TO_RETAIN}
 
 IN_RECOVERY=$(psql -tXqAc "select pg_catalog.pg_is_in_recovery()")
 readonly IN_RECOVERY
@@ -23,46 +25,63 @@ else
     log "ERROR: Recovery state unknown: $IN_RECOVERY" && exit 1
 fi
 
-export WALG_COMPRESSION_METHOD="${WALG_BACKUP_COMPRESSION_METHOD:-$WALE_BACKUP_COMPRESSION_METHOD}"
-export PGHOST=/var/run/postgresql
+export WALG_COMPRESSION_METHOD="${WALG_BACKUP_COMPRESSION_METHOD:-${WALE_BACKUP_COMPRESSION_METHOD:-$WALG_COMPRESSION_METHOD}}"
+export PGHOST=/run/postgresql
+
+# Exponential backoff config
+BASE_DELAY=900       # Starting delay: 15 minutes
+MAX_RETRIES=3        # Total number of retries (excluding initial attempt)
 
-# push a new base backup
-log "producing a new backup"
-# We reduce the priority of the backup for CPU consumption
-nice -n 5 wal-g backup-push "$PGDATA"
+# Loop for initial attempt + retries
+for ((i=0; i<=MAX_RETRIES; i++)); do
+    log "Producing a new backup (Attempt $((i+1)) of $((MAX_RETRIES+1)))..."
 
-# Collect all backups and sort them by modification time
-mapfile -t backup_records < <(wal-g backup-list 2>/dev/null |
-    sed '0,/^\(backup_\)\?name\s*\(last_\)\?modified\s*/d' |
-    awk '{ print $1, $2 }' |
-    sort -k2r
-    )
+    # Run the backup command
+    nice -n 5 wal-g backup-push "$PGDATA"
+    EXIT_CODE=$?
+    if [ $EXIT_CODE -eq 0 ]; then
+        log "Backup successful on attempt $((i+1))."
+        break
+    else
+        log "Backup failed with exit code $EXIT_CODE."
+
+        # If we have used up all retries, fail the script
+        if [[ $i -eq $MAX_RETRIES ]]; then
+            log "ERROR: All backup attempts failed. Exiting."
+            exit $EXIT_CODE
+        fi
+
+        # Calculate exponential wait: BASE_DELAY * (2^i)
+        WAIT_TIME=$(( BASE_DELAY * (2**i) ))
+        log "Retrying in $((WAIT_TIME/60)) minutes..."
+        sleep "$WAIT_TIME"
+    fi
+done
 
 # leave at least 2 days base backups and/or 2 backups
 [[ "$BACKUP_NUM_TO_RETAIN" -lt 2 ]] && BACKUP_NUM_TO_RETAIN=2
 [[ "$DAYS_TO_RETAIN" -lt 2 ]] && DAYS_TO_RETAIN=2
 
-# Compute total after collection
-TOTAL=${#backup_records[@]}
-BEFORE=""
-NOW=$(date +%s -u)
-readonly NOW
+unset WALG_LOG_LEVEL
+unset S3_LOG_LEVEL
 
-for ((index=BACKUP_NUM_TO_RETAIN-1; index<TOTAL; index++)); do
-    last_modified=$(date +%s -ud "${backup_records[$index]##* }")
-    if (( (NOW - last_modified) / 86400 >= DAYS_TO_RETAIN )); then
-        BEFORE="${backup_records[$index]%% *}"
-        break
-    fi
-done
+TARGET_BACKUP=$(wal-g backup-list --json 2>/dev/null | jq -r \
+    --argjson min_count "$BACKUP_NUM_TO_RETAIN" \
+    --argjson days "$DAYS_TO_RETAIN" \
+    'sort_by(.time) | reverse
+    | .[$min_count - 1:]
+    | map(select((now - (.time | sub("\\.[0-9]+Z$"; "Z") | fromdateiso8601)) >= ($days * 86400)))
+    | first
+    | .backup_name // ""')
 
-if [[ -z $BEFORE ]]; then
+if [[ -z "$TARGET_BACKUP" ]]; then
     log "No backups older than $DAYS_TO_RETAIN days found, not deleting any"
     exit 0
 fi
 
-if [[ $TOTAL -gt $BACKUP_NUM_TO_RETAIN ]]; then
-    wal-g delete before FIND_FULL "$BEFORE" --confirm
+if [[ -n "$TARGET_BACKUP" ]]; then
+    log "Found target boundary backup: $TARGET_BACKUP"
+    wal-g delete before FIND_FULL "$TARGET_BACKUP" --confirm
 else
-    log "There are only $TOTAL backups, not deleting any"
+    log "No backups found eligible for deletion."
 fi