diff --git a/rattail_fabric/backup.py b/rattail_fabric/backup.py
index 9501477..8676f85 100644
--- a/rattail_fabric/backup.py
+++ b/rattail_fabric/backup.py
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ def deploy_backup_app(deploy, envname, mkvirtualenv=True, user='rattail',
             sudo('git clone https://rattailproject.org/git/rattail.git src/rattail', user=user)
         with cd('src/rattail'):
             sudo('git pull', user=user)
+            deploy_generic('backup/git-exclude', '.git/info/exclude', owner=user)
         sudo('bin/pip install --upgrade --upgrade-strategy eager --editable src/rattail', user=user)
 
         # TODO: this should not be necessary
diff --git a/rattail_fabric/deploy/backup/backup-everything.mako b/rattail_fabric/deploy/backup/backup-everything.mako
index 2c28462..2278f9b 100755
--- a/rattail_fabric/deploy/backup/backup-everything.mako
+++ b/rattail_fabric/deploy/backup/backup-everything.mako
@@ -4,27 +4,32 @@ if [ "$1" = "-v" -o "$1" = "--verbose" ]; then
     VERBOSE='--verbose'
     QUIET=
     PROGRESS='--progress'
-    CONFIG='app/rattail.conf'
+    CONFIG='/srv/envs/${envname}/app/rattail.conf'
 else
     VERBOSE=
     QUIET='--quiet'
     PROGRESS=
-    CONFIG='app/silent.conf'
+    CONFIG='/srv/envs/${envname}/app/silent.conf'
 fi
 
 
-cd /srv/envs/${envname}
+RATTAIL="/srv/envs/${envname}/bin/rattail --config=$CONFIG $PROGRESS"
+PIP=/srv/envs/${envname}/bin/pip
+export PIP_CONFIG_FILE=/srv/envs/${envname}/pip.conf
 
-RATTAIL="bin/rattail --config=$CONFIG $PROGRESS"
-PIP='bin/pip'
-export PIP_CONFIG_FILE=pip.conf
+# upgrade pip
+$PIP install $QUIET --upgrade pip
 
-$PIP install --upgrade pip
-
-cd src/rattail
+# upgrade rattail
+cd /srv/envs/${envname}/src/rattail
+if [ "$(sudo -u ${user} git status --porcelain)" != '' ]; then
+   sudo -u ${user} git status
+   exit 1
+fi
 sudo -u ${user} git pull $QUIET
 sudo -u ${user} find . -name '*.pyc' -delete
-cd -
-$PIP install --upgrade --upgrade-strategy eager --editable src/rattail
+$PIP install $QUIET --upgrade --upgrade-strategy eager --editable .
 
+# run backup
+cd /srv/envs/${envname}
 $RATTAIL backup
diff --git a/rattail_fabric/deploy/backup/git-exclude b/rattail_fabric/deploy/backup/git-exclude
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..61f2dc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rattail_fabric/deploy/backup/git-exclude
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+**/__pycache__/