diff --git a/docs/releasenotes.rst b/docs/releasenotes.rst
index 8b4926be3d6a76923f532886c8de2eb2a9bde38d..734babe0269a0feeecba794a1005687e24db6aae 100644
--- a/docs/releasenotes.rst
+++ b/docs/releasenotes.rst
@@ -13,6 +13,16 @@ Dropped support for Debian 10 (Buster).
 
   * Dropped support for Debian 10 (Buster).
 
+* ``backup_client`` role
+
+  * Previously the backup would run even if pre-backup scripts would
+    fail. This is no longer the case, and all pre-backup scripts must
+    exit with non-zero exit code in order for backup process to
+    kick-in.
+  * Old backups are now automatically purged after successful
+    backup. This could lead to longer runtimes for entire backup
+    process, as well as higher CPU usage.
+
 * ``common`` role
 
   * Dropped support for Python 2.7 pip requirements upgrade
diff --git a/docs/rolereference.rst b/docs/rolereference.rst
index a9327a6f3ca810908e1d411ad884de32f3f3b64e..95f17efbe44fc45134adca31e59c774c324dc26c 100644
--- a/docs/rolereference.rst
+++ b/docs/rolereference.rst
@@ -2280,6 +2280,9 @@ Duply is configured as follows:
 * Volume size is set to 1GB.
 * Pre-backup scripts are run via ``/etc/duply/main/pre`` handler that tries to
   execute scripts/binaries from directory ``/etc/duply/main/pre.d/``.
+* Pre-backup scripts must run successfully for the actual backup
+  process to proceed.
+* Old backups are automatically purged in case of successful run.
 
 .. note::
    Since at time of this writing there are no lookup plugins for extracting key
diff --git a/roles/backup_client/molecule/default/tests/test_default.py b/roles/backup_client/molecule/default/tests/test_default.py
index 3c8ab73263e7253cfec484023539ccd633b65736..0659397c318963c813b27f3df10af41ea985b4ec 100644
--- a/roles/backup_client/molecule/default/tests/test_default.py
+++ b/roles/backup_client/molecule/default/tests/test_default.py
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ def test_cron_entry(host):
     assert cron.user == 'root'
     assert cron.group == 'root'
     assert cron.mode == 0o644
-    assert cron.content_string == "#Ansible: backup\n0 2 * * * root /usr/bin/duply main backup\n"
+    assert cron.content_string == "#Ansible: backup\n0 2 * * * root /usr/bin/duply main pre_and_bkp && /usr/bin/duply main post_and_purge --force\n"
 
 
 def test_duply_include_file(host):
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ def test_backup_and_restore(host):
         # Remove this file so we can be sure the pre-backup script has been run.
         host.ansible("file", "path=/var/lib/pre-backup-test state=absent")
 
-        backup_run = host.run('duply main backup')
+        backup_run = host.run('duply main pre_and_bkp')
 
         assert backup_run.rc == 0
         assert host.file('/var/lib/pre-backup-test').is_file
diff --git a/roles/backup_client/tasks/main.yml b/roles/backup_client/tasks/main.yml
index d8f4d79bd5a8e73db43ab21939b9f6f69915ed83..dc8c521002661743d0383e7f03d766650f1d6157 100644
--- a/roles/backup_client/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/backup_client/tasks/main.yml
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@
     cron_file: backup
     hour: "2"
     minute: "0"
-    job: "/usr/bin/duply main backup"
+    job: "/usr/bin/duply main pre_and_bkp && /usr/bin/duply main post_and_purge --force"
     state: present
     user: root