diff --git a/roles/mariadb_server/files/backup-database b/roles/mariadb_server/files/backup-database
index 6425b5d8f5..0e639d4cb6 100644
--- a/roles/mariadb_server/files/backup-database
+++ b/roles/mariadb_server/files/backup-database
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 DB=$1
 
 # Make our latest backup
-ionice -c3 /bin/mysqldump --user=root --add-drop-database $DB | /usr/bin/pxz -T2 > /backups/$DB-$(date +%F).dump.xz
+ionice -c3 /bin/mysqldump --single-transaction --user=root --add-drop-database $DB | /usr/bin/pxz -T2 > /backups/$DB-$(date +%F).dump.xz
 
 # link to the latest backup
 ln -sf /backups/$DB-$(date +%F).dump.xz /backups/$DB-latest.xz