diff --git a/backup-tar/backup.sh b/backup-tar/backup.sh
index f691e99fe8ba37c745125af6a2928165cc0b5d6c..ac1bc7918ccb56078e0c215278b546637c9061f1 100755
--- a/backup-tar/backup.sh
+++ b/backup-tar/backup.sh
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ fail() {
 
 if [[ $1 ]]; then
     . $1
+    [[ $WORK_DIR ]] && mkdir -p $WORK_DIR && cd $WORK_DIR
 else
     SHORT_HOST=$(hostname -s)
     TARGET=backup-$SHORT_HOST@antea