diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index e26322272..a3a21c74c 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1658,4 +1658,5 @@
 * Fix issue where task logs were not getting rotated correctly
 * Add notification for box update
 * User enable/disable flag
+* Check disk space before various operations like install, update, backup etc
 
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 0656832ff..8eeb7f3ac 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -3722,6 +3722,11 @@
       "resolved": false,
       "integrity": "sha1-qpWRvKokkj8eD0hJ0kD0fvwQdaw="
     },
+    "pretty-bytes": {
+      "version": "5.3.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/pretty-bytes/-/pretty-bytes-5.3.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-hjGrh+P926p4R4WbaB6OckyRtO0F0/lQBiT+0gnxjV+5kjPBrfVBFCsCLbMqVQeydvIoouYTCmmEURiH3R1Bdg=="
+    },
     "process-nextick-args": {
       "version": "2.0.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/process-nextick-args/-/process-nextick-args-2.0.0.tgz",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index f5f898efa..b8ef2649b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@
     "passport-http-bearer": "^1.0.1",
     "passport-local": "^1.0.0",
     "passport-oauth2-client-password": "^0.1.2",
+    "pretty-bytes": "^5.3.0",
     "progress-stream": "^2.0.0",
     "proxy-middleware": "^0.15.0",
     "qrcode": "^1.3.3",
diff --git a/src/backups.js b/src/backups.js
index 096fd8aee..e64d988ba 100644
--- a/src/backups.js
+++ b/src/backups.js
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ var addons = require('./addons.js'),
     DatabaseError = require('./databaseerror.js'),
     DataLayout = require('./datalayout.js'),
     debug = require('debug')('box:backups'),
+    df = require('@sindresorhus/df'),
     eventlog = require('./eventlog.js'),
     fs = require('fs'),
     locker = require('./locker.js'),
@@ -60,6 +61,7 @@ var addons = require('./addons.js'),
     path = require('path'),
     paths = require('./paths.js'),
     progressStream = require('progress-stream'),
+    prettyBytes = require('pretty-bytes'),
     safe = require('safetydance'),
     shell = require('./shell.js'),
     settings = require('./settings.js'),
@@ -412,6 +414,34 @@ function saveFsMetadata(dataLayout, metadataFile, callback) {
     callback();
 }
 
+// the du call in the function below requires root
+function checkFreeDiskSpace(backupConfig, dataLayout, callback) {
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof backupConfig, 'object');
+    assert(dataLayout instanceof DataLayout, 'dataLayout must be a DataLayout');
+    assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
+
+    if (backupConfig.provider !== 'filesystem') return callback();
+
+    let used = 0;
+    for (let localPath of dataLayout.localPaths()) {
+        debug(`checkFreeDiskSpace: getting disk usage of ${localPath}`);
+        let result = safe.child_process.execSync(`du -Dsb ${localPath}`, { encoding: 'utf8' });
+        if (!result) return callback(new BackupsError(BackupsError.INTERNAL_ERROR, safe.error));
+        used += parseInt(result, 10);
+    }
+
+    debug(`checkFreeDiskSpace: ${used} bytes`);
+
+    df.file(backupConfig.backupFolder).then(function (diskUsage) {
+        const needed = used + (1024 * 1024 * 1024); // check if there is atleast 1GB left afterwards
+        if (diskUsage.available <= needed) return callback(new BackupsError(BackupsError.EXTERNAL_ERROR, `Not enough disk space for backup. Needed: ${prettyBytes(needed)} Available: ${prettyBytes(diskUsage.available)}`));
+
+        callback(null);
+    }).catch(function (error) {
+        callback(new BackupsError(BackupsError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
+    });
+}
+
 // this function is called via backupupload (since it needs root to traverse app's directory)
 function upload(backupId, format, dataLayoutString, progressCallback, callback) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof backupId, 'string');
@@ -427,29 +457,33 @@ function upload(backupId, format, dataLayoutString, progressCallback, callback)
     settings.getBackupConfig(function (error, backupConfig) {
         if (error) return callback(new BackupsError(BackupsError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
 
-        if (format === 'tgz') {
-            async.retry({ times: 5, interval: 20000 }, function (retryCallback) {
-                retryCallback = once(retryCallback); // protect again upload() erroring much later after tar stream error
+        checkFreeDiskSpace(backupConfig, dataLayout, function (error) {
+            if (error) return callback(error);
 
-                tarPack(dataLayout, backupConfig.key || null, function (error, tarStream) {
-                    if (error) return retryCallback(error);
+            if (format === 'tgz') {
+                async.retry({ times: 5, interval: 20000 }, function (retryCallback) {
+                    retryCallback = once(retryCallback); // protect again upload() erroring much later after tar stream error
 
-                    tarStream.on('progress', function(progress) {
-                        const transferred = Math.round(progress.transferred/1024/1024), speed = Math.round(progress.speed/1024/1024);
-                        if (!transferred && !speed) return progressCallback({ message: 'Uploading backup' }); // 0M@0Mbps looks wrong
-                        progressCallback({ message: `Uploading backup ${transferred}M@${speed}Mbps` });
+                    tarPack(dataLayout, backupConfig.key || null, function (error, tarStream) {
+                        if (error) return retryCallback(error);
+
+                        tarStream.on('progress', function(progress) {
+                            const transferred = Math.round(progress.transferred/1024/1024), speed = Math.round(progress.speed/1024/1024);
+                            if (!transferred && !speed) return progressCallback({ message: 'Uploading backup' }); // 0M@0Mbps looks wrong
+                            progressCallback({ message: `Uploading backup ${transferred}M@${speed}Mbps` });
+                        });
+                        tarStream.on('error', retryCallback); // already returns BackupsError
+
+                        api(backupConfig.provider).upload(backupConfig, getBackupFilePath(backupConfig, backupId, format), tarStream, retryCallback);
                     });
-                    tarStream.on('error', retryCallback); // already returns BackupsError
-
-                    api(backupConfig.provider).upload(backupConfig, getBackupFilePath(backupConfig, backupId, format), tarStream, retryCallback);
-                });
-            }, callback);
-        } else {
-            async.series([
-                saveFsMetadata.bind(null, dataLayout, `${dataLayout.localRoot()}/fsmetadata.json`),
-                sync.bind(null, backupConfig, backupId, dataLayout, progressCallback)
-            ], callback);
-        }
+                }, callback);
+            } else {
+                async.series([
+                    saveFsMetadata.bind(null, dataLayout, `${dataLayout.localRoot()}/fsmetadata.json`),
+                    sync.bind(null, backupConfig, backupId, dataLayout, progressCallback)
+                ], callback);
+            }
+        });
     });
 }
 
@@ -693,7 +727,7 @@ function runBackupUpload(backupId, format, dataLayout, progressCallback, callbac
         callback();
     }).on('message', function (message) {
         if (!message.result) return progressCallback(message);
-        debug(`runBackupUpload: result - ${message}`);
+        debug(`runBackupUpload: result - ${JSON.stringify(message)}`);
         result = message.result;
     });
 }