diff --git a/src/backups.js b/src/backups.js
index f9bd53a03..05e0201a7 100644
--- a/src/backups.js
+++ b/src/backups.js
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ exports = module.exports = {
     _getBackupFilePath: getBackupFilePath,
     _createTarPackStream: createTarPackStream,
     _tarExtract: tarExtract,
-    _createEmptyDirs: createEmptyDirs,
-    _saveEmptyDirs: saveEmptyDirs
+    _restoreFsMetadata: restoreFsMetadata,
+    _saveFsMetadata: saveFsMetadata
 };
 
 var addons = require('./addons.js'),
@@ -265,15 +265,23 @@ function sync(backupConfig, backupId, dataDir, callback) {
     });
 }
 
-function saveEmptyDirs(appDataDir, callback) {
+function saveFsMetadata(appDataDir, callback) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof appDataDir, 'string');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
 
-    var emptyDirs = safe.child_process.execSync('find . -type d -empty', { cwd: `${appDataDir}` });
-
+    var emptyDirs = safe.child_process.execSync('find . -type d -empty', { cwd: `${appDataDir}`, encoding: 'utf8' });
     if (emptyDirs === null) return callback(safe.error);
 
-    if (!safe.fs.writeFileSync(`${appDataDir}/emptydirs.txt`, emptyDirs)) return callback(safe.error);
+    var execFiles = safe.child_process.execSync('find . -type f -executable', { cwd: `${appDataDir}`, encoding: 'utf8' });
+    if (execFiles === null) return callback(safe.error);
+
+    var metadata = {
+        emptyDirs: emptyDirs.trim().split('\n'),
+        execFiles: execFiles.trim().split('\n')
+    };
+
+    if (!safe.fs.writeFileSync(`${appDataDir}/fsmetadata.json`, JSON.stringify(metadata, null, 4))) return callback(safe.error);
+
     callback();
 }
 
@@ -300,7 +308,7 @@ function upload(backupId, format, dataDir, callback) {
             }, callback);
         } else {
             async.series([
-                saveEmptyDirs.bind(null, dataDir),
+                saveFsMetadata.bind(null, dataDir),
                 sync.bind(null, backupConfig, backupId, dataDir)
             ], callback);
         }
@@ -355,21 +363,27 @@ function tarExtract(inStream, destination, key, callback) {
     }
 }
 
-function createEmptyDirs(appDataDir, callback) {
+function restoreFsMetadata(appDataDir, callback) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof appDataDir, 'string');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
 
     log('Recreating empty directories');
 
-    var emptyDirs = safe.fs.readFileSync(path.join(appDataDir, 'emptydirs.txt'), 'utf8');
-    if (emptyDirs === null) return callback(new BackupsError(BackupsError.EXTERNAL_ERROR, 'emptydirs.txt was not found:' + safe.error.message));
+    var metadata = safe.JSON.parse(safe.fs.readFileSync(path.join(appDataDir, 'fsmetadata.json'), 'utf8'));
+    if (metadata === null) return callback(new BackupsError(BackupsError.EXTERNAL_ERROR, 'Error loading fsmetadata.txt:' + safe.error.message));
 
-    async.eachSeries(emptyDirs.trim().split('\n'), function createPath(emptyDir, iteratorDone) {
+    async.eachSeries(metadata.emptyDirs, function createPath(emptyDir, iteratorDone) {
         mkdirp(path.join(appDataDir, emptyDir), iteratorDone);
     }, function (error) {
-        if (error) return callback(new BackupsError(BackupsError.EXTERNAL_ERROR, `unable to crate path: ${error.message}`));
+        if (error) return callback(new BackupsError(BackupsError.EXTERNAL_ERROR, `unable to create path: ${error.message}`));
 
-        callback();
+        async.eachSeries(metadata.execFiles, function createPath(execFile, iteratorDone) {
+            fs.chmod(path.join(appDataDir, execFile), parseInt('0755', 8), iteratorDone);
+        }, function (error) {
+            if (error) return callback(new BackupsError(BackupsError.EXTERNAL_ERROR, `unable to chmod: ${error.message}`));
+
+            callback();
+        });
     });
 }
 
@@ -398,7 +412,7 @@ function download(backupId, format, dataDir, callback) {
             events.on('done', function (error) {
                 if (error) return callback(error);
 
-                createEmptyDirs(dataDir, callback);
+                restoreFsMetadata(dataDir, callback);
             });
         }
     });
diff --git a/src/routes/test/backups-test.js b/src/routes/test/backups-test.js
index 67d1de8a3..ef89a47b7 100644
--- a/src/routes/test/backups-test.js
+++ b/src/routes/test/backups-test.js
@@ -10,12 +10,10 @@ var appdb = require('../../appdb.js'),
     config = require('../../config.js'),
     database = require('../../database.js'),
     expect = require('expect.js'),
-    http = require('http'),
     nock = require('nock'),
     superagent = require('superagent'),
     server = require('../../server.js'),
-    settings = require('../../settings.js'),
-    url = require('url');
+    settings = require('../../settings.js');
 
 var SERVER_URL = 'http://localhost:' + config.get('port');
 
diff --git a/src/test/backups-test.js b/src/test/backups-test.js
index ee9a53994..16e1f47b8 100644
--- a/src/test/backups-test.js
+++ b/src/test/backups-test.js
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ describe('backups', function () {
         });
     });
 
-    describe('empty dirs', function () {
+    describe('fs meta data', function () {
         var tmpdir;
         before(function () {
             tmpdir = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'backups-test'));
@@ -253,28 +253,34 @@ describe('backups', function () {
             rimraf.sync(tmpdir);
         });
 
-        it('saves empty dirs file', function (done) {
+        it('saves special files', function (done) {
             createTree(tmpdir, { 'data': { 'subdir': { 'emptydir': { } } }, 'dir2': { 'file': 'stuff' } });
+            fs.chmodSync(path.join(tmpdir, 'dir2/file'), parseInt('0755', 8));
 
-            backups._saveEmptyDirs(tmpdir, function (error) {
+            backups._saveFsMetadata(tmpdir, function (error) {
                 expect(error).to.not.be.ok();
 
-                var emptyDirs = fs.readFileSync(path.join(tmpdir, 'emptydirs.txt'), 'utf8').trim().split('\n');
+                var emptyDirs = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(tmpdir, 'fsmetadata.json'), 'utf8')).emptyDirs;
                 expect(emptyDirs).to.eql(['./data/subdir/emptydir']);
 
+                var execFiles = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(tmpdir, 'fsmetadata.json'), 'utf8')).execFiles;
+                expect(execFiles).to.eql(['./dir2/file']);
+
                 done();
             });
         });
 
-        it('creates empty dirs file', function (done) {
+        it('restores special files', function (done) {
             rimraf.sync(path.join(tmpdir, 'data'));
 
             expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(tmpdir, 'data/subdir/emptydir'))).to.be(false); // just make sure rimraf worked
 
-            backups._createEmptyDirs(tmpdir, function (error) {
+            backups._restoreFsMetadata(tmpdir, function (error) {
                 expect(error).to.not.be.ok();
 
                 expect(fs.existsSync(path.join(tmpdir, 'data/subdir/emptydir'))).to.be(true);
+                var mode = fs.statSync(path.join(tmpdir, 'dir2/file')).mode;
+                expect(mode & ~fs.constants.S_IFREG).to.be(parseInt('0755', 8));
 
                 done();
             });