diff --git a/src/mail.js b/src/mail.js
index b2cc0468c..6fded12d9 100644
--- a/src/mail.js
+++ b/src/mail.js
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ exports = module.exports = {
 };
 
 const assert = require('assert'),
+    backups = require('./backups.js'),
+    backuptask = require('./backuptask.js'),
     BoxError = require('./boxerror.js'),
     cloudron = require('./cloudron.js'),
     constants = require('./constants.js'),
@@ -749,6 +751,18 @@ async function restartMail() {
 async function startMail(existingInfra) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof existingInfra, 'object');
 
+    if (existingInfra.version === 'none') {
+        const [error, results] = await safe(backups.getByIdentifierAndStatePaged(backups.BACKUP_IDENTIFIER_MAIL, backups.BACKUP_STATE_NORMAL, 1, 1));
+        if (error || results.length == 0) {
+            debug('startMail: could not find backup to restore', error, results);
+        } else {
+            debug(`startMail: downloading backup ${results[0].id}`);
+            const restoreConfig = { backupId: results[0].id, backupFormat: results[0].format };
+            // have to wait for download before starting mail container because we download as non-root user
+            await backuptask.downloadMail(restoreConfig, (message) => debug(`startMail: ${message}`));
+        }
+    }
+
     await restartMail();
 }