diff --git a/dashboard/src/components/AppImportDialog.vue b/dashboard/src/components/AppImportDialog.vue
index 376f8f54c..0f639660d 100644
--- a/dashboard/src/components/AppImportDialog.vue
+++ b/dashboard/src/components/AppImportDialog.vue
@@ -29,17 +29,8 @@ async function onSubmit() {
   formError.value = {};
   busy.value = true;
 
-  const backupConfig = {
-    provider: provider.value,
-  };
-
-  if (providerConfig.value.encryptionPassword) {
-    backupConfig.password = providerConfig.value.encryptionPassword;
-    backupConfig.encryptedFilenames = providerConfig.value.encryptedFilenames;
-  }
-
-  const format = providerConfig.value.format;
-  let backupId = remotePath.value;
+  let backupPath = remotePath.value;
+  const backupConfig = {};
 
   // only set provider specific fields, this will clear them in the db
   if (s3like(provider.value)) {
@@ -105,19 +96,23 @@ async function onSubmit() {
     backupConfig.mountPoint = providerConfig.value.mountPoint;
   } else if (provider.value === 'filesystem') {
     const parts = remotePath.value.split('/');
-    backupId = parts.pop() || parts.pop(); // removes any trailing slash. this is basename()
-    backupConfig.backupFolder = parts.join('/'); // this is dirname()
+    backupPath = parts.pop() || parts.pop(); // removes any trailing slash. this is basename()
+    backupConfig.backupDir = parts.join('/'); // this is dirname()
   }
 
-  if (format === 'tgz') {
-    if (backupId.substring(backupId.length - '.tar.gz'.length, backupId.length) === '.tar.gz') { // endsWith
-      backupId = backupId.replace(/.tar.gz$/, '');
-    } else if (backupId.substring(backupId.length - '.tar.gz.enc'.length, backupId.length) === '.tar.gz.enc') { // endsWith
-      backupId = backupId.replace(/.tar.gz.enc$/, '');
-    }
+  const data = {
+    format: format.value,
+    provider: provider.value,
+    config: backupConfig,
+    remotePath: backupPath
+  };
+
+  if (providerConfig.value.encryptionPassword) {
+    data.encryptionPassword = providerConfig.value.encryptionPassword;
+    data.encryptedFilenames = providerConfig.value.encryptedFilenames;
   }
 
-  const [error] = await appsModel.import(appId.value, backupId, format, backupConfig);
+  const [error] = await appsModel.import(appId.value, data);
   if (error) {
     busy.value = false;
     formError.value = {};
@@ -144,7 +139,7 @@ async function onSubmit() {
       formError.value.generic = error.body.message;
 
       if (provider.value === 'filesystem') {
-        formError.value.backupFolder = true;
+        formError.value.backupDir = true;
       }
     } else {
       formError.value.generic = 'Internal error';
@@ -171,7 +166,7 @@ function onBackupConfigChanged(event) {
     try {
       data = JSON.parse(result.target.result); // 'provider', 'config', 'limits', 'format', 'remotePath', 'encrypted', 'encryptedFilenames'
       if (data.provider === 'filesystem') { // this allows a user to upload a backup to server and import easily with an absolute path
-        data.remotePath = `${data.config.backupFolder}/${data.remotePath}`;
+        data.remotePath = `${data.config.backupDir}/${data.remotePath}`;
       }
     } catch (e) {
       console.error('Unable to parse backup config', e);
diff --git a/dashboard/src/models/AppsModel.js b/dashboard/src/models/AppsModel.js
index 598291830..6bb15820b 100644
--- a/dashboard/src/models/AppsModel.js
+++ b/dashboard/src/models/AppsModel.js
@@ -445,10 +445,10 @@ function create() {
       if (result.status !== 201) return [result];
       return [null, result.body];
     },
-    async import(id, remotePath, backupFormat, backupConfig) {
+    async import(id, data) {
       let result;
       try {
-        result = await fetcher.post(`${API_ORIGIN}/api/v1/apps/${id}/import`, { remotePath, backupFormat, backupConfig }, { access_token: accessToken });
+        result = await fetcher.post(`${API_ORIGIN}/api/v1/apps/${id}/import`, data, { access_token: accessToken });
       } catch (e) {
         return [e];
       }
diff --git a/dashboard/src/views/RestoreView.vue b/dashboard/src/views/RestoreView.vue
index 01497b633..06c5128a4 100644
--- a/dashboard/src/views/RestoreView.vue
+++ b/dashboard/src/views/RestoreView.vue
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ async function onSubmit() {
         data.backupConfig.preserveAttributes = !!providerConfig.value.preserveAttributes;
     }
   } else if (provider.value === 'filesystem') {
-    data.backupConfig.backupFolder = providerConfig.value.backupFolder;
+    data.backupConfig.backupDir = providerConfig.value.backupDir;
     data.backupConfig.noHardlinks = !providerConfig.value.useHardlinks;
     data.backupConfig.preserveAttributes = true;
   } else if (provider.value === 'gcs') {
@@ -252,8 +252,8 @@ function onBackupConfigChanged(event) {
     try {
       config = JSON.parse(result.target.result);
       if (config.provider === 'filesystem') { // this allows a user to upload a backup to server and import easily with an absolute path
-        config.remotePath = config.backupFolder + '/' + config.remotePath;
-        delete config.backupFolder;
+        config.remotePath = config.backupDir + '/' + config.remotePath;
+        delete config.backupDir;
       }
     } catch (e) {
       console.error('Unable to parse backup config', e);
diff --git a/src/apps.js b/src/apps.js
index 490e90729..1135f14bf 100644
--- a/src/apps.js
+++ b/src/apps.js
@@ -2360,8 +2360,8 @@ async function importApp(app, data, auditSource) {
             provider: data.provider,
             config: data.config,
             format: data.format,
-            encryptionPassword: data.encryptionPassword,
-            encryptedFilenames: data.encryptedFilenames
+            encryptionPassword: data.encryptionPassword ?? null,
+            encryptedFilenames: data.encryptedFilenames ?? false
         });
 
         restoreConfig = { remotePath: data.remotePath, backupTarget };
diff --git a/src/apptask.js b/src/apptask.js
index cedccf486..d0032b687 100644
--- a/src/apptask.js
+++ b/src/apptask.js
@@ -265,10 +265,8 @@ async function installCommand(app, args, progressCallback) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof args, 'object');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof progressCallback, 'function');
 
-    const restoreConfig = args.restoreConfig; // has to be set when restoring
-    const overwriteDns = args.overwriteDns;
-    const skipDnsSetup = args.skipDnsSetup;
-    const oldManifest = args.oldManifest;
+    // restoreConfig is one of { backupId }, { remotePath, backupTarget } or { inPlace }
+    const { restoreConfig, overwriteDns, skipDnsSetup, oldManifest } = args;
 
     // this protects against the theoretical possibility of an app being marked for install/restore from
     // a previous version of box code
@@ -326,7 +324,7 @@ async function installCommand(app, args, progressCallback) {
         await services.clearAddons(app, _.omit(app.manifest.addons, ['localstorage']));
         await apps.loadConfig(app);
         await services.restoreAddons(app, app.manifest.addons);
-    } else if (app.installationState === apps.ISTATE_PENDING_IMPORT) { // import
+    } else if (app.installationState === apps.ISTATE_PENDING_IMPORT && restoreConfig.remotePath) { // import
         await progressCallback({ percent: 65, message: 'Downloading backup and restoring addons' });
         await services.setupAddons(app, app.manifest.addons);
         await services.clearAddons(app, app.manifest.addons);
diff --git a/src/backuptask.js b/src/backuptask.js
index d3fd477aa..0fe47383f 100644
--- a/src/backuptask.js
+++ b/src/backuptask.js
@@ -128,10 +128,15 @@ async function downloadApp(app, restoreConfig, progressCallback) {
     const dataLayout = new DataLayout(appDataDir, app.storageVolumeId ? [{ localDir: await apps.getStorageDir(app), remoteDir: 'data' }] : []);
 
     const startTime = new Date();
-    const backup = await backups.get(restoreConfig.backupId);
-    const backupTarget = await backupTargets.get(backup.targetId);
+    let { backupTarget, remotePath } = restoreConfig; // set when importing
+    if (!remotePath) {
+        const backup = await backups.get(restoreConfig.backupId);
+        if (!backup) throw new BoxError(BoxError.BAD_FIELD, 'No such backup');
+        remotePath = backup.remotePath;
+        backupTarget = await backupTargets.get(backup.targetId);
+    }
 
-    await download(backupTarget, backup.remotePath, dataLayout, progressCallback);
+    await download(backupTarget, remotePath, dataLayout, progressCallback);
     debug('downloadApp: time: %s', (new Date() - startTime)/1000);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/routes/apps.js b/src/routes/apps.js
index fd1aa863c..dd5dde068 100644
--- a/src/routes/apps.js
+++ b/src/routes/apps.js
@@ -567,7 +567,7 @@ async function importApp(req, res, next) {
     if ('remotePath' in data) {
         if (typeof data.remotePath !== 'string' || !data.remotePath) return next(new HttpError(400, 'remotePath must be non-empty string'));
         if (typeof data.format !== 'string') return next(new HttpError(400, 'format must be string'));
-        if (typeof config.provider !== 'string') return next(new HttpError(400, 'provider is required'));
+        if (typeof data.provider !== 'string') return next(new HttpError(400, 'provider is required'));
         if (typeof data.config !== 'object' || !data.config) return next(new HttpError(400, 'config must be an object'));
 
         const config = req.body.config;