diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7fe772cb7..8fdaace41 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -141,6 +141,8 @@ It is highly recommended you set the following environment values before startin
 | RCON_ENABLED***    | Enable RCON for the Palworld server                                                                                                                                                                 | true           | true/false                                                                                                 |
 | RCON_PORT          | RCON port to connect to                                                                                                                                                                             | 25575          | 1024-65535                                                                                                 |
 | QUERY_PORT         | Query port used to communicate with Steam servers                                                                                                                                                   | 27015          | 1024-65535                                                                                                 |
+| DELETE_OLD_BACKUPS | Delete backups after a certain number of days                                                                                                                                                       | false          | true/false                                                                                                 |
+| OLD_BACKUP_DAYS    | How many days to keep backups                                                                                                                                                                       | 30             | any positive integer                                                                                       |
 
 *highly recommended to set
 
diff --git a/scripts/backup.sh b/scripts/backup.sh
index 43eecb460..707df6ce0 100644
--- a/scripts/backup.sh
+++ b/scripts/backup.sh
@@ -15,3 +15,8 @@ if [ "$(id -u)" -eq 0 ]; then
 fi
 
 echo "backup created at $FILE_PATH"
+
+if [ "${DELETE_OLD_BACKUPS}" = true ]; then
+        echo "removing backups older than ${OLD_BACKUP_DAYS:=30} days"
+        find /palworld/backups/ -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -mtime "+${OLD_BACKUP_DAYS}" -print -delete
+fi