diff --git a/cloudron.js b/cloudron.js
index 50063fd..3b07939 100644
--- a/cloudron.js
+++ b/cloudron.js
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ Cloudron.prototype.backup = function () {
     verifyResponse(res, 'Could not schedule backup');
 
     while (true) {
-        sleep(5);
+        sleep(10); // backup sometimes takes a while to start
         res = request.get(this._origin + '/api/v1/cloudron/progress').end();
         if (res.body.backup === null || res.body.backup.percent === 100) {
             debug('backup done');