diff --git a/localdump.sh b/localdump.sh
index 62412b8024a2f7d01bb22e6aa254d4f654dfbba4..ca336a68cd4084a87c7ca9354e53598cf8fdbf99 100755
--- a/localdump.sh
+++ b/localdump.sh
@@ -129,6 +129,10 @@
             color.echo "error" "FATAL ERROR: directory ${BACKUP_TARGETDIR} was not created"
             exit 1
         fi
+        if ! chmod 0700 "${BACKUP_TARGETDIR}"; then
+            color.echo "error" "FATAL ERROR: permissions could not be set for ${BACKUP_TARGETDIR}."
+            exit 1
+        fi
     }