diff --git a/backup.py b/backup.py
index a84d07f..4c261ed 100755
--- a/backup.py
+++ b/backup.py
@@ -297,7 +297,8 @@ class Backup(object):
                     _cmd.extend(['--compression', repo['compression']])
                 if 'exclude' in repo:
                     for e in repo['exclude']:
-                        _cmd.extend(['--exclude', e])
+                        if os.path.exists(e):
+                            _cmd.extend(['--exclude', e])
                 if self.repos[server]['remote'].lower()[0] in ('1', 't'):
                     repo_tgt = '{0}@{1}'.format(_user, server)
                 else: