diff --git a/config/backup/backup.pl b/config/backup/backup.pl
index 7454ae762..417d33f40 100644
--- a/config/backup/backup.pl
+++ b/config/backup/backup.pl
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 ###############################################################################
 #                                                                             #
 # IPFire.org - A linux based firewall                                         #
-# Copyright (C) 2007-2025  IPFire Team  <info@ipfire.org>                     #
+# Copyright (C) 2007-2026  IPFire Team  <info@ipfire.org>                     #
 #                                                                             #
 # This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify        #
 # it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by        #
@@ -83,6 +83,10 @@ restore_backup() {
 	# certificates being left in directory after a restore
 	rm -f /var/ipfire/ovpn/certs/*
 
+	# remove all previous blacklist entries from urlfilter
+	# to prevent any clashes between symlinks and files
+	rm -Rf /var/ipfire/urrlfilter/blacklists/*
+
 	# Extract backup
 	if ! tar xvzpf "${filename}" -C / \
 			--exclude-from="/var/ipfire/backup/exclude" \