diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index efefedf..0eeb430 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ __pycache__/
 process_list.txt
 secrets
 repos.yml
+rsync_backup_excludes
diff --git a/.talismanrc b/.talismanrc
index 9ccb1f2..d7d6b72 100644
--- a/.talismanrc
+++ b/.talismanrc
@@ -33,4 +33,4 @@ fileignoreconfig:
   ignore_detectors:
   - filename
 - filename: rsync_backup.sh
-  checksum: b88ac0e625674d23d35feb26ce09c7a13a382aeffd046a99f28aca56c046775a
+  checksum: d5168deb0ddc19195ac9231e1e4103d83c76c44bbcdf3eccb1bb5255c75361d8
diff --git a/configs.yml b/configs.yml
index 926f9d2..b816e1a 100644
--- a/configs.yml
+++ b/configs.yml
@@ -437,6 +437,9 @@ rsync_backup:
         - sudo ln -rsi dotfiles/systemd_timers/rsync_backup.service /etc/systemd/system/rsync_backup.service
     - run:
         - sudo systemctl enable rsync_backup.timer
+    - symlink:
+        - ~/src/secrets/setup-cockpit/rsync_backup_excludes
+        - ~/setup-cockpit/rsync_backup_excludes
 
 latex:
     - install:
diff --git a/rsync_backup.sh b/rsync_backup.sh
index 3ae3625..7fef6fe 100755
--- a/rsync_backup.sh
+++ b/rsync_backup.sh
@@ -3,4 +3,6 @@
 # Backup script that uses rsync, taken from https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Rsync#As_a_backup_utility
 # This script should be run daily with cron or a systemd timer.
 
-rsync -a --delete --quiet "${RSYNC_EXCLUDES[@]/#/--exclude=}" "$RSYNC_BACKUP_SRC" "$RSYNC_BACKUP_DEST"
+echo "$RSYNC_BACKUP_SRC"
+echo "$RSYNC_BACKUP_DEST"
+rsync --dry-run -va --delete --quiet --exclude-from=/home/*/setup-cockpit/rsync_backup_excludes "$RSYNC_BACKUP_SRC" "$RSYNC_BACKUP_DEST"
diff --git a/secrets.template b/secrets.template
index d4cd23d..91c39ec 100644
--- a/secrets.template
+++ b/secrets.template
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@ export RSYNC_BACKUP_SRC=/home
 
 export RSYNC_BACKUP_DEST=/path/to/backup/destination
 
-export RSYNC_EXCLUDES=("pattern","other_pattern")
-
 export BORG_REPO='user@ho.st'
 
 export BORG_PASSPHRASE='passphrase'