diff --git a/source/include/dbwrap.h b/source/include/dbwrap.h
index 1f38816..329c191 100644
--- a/source/include/dbwrap.h
+++ b/source/include/dbwrap.h
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ struct db_context {
 	bool persistent;
 };
 
+bool db_is_local(const char *name);
+
 struct db_context *db_open(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
 			   const char *name,
 			   int hash_size, int tdb_flags,
diff --git a/source/lib/dbwrap.c b/source/lib/dbwrap.c
index 7fe1631..00182aa 100644
--- a/source/lib/dbwrap.c
+++ b/source/lib/dbwrap.c
@@ -42,6 +42,33 @@ static int dbwrap_fallback_fetch(struct db_context *db, TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+bool db_is_local(const char *name)
+{
+#ifdef CLUSTER_SUPPORT
+	const char *sockname = lp_ctdbd_socket();
+
+	if(!sockname || !*sockname) {
+		sockname = CTDB_PATH;
+	}
+
+	if (lp_clustering() && socket_exist(sockname)) {
+		const char *partname;
+		/* ctdb only wants the file part of the name */
+		partname = strrchr(name, '/');
+		if (partname) {
+			partname++;
+		} else {
+			partname = name;
+		}
+		/* allow ctdb for individual databases to be disabled */
+		if (lp_parm_bool(-1, "ctdb", partname, True)) {
+			return false;
+		}
+	}
+#endif
+	return true;
+}
+
 /**
  * If you need transaction support use db_open_trans()
  */
diff --git a/source/passdb/pdb_tdb.c b/source/passdb/pdb_tdb.c
index 9928768..f60517f 100644
--- a/source/passdb/pdb_tdb.c
+++ b/source/passdb/pdb_tdb.c
@@ -921,7 +921,8 @@ static bool tdbsam_convert(struct db_context **pp_db, const char *name, int32 fr
 	struct db_context *db = NULL;
 	int ret;
 
-	if (!tdbsam_convert_backup(name, pp_db)) {
+	/* We only need the update backup for local db's. */
+	if (db_is_local(name) && !tdbsam_convert_backup(name, pp_db)) {
 		DEBUG(0, ("tdbsam_convert: Could not backup %s\n", name));
 		return false;
 	}