diff --git a/package/base-files/files/sbin/sysupgrade b/package/base-files/files/sbin/sysupgrade
index 58b613b5a..3a5087a0c 100755
--- a/package/base-files/files/sbin/sysupgrade
+++ b/package/base-files/files/sbin/sysupgrade
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ do_save_conffiles() {
 
 	v "Saving config files..."
 	[ "$VERBOSE" -gt 1 ] && TAR_V="v" || TAR_V=""
-	tar c${TAR_V}zf "$conf_tar" -T "$CONFFILES" 2>/dev/null
+	tar c${TAR_V}zpf "$conf_tar" -T "$CONFFILES" 2>/dev/null
 	if [ "$?" -ne 0 ]; then
 		echo "Failed to create the configuration backup."
 		rm -f "$conf_tar"