diff --git a/osu.Game/Database/EFToRealmMigrator.cs b/osu.Game/Database/EFToRealmMigrator.cs
index 0f726f8ee5..727815cc4d 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Database/EFToRealmMigrator.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Database/EFToRealmMigrator.cs
@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@ namespace osu.Game.Database
         private readonly OsuConfigManager config;
         private readonly Storage storage;
 
-        private bool hasTakenBackup;
-
         public EFToRealmMigrator(DatabaseContextFactory efContextFactory, RealmContextFactory realmContextFactory, OsuConfigManager config, Storage storage)
         {
             this.efContextFactory = efContextFactory;
@@ -38,6 +36,8 @@ namespace osu.Game.Database
 
         public void Run()
         {
+            createBackup();
+
             using (var ef = efContextFactory.Get())
             {
                 migrateSettings(ef);
@@ -77,8 +77,6 @@ namespace osu.Game.Database
             {
                 Logger.Log($"Found {count} beatmaps in EF", LoggingTarget.Database);
 
-                ensureBackup();
-
                 // only migrate data if the realm database is empty.
                 // note that this cannot be written as: `realm.All<BeatmapSetInfo>().All(s => s.Protected)`, because realm does not support `.All()`.
                 if (realm.All<BeatmapSetInfo>().Any(s => !s.Protected))
@@ -210,8 +208,6 @@ namespace osu.Game.Database
             {
                 Logger.Log($"Found {count} scores in EF", LoggingTarget.Database);
 
-                ensureBackup();
-
                 // only migrate data if the realm database is empty.
                 if (realm.All<ScoreInfo>().Any())
                 {
@@ -291,8 +287,6 @@ namespace osu.Game.Database
             if (!existingSkins.Any())
                 return;
 
-            ensureBackup();
-
             var userSkinChoice = config.GetBindable<string>(OsuSetting.Skin);
             int.TryParse(userSkinChoice.Value, out int userSkinInt);
 
@@ -363,7 +357,6 @@ namespace osu.Game.Database
                 return;
 
             Logger.Log("Beginning settings migration to realm", LoggingTarget.Database);
-            ensureBackup();
 
             using (var realm = realmContextFactory.CreateContext())
             using (var transaction = realm.BeginWrite())
@@ -400,21 +393,16 @@ namespace osu.Game.Database
         private string? getRulesetShortNameFromLegacyID(long rulesetId) =>
             efContextFactory.Get().RulesetInfo.FirstOrDefault(r => r.ID == rulesetId)?.ShortName;
 
-        private void ensureBackup()
+        private void createBackup()
         {
-            if (!hasTakenBackup)
-            {
-                string migration = $"before_final_migration_{DateTimeOffset.UtcNow.ToUnixTimeSeconds()}";
+            string migration = $"before_final_migration_{DateTimeOffset.UtcNow.ToUnixTimeSeconds()}";
 
-                efContextFactory.CreateBackup($"client.{migration}.db");
-                realmContextFactory.CreateBackup($"client.{migration}.realm");
+            efContextFactory.CreateBackup($"client.{migration}.db");
+            realmContextFactory.CreateBackup($"client.{migration}.realm");
 
-                using (var source = storage.GetStream("collection.db"))
-                using (var destination = storage.GetStream($"collection.{migration}.db", FileAccess.Write, FileMode.CreateNew))
-                    source.CopyTo(destination);
-
-                hasTakenBackup = true;
-            }
+            using (var source = storage.GetStream("collection.db"))
+            using (var destination = storage.GetStream($"collection.{migration}.db", FileAccess.Write, FileMode.CreateNew))
+                source.CopyTo(destination);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/osu.Game/Database/RealmContextFactory.cs b/osu.Game/Database/RealmContextFactory.cs
index 31dbb0c6c4..ffadf8258d 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Database/RealmContextFactory.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Database/RealmContextFactory.cs
@@ -367,9 +367,24 @@ namespace osu.Game.Database
             using (BlockAllOperations())
             {
                 Logger.Log($"Creating full realm database backup at {backupFilename}", LoggingTarget.Database);
-                using (var source = storage.GetStream(Filename))
-                using (var destination = storage.GetStream(backupFilename, FileAccess.Write, FileMode.CreateNew))
-                    source.CopyTo(destination);
+
+                int attempts = 10;
+
+                while (attempts-- > 0)
+                {
+                    try
+                    {
+                        using (var source = storage.GetStream(Filename))
+                        using (var destination = storage.GetStream(backupFilename, FileAccess.Write, FileMode.CreateNew))
+                            source.CopyTo(destination);
+                        return;
+                    }
+                    catch (IOException)
+                    {
+                        // file may be locked during use.
+                        Thread.Sleep(500);
+                    }
+                }
             }
         }