diff --git a/manifests/config.pp b/manifests/config.pp
index 9438812..2fcabb6 100644
--- a/manifests/config.pp
+++ b/manifests/config.pp
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #
 # manage host configs
 class rsnapshot::config (
-  $hosts      = $rsnapshot::hosts,
+  $hosts          = $rsnapshot::hosts,
 ) {
   # these are global settings, no point in setting them per host
   $config_version         = $rsnapshot::params::config_version
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ class rsnapshot::config (
   $hosts_clean.each |String $host, Hash $hash | {
     $snapshot_root          = pick($hash['snapshot_root'], $rsnapshot::params::config_snapshot_root)
     $backup_user            = pick($hash['backup_user'], $rsnapshot::params::config_backup_user)
-    $backup                 = pick($hash['backup'], $rsnapshot::params::config_backup)
+    $default_backup_dirs    = pick($rsnapshot::default_backup, $rsnapshot::params::config_default_backup)
+    $backup                 = $hash['backup']
     $backup_defaults        = pick($hash['backup_defaults'], $rsnapshot::params::config_backup_defaults)
     $cmd_cp                 = pick($hash['cmd_cp'], $rsnapshot::params::config_cmd_cp)
     $cmd_rm                 = pick($hash['cmd_rm'], $rsnapshot::params::config_cmd_rm)
@@ -72,9 +73,14 @@ class rsnapshot::config (
     $lockfile               = "${lockpath}/${host}.pid"
     $logfile                = "${logpath}/${host}.log"
 
+    # fail if $backup_defaults is set to false and no $host[backup] defined
+    if ! $backup_defaults and ! $backup {
+      fail("There is no point in not specifying a backup, I got backup_defaults: ${backup_defaults} and backup definitions for this host (${host}) don't exist")
+    }
+
     # merge the backup hashes to one if backup_default is set (defaults to true)
     if $backup_defaults {
-      $backups = merge($backup, $rsnapshot::params::config_backup) 
+      $backups = merge($backup, $default_backup_dirs) 
     } else {
       $backups = $backup   
     }
diff --git a/manifests/init.pp b/manifests/init.pp
index 4dd72a1..48dc1c3 100644
--- a/manifests/init.pp
+++ b/manifests/init.pp
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ class rsnapshot (
   $conf_d                        = $rsnapshot::params::conf_d,
   $logpath                       = $rsnapshot::params::config_logpath,
   $lockpath                      = $rsnapshot::params::config_lockpath,
+  $default_backup                = $rsnapshot::params::config_default_backup,
 ) inherits rsnapshot::params {
 
   #  anchor { 'rsnapshot::begin': } ->
diff --git a/manifests/params.pp b/manifests/params.pp
index 90f0ebc..72e5507 100644
--- a/manifests/params.pp
+++ b/manifests/params.pp
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ class rsnapshot::params {
   $config_sync_first             = false
   $config_rsync_numtries         = 1
   $config_use_lazy_deletes       = false
-  $config_backup                = {
+  $config_default_backup         = {
     '/etc'  => './',
     '/home' => './',
   }
diff --git a/templates/rsnapshot.erb b/templates/rsnapshot.erb
index 0e59054..62ceadc 100644
--- a/templates/rsnapshot.erb
+++ b/templates/rsnapshot.erb
@@ -128,7 +128,9 @@ linux_lvm_mountpath	<%= @linux_lvm_mountpath %>
 <% end -%>
 <% end -%>
 <% @backups.each_pair do |source, dest| -%>
-<% if @backup_user  != '' -%>
+<% if @host == 'localhost' -%>
+backup	<%= source %>	<%=dest%>
+<% elsif @backup_user  != '' -%>
 backup	<%= @backup_user %>@<%=@host%>:<%= source %>	<%=dest%>
 <% else -%>
 backup	<%=@host%>:<%= source %>	<%=dest%>