diff --git a/config/routes.rb b/config/routes.rb
index 236f08c25f3..37a93cd2698 100644
--- a/config/routes.rb
+++ b/config/routes.rb
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ require_dependency "permalink_constraint"
 # and makes Guard not work properly.
 USERNAME_ROUTE_FORMAT = /[\w.\-]+/ unless defined? USERNAME_ROUTE_FORMAT
 
-BACKUP_ROUTE_FORMAT = /.+\.(tar\.gz|tgz)/i unless defined? BACKUP_ROUTE_FORMAT
+BACKUP_ROUTE_FORMAT = /.+\.(sql\.gz|tar\.gz|tgz)/i unless defined? BACKUP_ROUTE_FORMAT
 
 Discourse::Application.routes.draw do
 
diff --git a/lib/backup_restore/backup_restore.rb b/lib/backup_restore/backup_restore.rb
index 54c572ece92..af4670fb125 100644
--- a/lib/backup_restore/backup_restore.rb
+++ b/lib/backup_restore/backup_restore.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ module BackupRestore
 
   class OperationRunningError < RuntimeError; end
 
+  VERSION_PREFIX = "v".freeze
   DUMP_FILE = "dump.sql"
   METADATA_FILE = "meta.json"
   LOGS_CHANNEL = "/admin/backups/logs"
diff --git a/lib/backup_restore/backuper.rb b/lib/backup_restore/backuper.rb
index d83364392a3..ba890a10b82 100644
--- a/lib/backup_restore/backuper.rb
+++ b/lib/backup_restore/backuper.rb
@@ -28,8 +28,6 @@ module BackupRestore
       ensure_directory_exists(@tmp_directory)
       ensure_directory_exists(@archive_directory)
 
-      write_metadata
-
       ### READ-ONLY / START ###
       enable_readonly_mode
 
@@ -43,7 +41,7 @@ module BackupRestore
 
       log "Finalizing backup..."
 
-      create_archive
+      @with_uploads ? create_archive : move_dump_backup
 
       after_create_hook
     rescue SystemExit
@@ -54,7 +52,7 @@ module BackupRestore
       @success = false
     else
       @success = true
-      "#{@archive_basename}.tar.gz"
+      @backup_filename
     ensure
       begin
         notify_user
@@ -84,9 +82,16 @@ module BackupRestore
       @timestamp = Time.now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d-%H%M%S")
       @tmp_directory = File.join(Rails.root, "tmp", "backups", @current_db, @timestamp)
       @dump_filename = "#{File.join(@tmp_directory, BackupRestore::DUMP_FILE)}.gz"
-      @meta_filename = File.join(@tmp_directory, BackupRestore::METADATA_FILE)
       @archive_directory = File.join(Rails.root, "public", "backups", @current_db)
-      @archive_basename = File.join(@archive_directory, "#{SiteSetting.title.parameterize}-#{@timestamp}")
+      @archive_basename = File.join(@archive_directory, "#{SiteSetting.title.parameterize}-#{@timestamp}-#{BackupRestore::VERSION_PREFIX}#{BackupRestore.current_version}")
+
+      @backup_filename =
+        if @with_uploads
+          "#{File.basename(@archive_basename)}.tar.gz"
+        else
+          "#{File.basename(@archive_basename)}.sql.gz"
+        end
+
       @logs = []
       @readonly_mode_was_enabled = Discourse.readonly_mode? || !SiteSetting.readonly_mode_during_backup
     end
@@ -137,15 +142,6 @@ module BackupRestore
       false
     end
 
-    def write_metadata
-      log "Writing metadata to '#{@meta_filename}'..."
-      metadata = {
-        source: "discourse",
-        version: BackupRestore.current_version
-      }
-      File.write(@meta_filename, metadata.to_json)
-    end
-
     def dump_public_schema
       log "Dumping the public schema of the database..."
 
@@ -199,8 +195,19 @@ module BackupRestore
       ].join(" ")
     end
 
+    def move_dump_backup
+      log "Finalizing database dump file: #{@backup_filename}"
+
+      execute_command(
+        "mv #{@dump_filename} #{File.join(@archive_directory, @backup_filename)}",
+        "Failed to move database dump file."
+      )
+
+      remove_tmp_directory
+    end
+
     def create_archive
-      log "Creating archive: #{File.basename(@archive_basename)}.tar.gz"
+      log "Creating archive: #{@backup_filename}"
 
       tar_filename = "#{@archive_basename}.tar"
 
@@ -219,26 +226,16 @@ module BackupRestore
         )
       end
 
-      log "Archiving metadata..."
-      FileUtils.cd(File.dirname(@meta_filename)) do
+      upload_directory = "uploads/" + @current_db
+
+      log "Archiving uploads..."
+      FileUtils.cd(File.join(Rails.root, "public")) do
         execute_command(
-          "tar --append --dereference --file #{tar_filename} #{File.basename(@meta_filename)}",
-          "Failed to archive metadata."
+          "tar --append --dereference --file #{tar_filename} #{upload_directory}",
+          "Failed to archive uploads."
         )
       end
 
-      if @with_uploads
-        upload_directory = "uploads/" + @current_db
-
-        log "Archiving uploads..."
-        FileUtils.cd(File.join(Rails.root, "public")) do
-          execute_command(
-            "tar --append --dereference --file #{tar_filename} #{upload_directory}",
-            "Failed to archive uploads."
-          )
-        end
-      end
-
       remove_tmp_directory
 
       log "Gzipping archive, this may take a while..."
@@ -247,7 +244,7 @@ module BackupRestore
 
     def after_create_hook
       log "Executing the after_create_hook for the backup..."
-      backup = Backup.create_from_filename("#{File.basename(@archive_basename)}.tar.gz")
+      backup = Backup.create_from_filename(@backup_filename)
       backup.after_create_hook
     end
 
diff --git a/lib/backup_restore/restorer.rb b/lib/backup_restore/restorer.rb
index b2858bc0c56..837678f2877 100644
--- a/lib/backup_restore/restorer.rb
+++ b/lib/backup_restore/restorer.rb
@@ -110,13 +110,18 @@ module BackupRestore
       @archive_filename = File.join(@tmp_directory, @filename)
       @tar_filename = @archive_filename[0...-3]
       @meta_filename = File.join(@tmp_directory, BackupRestore::METADATA_FILE)
+      @is_archive = !(@filename =~ /.sql.gz$/)
 
       # For backwards compatibility
       @dump_filename =
-        if system("tar --list --file #{@source_filename} #{BackupRestore::DUMP_FILE}")
-          File.join(@tmp_directory, BackupRestore::DUMP_FILE)
+        if @is_archive
+          if system("tar --list --file #{@source_filename} #{BackupRestore::DUMP_FILE}")
+            File.join(@tmp_directory, BackupRestore::DUMP_FILE)
+          else
+            File.join(@tmp_directory, "#{BackupRestore::DUMP_FILE}.gz")
+          end
         else
-          File.join(@tmp_directory, "#{BackupRestore::DUMP_FILE}.gz")
+          File.join(@tmp_directory, @filename)
         end
 
       @logs = []
@@ -175,7 +180,10 @@ module BackupRestore
     end
 
     def unzip_archive
+      return unless @is_archive
+
       log "Unzipping archive, this may take a while..."
+
       FileUtils.cd(@tmp_directory) do
         execute_command("gzip --decompress '#{@archive_filename}'", "Failed to unzip archive.")
       end
@@ -184,14 +192,23 @@ module BackupRestore
     def extract_metadata
       log "Extracting metadata file..."
 
-      FileUtils.cd(@tmp_directory) do
-        execute_command(
-          "tar --extract --file '#{@tar_filename}' #{BackupRestore::METADATA_FILE}",
-          "Failed to extract metadata file."
-        )
-      end
+      @metadata =
+        if system("tar --list --file #{@source_filename} #{BackupRestore::METADATA_FILE}")
+          FileUtils.cd(@tmp_directory) do
+            execute_command(
+              "tar --extract --file '#{@tar_filename}' #{BackupRestore::METADATA_FILE}",
+              "Failed to extract metadata file."
+            )
+          end
 
-      @metadata = Oj.load_file(@meta_filename)
+          Oj.load_file(@meta_filename)
+        else
+          if @filename =~ /-#{BackupRestore::VERSION_PREFIX}(\d{14})/
+            { "version" => Regexp.last_match[1].to_i }
+          else
+            raise "Migration version is missing from the filename."
+          end
+        end
     end
 
     def validate_metadata
@@ -204,6 +221,8 @@ module BackupRestore
     end
 
     def extract_dump
+      return unless @is_archive
+
       log "Extracting dump file..."
 
       FileUtils.cd(@tmp_directory) do
@@ -334,7 +353,7 @@ module BackupRestore
     end
 
     def extract_uploads
-      if `tar --list --file '#{@tar_filename}' | grep 'uploads/'`.present?
+      if system("tar --list --file '#{@tar_filename}' 'uploads'")
         log "Extracting uploads..."
         FileUtils.cd(File.join(Rails.root, "public")) do
           execute_command(