diff --git a/lib/Simba/CA.pm b/lib/Simba/CA.pm
index 8459dfc..cd159ac 100644
--- a/lib/Simba/CA.pm
+++ b/lib/Simba/CA.pm
@@ -207,7 +207,9 @@ sub run {
 sub backup2disk {
     my ($self, $target) = @_;
 
-    $self->reserve_fileset($target);
+    unless ($self->reserve_fileset($target)) {
+        return;
+    }
 
     $self->log(3, "starting backup for target host " . $target->{host} . " dir " . $target->{dir});
     $self->{target} = $target;
@@ -291,9 +293,10 @@ sub backup2disk {
 sub reserve_fileset {
     my ($self, $target) = @_;
 
-    for (;;) {
+    my $start = time();
+    while (time() - $start < 3600) {
         my $rows = $self->{dbh}->do(q{update filesets set pid=? where id = ? and pid is null}, {}, $$, $target->{id});
-        return if $rows == 1;
+        return 1 if $rows == 1;
         my $pid = $self->{dbh}->selectrow_array(q{select pid from filesets where id = ?}, {}, $target->{id});
         $self->log(3, "fileset $target->{id} appears to be in use by pid $pid");
         if (!kill(0, $pid) && $!{ESRCH}) {
@@ -302,6 +305,8 @@ sub reserve_fileset {
         }
         sleep 60;
     }
+    $self->log(2, "fileset $target->{id} appears to be still in use by pid $pid after grace perion - giving up");
+    return 0;
 }