diff --git a/roles/backup/templates/backup.sh.j2 b/roles/backup/templates/backup.sh.j2
index 4dd9452..bbd0491 100644
--- a/roles/backup/templates/backup.sh.j2
+++ b/roles/backup/templates/backup.sh.j2
@@ -117,10 +117,9 @@ AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="{{ s3_access_key }}" \
 AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="{{ s3_secret_key }}" \
   aws s3 cp "${ARCHIVE}" "s3://{{ s3_bucket }}/data/$(basename "${ARCHIVE}")" \
     --endpoint-url "{{ s3_endpoint }}" \
-    --storage-class COLD \
     --no-progress \
   && log "  → S3 upload complete" \
-  || log "  ⚠ S3 upload failed (local backup still intact)"
+  || { log "  ⚠ S3 upload FAILED"; exit 1; }
 
 # ── Cleanup old local backups ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
 log "Removing local backups older than ${KEEP_DAYS} days..."