diff --git a/src/Simplex/Messaging/Server/StoreLog.hs b/src/Simplex/Messaging/Server/StoreLog.hs
index d1ce15ed6..94a340d94 100644
--- a/src/Simplex/Messaging/Server/StoreLog.hs
+++ b/src/Simplex/Messaging/Server/StoreLog.hs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ import Simplex.Messaging.Protocol
 import Simplex.Messaging.Server.QueueStore (NtfCreds (..), QueueRec (..), ServerQueueStatus (..))
 import Simplex.Messaging.Transport.Buffer (trimCR)
 import Simplex.Messaging.Util (ifM)
-import System.Directory (doesFileExist)
+import System.Directory (doesFileExist, renameFile)
 import System.IO
 
 -- | opaque container for file handle with a type-safe IOMode
@@ -140,10 +140,12 @@ logDeleteNotifier s = writeStoreLogRecord s . DeleteNotifier
 
 readWriteStoreLog :: FilePath -> IO (Map RecipientId QueueRec, StoreLog 'WriteMode)
 readWriteStoreLog f = do
-  qs <- ifM (doesFileExist f) (readQueues f) (pure M.empty)
+  qs <- ifM (doesFileExist f) readQS (pure M.empty)
   s <- openWriteStoreLog f
   writeQueues s qs
   pure (qs, s)
+  where
+    readQS = readQueues f <* renameFile f (f <> ".bak")
 
 writeQueues :: StoreLog 'WriteMode -> Map RecipientId QueueRec -> IO ()
 writeQueues s = mapM_ $ \q -> when (active q) $ logCreateQueue s q