diff --git a/backup.sh b/backup.sh
index 1c1a628..2930517 100755
--- a/backup.sh
+++ b/backup.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ do
     echo "==> Dumping database: $db"
     FILENAME=/backup/$DATE.$db.sql
     LATEST=/backup/latest.$db.sql.gz
-    if mysqldump -h "$MYSQL_HOST" -P "$MYSQL_PORT" -u "$MYSQL_USER" -p"$MYSQL_PASS" "$db" $MYSQLDUMP_OPTS > "$FILENAME"
+    if mysqldump --single-transaction -h "$MYSQL_HOST" -P "$MYSQL_PORT" -u "$MYSQL_USER" -p"$MYSQL_PASS" "$db" $MYSQLDUMP_OPTS > "$FILENAME"
     then
       gzip "-$GZIP_LEVEL" -f "$FILENAME"
       echo "==> Creating symlink to latest backup: $(basename "$FILENAME".gz)"