diff --git a/postgres-dump-zstd-docker-sock.sh b/postgres-dump-zstd-docker-sock.sh
index 697d716..c9d4f90 100755
--- a/postgres-dump-zstd-docker-sock.sh
+++ b/postgres-dump-zstd-docker-sock.sh
@@ -190,7 +190,72 @@ if [ -f "$backup_path" ]; then
     log "backup completed: $backup_path"
   fi
 else
-  log "backup command succeeded, but file $backup_path not found"
+  log "backup file not found on host; verifying inside container $PG_CONTAINER_NAME"
+
+  verify_cmd="set -eo pipefail && if [ -f \"${backup_path}\" ]; then du -h \"${backup_path}\" 2>/dev/null | awk 'NR==1{print \$1}' || printf 'exists'; else exit 44; fi"
+  verify_payload=$(jq -n --arg cmd "$verify_cmd" '{
+    AttachStdin: false,
+    AttachStdout: true,
+    AttachStderr: true,
+    Tty: true,
+    Cmd: ["bash", "-lc", $cmd]
+  }')
+
+  verify_create_response=$(curl --fail --silent --show-error --unix-socket "$DOCKER_SOCKET" \
+    -X POST \
+    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+    -d "$verify_payload" \
+    "$exec_create_endpoint")
+
+  verify_exec_id=$(printf '%s' "$verify_create_response" | jq -r '.Id // empty')
+
+  if [ -z "$verify_exec_id" ]; then
+    log "failed to create verification exec for $PG_CONTAINER_NAME"
+    log "docker response: $verify_create_response"
+    log "backup command succeeded, but file $backup_path not found"
+    log "database backup finished"
+    exit 0
+  fi
+
+  log "starting verification exec $verify_exec_id"
+
+  verify_start_endpoint="${docker_api_base}/exec/${verify_exec_id}/start"
+  verify_start_output=$(curl --fail --show-error --silent --unix-socket "$DOCKER_SOCKET" \
+    -X POST \
+    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
+    -d '{"Detach": false, "Tty": true}' \
+    "$verify_start_endpoint")
+
+  if [ -n "$verify_start_output" ]; then
+    printf '%s\n' "$verify_start_output" | while IFS= read -r line; do
+      log "verify output: $line"
+    done
+  fi
+
+  verify_inspect_endpoint="${docker_api_base}/exec/${verify_exec_id}/json"
+  verify_inspect_response=$(curl --fail --silent --show-error --unix-socket "$DOCKER_SOCKET" "$verify_inspect_endpoint")
+
+  verify_exit_code=$(printf '%s' "$verify_inspect_response" | jq -r '.ExitCode // empty')
+
+  if [ -z "$verify_exit_code" ]; then
+    log "could not determine verification exec exit code"
+    log "docker inspect response: $verify_inspect_response"
+    log "backup command succeeded, but file $backup_path not found"
+  elif [ "$verify_exit_code" = "0" ]; then
+    verify_size=$(printf '%s' "$verify_start_output" | awk 'NF {last=$0} END {print last}')
+    verify_size=$(printf '%s' "$verify_size" | tr -d '\r')
+    if [ -n "$verify_size" ]; then
+      log "backup completed inside container: $backup_path ($verify_size)"
+    else
+      log "backup completed inside container: $backup_path"
+    fi
+  elif [ "$verify_exit_code" = "44" ]; then
+    log "backup command succeeded, but file $backup_path not found inside container $PG_CONTAINER_NAME"
+  else
+    log "verification exec exited with status $verify_exit_code"
+    log "docker inspect response: $verify_inspect_response"
+    log "backup command succeeded, but file $backup_path not confirmed"
+  fi
 fi
 
 log "database backup finished"