diff --git a/rdiff-manager.py b/rdiff-manager.py
index ad3c08b77c2d003ef618dfbc08f2139e0fa2417b..4524cb1d3852542bbb38d502f20e45488c48c1c0 100755
--- a/rdiff-manager.py
+++ b/rdiff-manager.py
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ class Host(object):
                 raise e
 
     def remove_old(self):
-        return run_rdiff('--remove-older-than', self.duration_to_keep, self.destination)
+        # even with force, only increments are removed, never the most recent backup
+        return run_rdiff('--remove-older-than', self.duration_to_keep, '--force', self.destination)
 
     def run_backup(self):
         return run_rdiff(*(self.run_backup_flags.split(' ') + [ '--include-globbing-filelist',