diff --git a/app/server/modules/backups/__tests__/backups.service.execution.test.ts b/app/server/modules/backups/__tests__/backups.service.execution.test.ts
index 5d6818f3..58df8091 100644
--- a/app/server/modules/backups/__tests__/backups.service.execution.test.ts
+++ b/app/server/modules/backups/__tests__/backups.service.execution.test.ts
@@ -344,7 +344,23 @@ describe("backup execution - validation failures", () => {
 
 		const task = await getBackupTaskForSchedule(schedule.id);
 		expect(task?.status).toBe("succeeded");
-		expect(updateProgressSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+		expect(updateProgressSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+		expect(updateProgressSpy.mock.calls[0]?.[1]).toMatchObject({
+			kind: "backup",
+			progress: {
+				percent_done: 0.25,
+				bytes_done: 250,
+				current_files: ["file.txt"],
+			},
+		});
+		expect(updateProgressSpy.mock.calls[1]?.[1]).toMatchObject({
+			kind: "backup",
+			progress: {
+				percent_done: 0.5,
+				bytes_done: 500,
+				current_files: ["later.txt"],
+			},
+		});
 		expect(task?.progress).toMatchObject({
 			kind: "backup",
 			progress: {
diff --git a/app/server/modules/tasks/__tests__/progress-buffer.test.ts b/app/server/modules/tasks/__tests__/progress-buffer.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4af78386
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/server/modules/tasks/__tests__/progress-buffer.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, expect, test, vi } from "vitest";
+import { db } from "~/server/db/db";
+import { tasksTable } from "~/server/db/schema";
+import { ensureTestOrganization, TEST_ORG_ID } from "~/test/helpers/organization";
+import { createTaskProgressBuffer } from "../progress-buffer";
+import { taskStore } from "../tasks.store";
+import type { TaskInput, TaskProgress } from "../tasks.schemas";
+
+type BackupTaskInput = Extract<TaskInput, { kind: "backup" }>;
+type BackupTaskProgress = Extract<TaskProgress, { kind: "backup" }>;
+
+const backupInput = (scheduleId = 1): BackupTaskInput => ({
+	kind: "backup",
+	scheduleId,
+	scheduleShortId: `schedule-${scheduleId}`,
+	manual: false,
+});
+
+const backupProgress = (percentDone: number): BackupTaskProgress => ({
+	kind: "backup",
+	progress: {
+		message_type: "status",
+		seconds_elapsed: 1,
+		seconds_remaining: 1,
+		percent_done: percentDone,
+		total_files: 10,
+		files_done: 5,
+		total_bytes: 100,
+		bytes_done: 50,
+		current_files: [],
+	},
+});
+
+const createBackupTask = (id: string) =>
+	taskStore.create({
+		id,
+		organizationId: TEST_ORG_ID,
+		resourceType: "backup_schedule",
+		resourceId: "1",
+		targetAgentId: "local",
+		input: backupInput(),
+	});
+
+const getPersistedProgress = async (taskId: string) => {
+	const row = await db.query.tasksTable.findFirst({ where: { id: taskId } });
+	const progress = row?.progress as BackupTaskProgress | null | undefined;
+
+	return progress?.progress.percent_done ?? null;
+};
+
+beforeEach(async () => {
+	await ensureTestOrganization();
+	await db.delete(tasksTable);
+});
+
+afterEach(() => {
+	vi.useRealTimers();
+});
+
+test("persists the first progress update immediately and buffers later updates", async () => {
+	vi.useFakeTimers();
+	const task = createBackupTask("progress-buffer-task");
+	const buffer = createTaskProgressBuffer(task.id, { intervalMs: 1_000 });
+
+	try {
+		buffer.update(backupProgress(0.1));
+		expect(await getPersistedProgress(task.id)).toBe(0.1);
+
+		buffer.update(backupProgress(0.2));
+		expect(await getPersistedProgress(task.id)).toBe(0.1);
+
+		vi.advanceTimersByTime(999);
+		expect(await getPersistedProgress(task.id)).toBe(0.1);
+
+		vi.advanceTimersByTime(1);
+		expect(await getPersistedProgress(task.id)).toBe(0.2);
+	} finally {
+		buffer.dispose();
+	}
+});
diff --git a/app/server/modules/tasks/progress-buffer.ts b/app/server/modules/tasks/progress-buffer.ts
index c6590b22..9f2568a1 100644
--- a/app/server/modules/tasks/progress-buffer.ts
+++ b/app/server/modules/tasks/progress-buffer.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ export const createTaskProgressBuffer = (taskId: string, options: TaskProgressBu
 	let latestProgress: TaskProgress | null = null;
 	let dirty = false;
 	let disposed = false;
+	let hasPersistedProgress = false;
 	let timer: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null = null;
 
 	const clearTimer = () => {
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ export const createTaskProgressBuffer = (taskId: string, options: TaskProgressBu
 		try {
 			taskStore.updateProgress(taskId, latestProgress);
 			dirty = false;
+			hasPersistedProgress = true;
 		} catch (error) {
 			options.onError?.(error);
 		}
@@ -50,8 +52,14 @@ export const createTaskProgressBuffer = (taskId: string, options: TaskProgressBu
 		update: (progress: TaskProgress) => {
 			if (disposed) return;
 
+			const shouldPersistImmediately = !hasPersistedProgress;
 			latestProgress = progress;
 			dirty = true;
+
+			if (shouldPersistImmediately) {
+				persistLatest();
+			}
+
 			schedulePersist();
 		},
 		flush: () => {