diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4703ba5..9da136b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ test: test-local-no_times
 test: test-local-copy_links
 test: test-local-crazy-filename-chars
 test: test-local-crazy-pathname-chars
+test: test-local-custom-rsync-binary
 test: test-remote-default-abs
 test: test-remote-default-rel
 test: test-remote-ssh_1111_port-nouser
@@ -145,6 +146,9 @@ test-local-crazy-filename-chars:
 test-local-crazy-pathname-chars:
 	./tests/06-run-local-crazy-pathname-chars.sh
 
+test-local-custom-rsync-binary:
+	./tests/07-run-local-custom-rsync-binary.sh
+
 test-remote-default-abs:
 	./tests/10-run-remote-default-abs.sh
 
diff --git a/tests/07-run-local-custom-rsync-binary.sh b/tests/07-run-local-custom-rsync-binary.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..f14bb31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/07-run-local-custom-rsync-binary.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,235 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -e
+set -u
+set -o pipefail
+
+SCRIPTPATH="$( cd "$(dirname "$0")" >/dev/null 2>&1 ; pwd -P )"
+FUNCPATH="${SCRIPTPATH}/.lib/functions.sh"
+# shellcheck disable=SC1090
+. "${FUNCPATH}"
+
+
+###
+### RSYNC ARGUMENTS
+###
+RSYNC_ARGS=""
+
+print_section "07 Custom Rsync"
+
+### ################################################################################################
+### ################################################################################################
+###
+### CREATE FILES AND DIRS
+###
+### ################################################################################################
+### ################################################################################################
+
+print_headline "Creating files and directories"
+
+###
+### Set up custom rsync command
+###
+
+RSYNC_COMMAND_DIR="$( create_tmp_dir )"
+create_link "${RSYNC_COMMAND_DIR}" "custom_rsync" "$(command -v rsync 2>/dev/null)"
+export RSYNC_COMMAND="${RSYNC_COMMAND_DIR}/custom_rsync"
+
+###
+### Create source and target dir
+###
+SRC_DIR="$( create_tmp_dir )"
+DST_DIR="$( create_tmp_dir )"
+
+FILE1_NAME="file1.txt"
+FILE2_NAME="file2.txt"
+FILE3_NAME="sub/file3.txt"
+
+FILE1_PERM="607"
+FILE2_PERM="707"
+FILE3_PERM="607"
+
+LINK1_NAME="links/link1.txt"
+LINK2_NAME="links/link2.txt"
+LINK3_NAME="links/link3.txt"
+
+LINK1_FROM="../${FILE1_NAME}"
+LINK2_FROM="../${FILE2_NAME}"
+LINK3_FROM="../${FILE3_NAME}"
+
+
+###
+### Create source files
+###
+create_file "${SRC_DIR}" "${FILE1_NAME}" "2" "${FILE1_PERM}"
+create_file "${SRC_DIR}" "${FILE2_NAME}" "5" "${FILE2_PERM}"
+create_file "${SRC_DIR}" "${FILE3_NAME}" "1" "${FILE3_PERM}"
+
+create_link "${SRC_DIR}" "${LINK1_NAME}" "${LINK1_FROM}"
+create_link "${SRC_DIR}" "${LINK2_NAME}" "${LINK2_FROM}"
+create_link "${SRC_DIR}" "${LINK3_NAME}" "${LINK3_FROM}"
+sleep 2
+
+
+### ################################################################################################
+### ################################################################################################
+###
+### DEFINE CHECKS
+###
+### ################################################################################################
+### ################################################################################################
+
+check_file() {
+	local file="${1}"
+	local perm="${2}"
+	local destination=
+	destination="${DST_DIR}/current/$(basename "${SRC_DIR}")"
+
+	print_subline "Validate ${file}"
+
+	check_dst_file_is_file "${file}" "${destination}"
+
+	check_src_dst_file_exist "${file}" "${SRC_DIR}" "${destination}"
+	check_src_dst_file_equal "${file}" "${SRC_DIR}" "${destination}"
+
+	check_dst_file_perm         "${file}" "${perm}" "${perm}" "${destination}"
+	check_src_dst_file_perm     "${file}" "${SRC_DIR}" "${destination}"
+	check_src_dst_file_size     "${file}" "${SRC_DIR}" "${destination}"
+	check_src_dst_file_mod_time "${file}" "${SRC_DIR}" "${destination}"
+	check_src_dst_file_uid      "${file}" "${SRC_DIR}" "${destination}"
+	check_src_dst_file_gid      "${file}" "${SRC_DIR}" "${destination}"
+}
+
+check_link() {
+	local link="${1}"
+	local destination=
+	destination="${DST_DIR}/current/$(basename "${SRC_DIR}")"
+
+	print_subline "Validate ${link}"
+	check_src_dst_file_exist "${link}" "${SRC_DIR}" "${destination}"
+	check_dst_file_is_link   "${link}" "${destination}"
+	check_src_dst_file_equal "${link}" "${SRC_DIR}" "${destination}"
+}
+
+check_dir() {
+	local src="${1}"
+	local dst="${2}"
+	local destination=
+	destination="${dst}/current/$(basename "${src}")"
+
+	check_dir_size "${src}" "${destination}"
+}
+
+check_backup() {
+	local src="${1}"
+	local dst="${2}"
+	local backup1="${3}"
+	local backup2="${4}"
+
+	local src_actual_size
+	local dst_actual_size
+	local backup1_actual_size
+	local backup2_actual_size
+
+	print_subline "Check incremental Backup"
+
+	backup1_actual_size="$( get_dir_size_without_hardlinks "${backup1}" "/$(basename "${src}")" )"
+	backup2_actual_size="$( get_dir_size_without_hardlinks "${backup2}" "/$(basename "${src}")" )"
+	if [ "${backup1_actual_size}" -eq "${backup2_actual_size}" ]; then
+		printf "[TEST] [FAIL] Incremental: inital backup (%s) and incremental backup (%s) disk sizes are equal\\r\\n" "${backup1_actual_size}" "${backup2_actual_size}"
+		exit 1
+	fi
+	printf "[TEST] [OK]   Incremental: inital backup (%s) and incremental backup (%s) disk sizes differ\\r\\n" "${backup1_actual_size}" "${backup2_actual_size}"
+
+
+	print_subline "Check incremental Backup after deleting initial full backup"
+
+	run "rm -rf '${backup1}'"
+	src_actual_size="$( get_dir_size_with_hardlinks "${src}" )"
+	dst_actual_size="$( get_dir_size_without_hardlinks "${dst}/current/" "/$(basename "${src}")" )"
+
+	if [ "${src_actual_size}" -ne "${dst_actual_size}" ]; then
+		printf "[TEST] [FAIL] Incremental Backup: src-dir(%s) size is not equal to dst-dir(%s)\\r\\n" "${src_actual_size}" "${dst_actual_size}"
+		exit 1
+	fi
+	printf "[TEST] [OK]   Incremental Backup: src-dir(%s) size is equal to dst-dir(%s)\\r\\n" "${src_actual_size}" "${dst_actual_size}"
+}
+
+
+### ################################################################################################
+### ################################################################################################
+###
+### Run backup (Round 1)
+###
+### ################################################################################################
+### ################################################################################################
+
+print_headline "Backup (Round 1)"
+
+print_subline "Run Backup"
+run_backup \
+	"${SCRIPTPATH}/../timemachine" \
+	"${SRC_DIR}" \
+	"${DST_DIR}" \
+	"${RSYNC_ARGS}" \
+	"full"
+
+check_file "${FILE1_NAME}" "${FILE1_PERM}"
+check_file "${FILE2_NAME}" "${FILE2_PERM}"
+check_file "${FILE3_NAME}" "${FILE3_PERM}"
+
+check_link "${LINK1_NAME}"
+check_link "${LINK2_NAME}"
+check_link "${LINK3_NAME}"
+
+check_dir "${SRC_DIR}" "${DST_DIR}"
+
+BACKUP_PATH_1="$( cd "${DST_DIR}/current/" && pwd -P )"
+
+
+### ################################################################################################
+### ################################################################################################
+###
+### Run backup (Round 2)
+###
+### ################################################################################################
+### ################################################################################################
+
+print_headline "Backup (Round 2)"
+
+print_subline "Run Backup"
+run_backup \
+	"${SCRIPTPATH}/../timemachine" \
+	"${SRC_DIR}" \
+	"${DST_DIR}" \
+	"${RSYNC_ARGS}" \
+	"incremental"
+
+check_file "${FILE1_NAME}" "${FILE1_PERM}"
+check_file "${FILE2_NAME}" "${FILE2_PERM}"
+check_file "${FILE3_NAME}" "${FILE3_PERM}"
+
+check_link "${LINK1_NAME}"
+check_link "${LINK2_NAME}"
+check_link "${LINK3_NAME}"
+
+check_dir "${SRC_DIR}" "${DST_DIR}"
+
+BACKUP_PATH_2="$( cd "${DST_DIR}/current/" && pwd -P )"
+
+
+### ################################################################################################
+### ################################################################################################
+###
+### Validate Backups
+###
+### ################################################################################################
+### ################################################################################################
+
+print_headline "Validate Backups"
+
+check_backup \
+	"${SRC_DIR}" \
+	"${DST_DIR}" \
+	"${BACKUP_PATH_1}" \
+	"${BACKUP_PATH_2}"
diff --git a/timemachine b/timemachine
index 27c7c38..1d83d87 100755
--- a/timemachine
+++ b/timemachine
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ PORT=
 KEY=
 
 # Default variables
+RSYNC_COMMAND="${RSYNC_COMMAND:=rsync}"
 SSH_ARGS="-oStrictHostKeyChecking=no -oLogLevel=QUIET -q"
 
 
@@ -379,10 +380,13 @@ if ! dir_exists "${2}"; then
 	exit 1
 fi
 
-if ! command -v rsync >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-	logerr "rsync binary not found but required."
+if ! command -v "$RSYNC_COMMAND" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	logerr "rsync binary '$RSYNC_COMMAND' not found but required."
 	exit 1
 fi
+if [ "$RSYNC_COMMAND" != "rsync" ]; then
+  RSYNC_COMMAND="$(escape_path "$RSYNC_COMMAND")"
+fi
 
 
 
@@ -427,9 +431,9 @@ if link_exists "${DEST}/${BACKUP_LATEST}"; then
 	BTYPE="incremental"
 
 	logmsg "Starting incremental backup"
-	logmsg "\$ rsync $* $( escape_path "${SRC}" ) $( escape_path "${DEST}/${BACKUP_INPROGRESS}" )"
+	logmsg "\$ $RSYNC_COMMAND $* $( escape_path "${SRC}" ) $( escape_path "${DEST}/${BACKUP_INPROGRESS}" )"
 
-	cmd="rsync \
+	cmd="$RSYNC_COMMAND \
 		-e \"ssh ${SSH_ARGS}\" \
 		--recursive \
 		--perms \
@@ -447,9 +451,9 @@ else
 	BTYPE="full"
 
 	logmsg "Starting full backup"
-	logmsg "\$ rsync $* $( escape_path "${SRC}" ) $( escape_path "${DEST}/${BACKUP_INPROGRESS}" )"
+	logmsg "\$ $RSYNC_COMMAND $* $( escape_path "${SRC}" ) $( escape_path "${DEST}/${BACKUP_INPROGRESS}" )"
 
-	cmd="rsync \
+	cmd="$RSYNC_COMMAND \
 		-e \"ssh ${SSH_ARGS}\" \
 		--recursive \
 		--perms \