diff --git a/homeassistant/backup_restore.py b/homeassistant/backup_restore.py
index 6cf96fdfa91d19..32991dfb2d3b18 100644
--- a/homeassistant/backup_restore.py
+++ b/homeassistant/backup_restore.py
@@ -30,11 +30,11 @@ def restore_backup_file_content(config_dir: Path) -> RestoreBackupFileContent |
     """Return the contents of the restore backup file."""
     instruction_path = config_dir.joinpath(RESTORE_BACKUP_FILE)
     try:
-        instruction_content = instruction_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+        instruction_content = json.loads(instruction_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
         return RestoreBackupFileContent(
-            backup_file_path=Path(instruction_content.split(";")[0])
+            backup_file_path=Path(instruction_content["path"])
         )
-    except FileNotFoundError:
+    except (FileNotFoundError, json.JSONDecodeError):
         return None
 
 
diff --git a/homeassistant/components/backup/manager.py b/homeassistant/components/backup/manager.py
index 8120e3a6e66a6b..b3cb69861b9874 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/backup/manager.py
+++ b/homeassistant/components/backup/manager.py
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ async def async_restore_backup(self, slug: str, **kwargs: Any) -> None:
         def _write_restore_file() -> None:
             """Write the restore file."""
             Path(self.hass.config.path(RESTORE_BACKUP_FILE)).write_text(
-                f"{backup.path.as_posix()};",
+                json.dumps({"path": backup.path.as_posix()}),
                 encoding="utf-8",
             )
 
diff --git a/tests/components/backup/test_manager.py b/tests/components/backup/test_manager.py
index a269a3f2f17933..a4dba5c6936d6b 100644
--- a/tests/components/backup/test_manager.py
+++ b/tests/components/backup/test_manager.py
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ async def test_async_trigger_restore(
         patch("homeassistant.core.ServiceRegistry.async_call") as mocked_service_call,
     ):
         await manager.async_restore_backup(TEST_BACKUP.slug)
-        assert mocked_write_text.call_args[0][0] == "abc123.tar;"
+        assert mocked_write_text.call_args[0][0] == '{"path": "abc123.tar"}'
         assert mocked_service_call.called
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_backup_restore.py b/tests/test_backup_restore.py
index fabb403468d9ac..44a05c0540e527 100644
--- a/tests/test_backup_restore.py
+++ b/tests/test_backup_restore.py
@@ -15,15 +15,10 @@
     ("side_effect", "content", "expected"),
     [
         (FileNotFoundError, "", None),
-        (None, "", backup_restore.RestoreBackupFileContent(backup_file_path=Path(""))),
+        (None, "", None),
         (
             None,
-            "test;",
-            backup_restore.RestoreBackupFileContent(backup_file_path=Path("test")),
-        ),
-        (
-            None,
-            "test;;;;",
+            '{"path": "test"}',
             backup_restore.RestoreBackupFileContent(backup_file_path=Path("test")),
         ),
     ],