diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 7d4a03d..1d0df18 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ RUN apk update \
 
 COPY dockerbuild/rsyslog.conf /etc/rsyslog.conf
 
-RUN wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/silinternational/runny/0.1/runny -O /usr/local/bin/runny \
+RUN wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/silinternational/runny/0.2/runny -O /usr/local/bin/runny \
  && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/runny
 
 COPY application/ /data/
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9bbad79..3b5bcd3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ Service to backup and/or restore mysql databases using S3
 
 `MYSQL_PASSWORD=`
 
+`MYSQL_DUMP_ARGS=` (optional) additional arguments to the mysqldump command, e.g., `--max_allowed_packet=50M`
+
 `AWS_ACCESS_KEY=` used for S3 interactions
 
 `AWS_SECRET_KEY=` used for S3 interactions
diff --git a/application/backup.sh b/application/backup.sh
index 9117a0f..ca55c1b 100755
--- a/application/backup.sh
+++ b/application/backup.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ for dbName in ${DB_NAMES}; do
     logger -p user.info "backing up ${dbName}..."
 
     start=$(date +%s)
-    runny $(mysqldump -h ${MYSQL_HOST} -u ${MYSQL_USER} -p"${MYSQL_PASSWORD}" ${dbName} > /tmp/${dbName}.sql)
+    runny $(mysqldump -h ${MYSQL_HOST} -u ${MYSQL_USER} -p"${MYSQL_PASSWORD}" ${MYSQL_DUMP_ARGS} ${dbName} > /tmp/${dbName}.sql)
     end=$(date +%s)
     logger -p user.info "${dbName} backed up ($(stat -c %s /tmp/${dbName}.sql) bytes) in $(expr ${end} - ${start}) seconds."