diff --git a/src/cmds/restic/global_debug.go b/src/cmds/restic/global_debug.go
index 347e9e2c6..6e443f2a0 100644
--- a/src/cmds/restic/global_debug.go
+++ b/src/cmds/restic/global_debug.go
@@ -7,18 +7,29 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	_ "net/http/pprof"
 	"os"
+	"restic/errors"
+
+	"github.com/pkg/profile"
 )
 
 var (
 	listenMemoryProfile string
+	memProfilePath      string
+	cpuProfilePath      string
+
+	prof interface {
+		Stop()
+	}
 )
 
 func init() {
 	f := cmdRoot.PersistentFlags()
 	f.StringVar(&listenMemoryProfile, "listen-profile", "", "listen on this `address:port` for memory profiling")
+	f.StringVar(&memProfilePath, "mem-profile", "", "write memory profile to `dir`")
+	f.StringVar(&cpuProfilePath, "cpu-profile", "", "write cpu profile to `dir`")
 }
 
-func runDebug() {
+func runDebug() error {
 	if listenMemoryProfile != "" {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "running memory profile HTTP server on %v\n", listenMemoryProfile)
 		go func() {
@@ -28,4 +39,22 @@ func runDebug() {
 			}
 		}()
 	}
+
+	if memProfilePath != "" && cpuProfilePath != "" {
+		return errors.Fatal("only one profile (memory or CPU) may be activated at the same time")
+	}
+
+	if memProfilePath != "" {
+		prof = profile.Start(profile.Quiet, profile.MemProfile, profile.ProfilePath(memProfilePath))
+	} else if memProfilePath != "" {
+		prof = profile.Start(profile.Quiet, profile.CPUProfile, profile.ProfilePath(memProfilePath))
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func shutdownDebug() {
+	if prof != nil {
+		prof.Stop()
+	}
 }
diff --git a/src/cmds/restic/global_release.go b/src/cmds/restic/global_release.go
index 88b639074..0a3bc8f1b 100644
--- a/src/cmds/restic/global_release.go
+++ b/src/cmds/restic/global_release.go
@@ -3,4 +3,7 @@
 package main
 
 // runDebug is a noop without the debug tag.
-func runDebug() {}
+func runDebug() error { return nil }
+
+// shutdownDebug is a noop without the debug tag.
+func shutdownDebug() {}
diff --git a/src/cmds/restic/main.go b/src/cmds/restic/main.go
index 6e5a0b746..a4d162679 100644
--- a/src/cmds/restic/main.go
+++ b/src/cmds/restic/main.go
@@ -25,8 +25,11 @@ directories in an encrypted repository stored on different backends.
 
 	// run the debug functions for all subcommands (if build tag "debug" is
 	// enabled)
-	PersistentPreRun: func(*cobra.Command, []string) {
-		runDebug()
+	PersistentPreRunE: func(*cobra.Command, []string) error {
+		return runDebug()
+	},
+	PersistentPostRun: func(*cobra.Command, []string) {
+		shutdownDebug()
 	},
 }