diff --git a/roles/mariadb_server/files/backup-database b/roles/mariadb_server/files/backup-database
index f8b1db9e6c..6425b5d8f5 100644
--- a/roles/mariadb_server/files/backup-database
+++ b/roles/mariadb_server/files/backup-database
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 DB=$1
 
 # Make our latest backup
-ionice -c3 /bin/mysqldump --user=root --add-drop-database $DB | /usr/bin/xz > /backups/$DB-$(date +%F).dump.xz
+ionice -c3 /bin/mysqldump --user=root --add-drop-database $DB | /usr/bin/pxz -T2 > /backups/$DB-$(date +%F).dump.xz
 
 # link to the latest backup
 ln -sf /backups/$DB-$(date +%F).dump.xz /backups/$DB-latest.xz
diff --git a/roles/mariadb_server/tasks/main.yml b/roles/mariadb_server/tasks/main.yml
index e5e146384b..1ed569a107 100644
--- a/roles/mariadb_server/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/mariadb_server/tasks/main.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
     state: present
     name:
     - mariadb-server
+    - pxz
   when: ansible_cmdline.ostree is not defined
 
 - name: Ensure packages required for mariadb are installed (el8)