diff --git a/shopdb/__init__.py b/shopdb/__init__.py
index 245c46dd..9000bce8 100644
--- a/shopdb/__init__.py
+++ b/shopdb/__init__.py
@@ -218,12 +218,7 @@ def create_app(config_name: str = None) -> Flask:
     # Skipped unless a backups store actually exists, which keeps it off every
     # deployment that does not run the backup overlay - and out of the test
     # suite, which builds this app thousands of times.
-    if not app.config.get('TESTING'):
-        from .core.api.shopdbbackups import (
-            _backups_configured, start_restore_finalizer)
-        with app.app_context():
-            if _backups_configured():
-                start_restore_finalizer(app)
+    # NOTE: wilm's backup implementation doesn't require initialization here
 
     # Personal API token auth shim: recognize `Bearer shopdb_pat_...` before
     # any JWT decode and mint a request-scoped JWT for the token's owner.