diff --git a/cmd/backup/command.go b/cmd/backup/command.go
index 46d8b40..662a466 100644
--- a/cmd/backup/command.go
+++ b/cmd/backup/command.go
@@ -42,7 +42,9 @@ func (c *command) runAsCommand() error {
 				return errwrap.Wrap(err, "error running script")
 			}
 		case "container":
-			panic("execution mode container not implemented")
+			if err := runInContainer(config); err != nil {
+				return errwrap.Wrap(err, "error spawning container")
+			}
 		default:
 			return errwrap.Wrap(nil, fmt.Sprintf("unknown execution mode %s", config.ExecutionMode))
 		}
@@ -131,7 +133,17 @@ func (c *command) schedule(strategy configStrategy) error {
 					)
 				}
 			case "container":
-				panic("execution mode container not implemented")
+				if err := runInContainer(config); err != nil {
+					c.logger.Error(
+						fmt.Sprintf(
+							"Unexpected error running schedule %s in container: %v",
+							config.BackupCronExpression,
+							errwrap.Unwrap(err),
+						),
+						"error",
+						err,
+					)
+				}
 			default:
 				c.logger.Error(
 					fmt.Sprintf(
diff --git a/cmd/backup/container.go b/cmd/backup/container.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..482c415
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/backup/container.go
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+package main
+
+func runInContainer(config *Config) error {
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/test/container/docker-compose.yml b/test/container/docker-compose.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..839d4f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/container/docker-compose.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+services:
+  backup:
+    image: offen/docker-volume-backup:${TEST_VERSION:-canary}
+    restart: always
+    environment:
+      BACKUP_FILENAME: test.tar.gz
+      BACKUP_CRON_EXPRESSION: 0 0 5 31 2 ?
+      EXECUTION_MODE: container
+    volumes:
+      - app_data:/backup/app_data:ro
+      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro
+      - ${LOCAL_DIR:-./local}:/archive
+
+  offen:
+    image: offen/offen:latest
+    labels:
+      - docker-volume-backup.stop-during-backup=true
+    volumes:
+      - app_data:/var/opt/offen
+
+volumes:
+  app_data:
diff --git a/test/container/run.sh b/test/container/run.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..b3b8230
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/container/run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+set -e
+
+cd "$(dirname "$0")"
+. ../util.sh
+current_test=$(basename $(pwd))
+
+export LOCAL_DIR=$(mktemp -d)
+
+docker compose up -d --quiet-pull
+sleep 5
+
+# A symlink for a known file in the volume is created so the test can check
+# whether symlinks are preserved on backup.
+docker compose exec offen ln -s /var/opt/offen/offen.db /var/opt/offen/db.link
+docker compose exec backup backup
+
+sleep 5
+
+expect_running_containers "2"
+
+tmp_dir=$(mktemp -d)
+tar -xvf "$LOCAL_DIR/test.tar.gz" -C $tmp_dir
+if [ ! -f "$tmp_dir/backup/app_data/offen.db" ]; then
+  fail "Could not find expected file in untared archive."
+fi
+rm -f "$LOCAL_DIR/test-hostnametoken.tar.gz"