diff --git a/src/app/_components/PBSCredentialsModal.tsx b/src/app/_components/PBSCredentialsModal.tsx
index c6c36cd..6eee7a4 100644
--- a/src/app/_components/PBSCredentialsModal.tsx
+++ b/src/app/_components/PBSCredentialsModal.tsx
@@ -270,22 +270,21 @@ export function PBSCredentialsModal({
                 htmlFor="pbs-fingerprint"
                 className="text-foreground mb-1 block text-sm font-medium"
               >
-                Fingerprint <span className="text-error">*</span>
+                Fingerprint
               </label>
               <input
                 type="text"
                 id="pbs-fingerprint"
                 value={pbsFingerprint}
                 onChange={(e) => setPbsFingerprint(e.target.value)}
-                required
                 disabled={isLoading}
                 className="bg-card text-foreground placeholder-muted-foreground focus:ring-ring focus:border-ring border-border w-full rounded-md border px-3 py-2 shadow-sm focus:ring-2 focus:outline-none"
                 placeholder="e.g., 7b:e5:87:38:5e:16:05:d1:12:22:7f:73:d2:e2:d0:cf:8c:cb:28:e2:74:0c:78:91:1a:71:74:2e:79:20:5a:02"
               />
               <p className="text-muted-foreground mt-1 text-xs">
-                Server fingerprint for auto-acceptance. You can find this on
-                your PBS dashboard by clicking the &quot;Show Fingerprint&quot;
-                button.
+                Leave empty if PBS uses a trusted CA (e.g. Let&apos;s Encrypt).
+                For self-signed certificates, enter the server fingerprint from
+                the PBS dashboard (&quot;Show Fingerprint&quot;).
               </p>
             </div>
 
diff --git a/src/server/services/backupService.ts b/src/server/services/backupService.ts
index a64678a..a615331 100644
--- a/src/server/services/backupService.ts
+++ b/src/server/services/backupService.ts
@@ -327,13 +327,16 @@ class BackupService {
     // PBS supports PBS_PASSWORD and PBS_REPOSITORY environment variables for non-interactive login
     const repository = `root@pam@${pbsIp}:${pbsDatastore}`;
     
-    // Escape password for shell safety (single quotes)
+    // Escape password and fingerprint for shell safety (single quotes)
     const escapedPassword = credential.pbs_password.replace(/'/g, "'\\''");
-    
-    // Use PBS_PASSWORD environment variable for non-interactive authentication
-    // Auto-accept fingerprint by piping "y" to stdin
-    // PBS will use PBS_PASSWORD env var if available, avoiding interactive prompt
-    const fullCommand = `echo "y" | PBS_PASSWORD='${escapedPassword}' PBS_REPOSITORY='${repository}' timeout 10 proxmox-backup-client login --repository ${repository} 2>&1`;
+    const fingerprint = credential.pbs_fingerprint?.trim() ?? '';
+    const escapedFingerprint = fingerprint ? fingerprint.replace(/'/g, "'\\''") : '';
+    const envParts = [`PBS_PASSWORD='${escapedPassword}'`, `PBS_REPOSITORY='${repository}'`];
+    if (escapedFingerprint) {
+      envParts.push(`PBS_FINGERPRINT='${escapedFingerprint}'`);
+    }
+    const envStr = envParts.join(' ');
+    const fullCommand = `${envStr} timeout 10 proxmox-backup-client login --repository ${repository} 2>&1`;
     
     console.log(`[BackupService] Logging into PBS: ${repository}`);
     
@@ -419,9 +422,12 @@ class BackupService {
     
     // Build full repository string: root@pam@<IP>:<DATASTORE>
     const repository = `root@pam@${pbsIp}:${pbsDatastore}`;
-    
+    const fingerprint = credential.pbs_fingerprint?.trim() ?? '';
+    const escapedFingerprint = fingerprint ? fingerprint.replace(/'/g, "'\\''") : '';
+    const snapshotEnvParts = escapedFingerprint ? [`PBS_FINGERPRINT='${escapedFingerprint}'`] : [];
+    const snapshotEnvStr = snapshotEnvParts.length ? snapshotEnvParts.join(' ') + ' ' : '';
     // Use correct command: snapshot list ct/<CT_ID> --repository <full_repo_string>
-    const command = `timeout 30 proxmox-backup-client snapshot list ct/${ctId} --repository ${repository} 2>&1 || echo "PBS_ERROR"`;
+    const command = `${snapshotEnvStr}timeout 30 proxmox-backup-client snapshot list ct/${ctId} --repository ${repository} 2>&1 || echo "PBS_ERROR"`;
     let output = '';
     
     console.log(`[BackupService] Discovering PBS backups for CT ${ctId} on repository ${repository}`);
diff --git a/src/server/services/restoreService.ts b/src/server/services/restoreService.ts
index db5014d..f855794 100644
--- a/src/server/services/restoreService.ts
+++ b/src/server/services/restoreService.ts
@@ -250,9 +250,16 @@ class RestoreService {
     const targetFolder = `/var/lib/vz/dump/vzdump-lxc-${ctId}-${snapshotNameForPath}`;
     const targetTar = `${targetFolder}.tar`;
     
-    // Use PBS_PASSWORD env var and add timeout for long downloads
+    // Use PBS_PASSWORD env var and add timeout for long downloads; PBS_FINGERPRINT when set for cert validation
     const escapedPassword = credential.pbs_password.replace(/'/g, "'\\''");
-    const restoreCommand = `PBS_PASSWORD='${escapedPassword}' PBS_REPOSITORY='${repository}' timeout 300 proxmox-backup-client restore "${snapshotPath}" root.pxar "${targetFolder}" --repository '${repository}' 2>&1`;
+    const fingerprint = credential.pbs_fingerprint?.trim() ?? '';
+    const escapedFingerprint = fingerprint ? fingerprint.replace(/'/g, "'\\''") : '';
+    const restoreEnvParts = [`PBS_PASSWORD='${escapedPassword}'`, `PBS_REPOSITORY='${repository}'`];
+    if (escapedFingerprint) {
+      restoreEnvParts.push(`PBS_FINGERPRINT='${escapedFingerprint}'`);
+    }
+    const restoreEnvStr = restoreEnvParts.join(' ');
+    const restoreCommand = `${restoreEnvStr} timeout 300 proxmox-backup-client restore "${snapshotPath}" root.pxar "${targetFolder}" --repository '${repository}' 2>&1`;
     
     let output = '';
     let exitCode = 0;