diff --git a/README b/README
index b058392..7d5610a 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ This aims to be much more robust than the backup functionality of
 zfs-auto-snapshot, namely:
 * it uses 'zfs send -I' to send all intermediate snapshots (including
   any daily/weekly/etc.), and should still work even if it isn't run
-  every hour -- as long as the newest remote snapshot hasn't been
-  rotated out locally yet
+  every hour -- as long as there is at least one remote snapshot that has
+  not been rotated out locally yet
 * 'zfs recv -dF' on the destination host removes any snapshots not
   present locally so you don't have to worry about manually removing
   old snapshots there.
@@ -80,8 +80,10 @@ Given the hierarchy pool/a/b,
   into top-level child filesystems, and not touch any unknown filesystems.
 
 If this backup is not run for a long enough period that the newest
-remote snapshot has been removed locally, manually run an incremental
-zfs send/recv to bring it up to date, a la
+remote snapshot has been removed locally, then MAXAGE-1 older snapshots
+are tried instead, until a matching snapshot is found. You can choose
+to disable this behaviour using MAXAGE=1 and intervene manually instead,
+using a zfs send/recv to bring it up to date, a la
   zfs send -I zfs-auto-snap_daily-(latest on remote) -R $POOL/$FS@zfs-auto-snap_daily-(latest local) |
       ssh $REMUSER@REMHOST zfs recv -dvF $REMPOOL
 It's probably best to do a dry-run first (zfs recv -ndvF).
@@ -99,8 +101,9 @@ of your sync.  This is a good use case for an alternate configuration file.
 
 
 PROCEDURE:
-  * find newest local hourly snapshot
-  * find newest remote hourly snapshot (via ssh)
-  * check that both $newest_local and $latest_remote snaps exist locally
-  * zfs send incremental (-I) from $newest_remote to $latest_local to dsthost
-  * if anything fails, set svc to maint. and exit
+* find newest local hourly snapshot
+* find newest remote hourly snapshot (via ssh)
+* check that both $newest_local and $latest_remote snaps exist locally
+* if $latest_remote does not exist locally, try up to $MAXAGE-1 older remotes
+* zfs send incremental (-I) from matching remote to newest local to dsthost
+* if anything fails, set svc to maint. and exit
diff --git a/example.cfg b/example.cfg
index 387475c..672507f 100644
--- a/example.cfg
+++ b/example.cfg
@@ -1,8 +1,25 @@
 # sample configuration for hourly backups
 
-# Don't forget to schedule a cron job such as:
+# Don't forget to set the $PROP property for the filesystem, and schedule a cron job such as:
 # 30 * * * * /path/to/zfs-backup.sh /path/to/this.cfg
 
+# Parameter list
+# - PROP: the name of the user-property to search for, among the data sets, to identify which are eligible for backup. 
+# - TAG: a string that is matched against the snapshots' names, to identify which are eligible for backup.
+# - REMHOST: IP/hostname of receiving host. Commands will be sent through ssh, but if this equals to "localhost", ssh will be bypassed.
+# - REMUSER: user to use during remote ssh connection.
+# - REMPOOL: name of the remote pool, to save the snapshot into.
+# - DEBUG: if set to not null, dry-run is enabled.
+# - VERBOSE: set to "-v" for verbose mode.
+# - LOCK: file that is created in case zfs-backup ever has problems, and enters manteinance mode. No need to change this.
+# - PID: pid file for zfs-backup. No need to change this.
+# - MAXAGE: if the latest remote snapshot is not found locally, to base the increment on, then up to MAXAGE-1 older snapshot are
+#           tried instead. Set to 0 to try indefinitely. Set to 1 (default) to skip this behaviour.
+#           WARNING: this parameter allows automatic recovery in case of local backup rotation, but be aware that when zfs tries to
+#           receive from a snapshot other than the latest, the newer snapshots are DESTROYED, and then replaced by the new history.
+#           You will lose the snapshot on the backup, although newer ones will be created instead. The default value of 1 prevents
+#           this behaviour, requiring manual intervention (e.g. cloning of the remote recent snapshots).
+
 TAG="zfs-auto-snap_hourly"
 LOCK="/var/tmp/zfsbackup.lock"
 PID="/var/tmp/zfsbackup.pid"
diff --git a/zfs-backup.sh b/zfs-backup.sh
index af45ab6..300c548 100755
--- a/zfs-backup.sh
+++ b/zfs-backup.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env ksh
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
 # Needs a POSIX-compatible sh, like ash (Debian & FreeBSD /bin/sh), ksh, or
 # bash.  On Solaris 10 you need to use /usr/xpg4/bin/sh (the POSIX shell) or
 # /bin/ksh -- its /bin/sh is an ancient Bourne shell, which does not work.
@@ -45,8 +45,12 @@
 # Consult the README file for details.
 
 # If this backup is not run for a long enough period that the newest
-# remote snapshot has been removed locally, manually run an incremental
-# zfs send/recv to bring it up to date, a la
+# remote snapshot has been removed locally, you can choose to
+# automatically allow older remote snapshots to be matched against
+# the local ones by setting a MAXAGE value other than 1. Be aware that
+# this will destroy the snapshots newer than the matched one on the
+# remote, before replacing them with newer ones. You might prefer a
+# manual zfs send/recv to bring it up to date, a la
 #   zfs send -I zfs-auto-snap_daily-(latest on remote) -R \
 #	$POOL/$FS@zfs-auto-snap_daily-(latest local) | \
 #       ssh $REMUSER@REMHOST zfs recv -dvF $REMPOOL
@@ -57,7 +61,8 @@
 #   * find newest local hourly snapshot
 #   * find newest remote hourly snapshot (via ssh)
 #   * check that both $newest_local and $latest_remote snaps exist locally
-#   * zfs send incremental (-I) from $newest_remote to $latest_local to dsthost
+#   * if $latest_remote does not exist locally, try up to $MAXAGE-1 older remotes
+#   * zfs send incremental (-I) from matching remote to newest local to dsthost
 #   * if anything fails, set svc to maint. and exit
 
 # all of the following variables (except CFG) may be set in the config file
@@ -66,9 +71,8 @@ VERBOSE=""		# "-v" for verbose, null string for quiet
 LOCK="/var/tmp/zfsbackup.lock"
 PID="/var/tmp/zfsbackup.pid"
 CFG="/var/lib/zfssnap/zfs-backup.cfg"
-ZFS="/usr/sbin/zfs"
-# Replace with sudo(8) if pfexec(1) is not available on your OS
-PFEXEC=`which pfexec`
+ZFS="$(which zfs)"
+PFEXEC=`which pfexec || which sudo`
 
 # local settings -- datasets to back up are now found by property
 TAG="zfs-auto-snap_daily"
@@ -79,6 +83,7 @@ REMUSER="zfsbak"
 REMHOST="backupserver.my.domain"
 REMPOOL="backuppool"
 REMZFS="$ZFS"
+MAXAGE=1
 
 
 usage() {
@@ -137,6 +142,7 @@ fi
 [ "$recent_flag" ] && RECENT=$recent_flag
 # set default value so integer tests work
 if [ -z "$RECENT" ]; then RECENT=0; fi
+if [ $RECENT -lt 1 ]; then RECENT=1; fi
 # local (non-ssh) backup handling: REMHOST=localhost
 if [ "$REMHOST" = "localhost" ]; then
     REMZFS_CMD="$ZFS"
@@ -174,60 +180,43 @@ do_backup() {
 	return 2
     fi
 
-    if [ $RECENT -gt 1 ]; then
-	newest_local="$($ZFS list -t snapshot -H -S creation -o name -d 1 $DATASET | grep $TAG | awk NR==$RECENT)"
-	if [ -z "$newest_local" ]; then
-	    echo "Error: could not find $(ord $RECENT) most recent snapshot matching tag" >&2
-	    echo "'$TAG' for ${DATASET}!" >&2
-	    return 1
-	fi
-	msg="using local snapshot ($(ord $RECENT) most recent):"
-    else
-	newest_local="$($ZFS list -t snapshot -H -S creation -o name -d 1 $DATASET | grep $TAG | head -1)"
-	if [ -z "$newest_local" ]; then
-	    echo "Error: no snapshots matching tag '$TAG' for ${DATASET}!" >&2
-	    return 1
-	fi
-	msg="newest local snapshot:"
+    all_locals=$($ZFS list -t snapshot -H -S creation -o name -d 1 $DATASET)
+    all_remotes=$($REMZFS_CMD list -t snapshot -H -S creation -o name -d 1 $TARGET < /dev/null)
+    err_msg="Error fetching remote snapshot listing to $REMHOST."
+    if [ -z "$all_remotes" ]; then
+        echo "$err_msg" >&2
+        [ $DEBUG ] || touch $LOCK
+        return 1
     fi
-    snap2=${newest_local#*@}
-    [ "$DEBUG" -o "$VERBOSE" ] && echo "$msg $snap2"
 
-    if [ "$REMHOST" = "localhost" ]; then
-	newest_remote="$($ZFS list -t snapshot -H -S creation -o name -d 1 $TARGET | grep $TAG | head -1)"
-	err_msg="Error fetching snapshot listing for local target pool $REMPOOL."
-    else
-	# ssh needs public key auth configured beforehand
-	# Not using $REMZFS_CMD because we need 'ssh -n' here, but must not use
-	# 'ssh -n' for the actual zfs recv.
-	newest_remote="$(ssh -n $REMUSER@$REMHOST $REMZFS list -t snapshot -H -S creation -o name -d 1 $TARGET | grep $TAG | head -1)"
-	err_msg="Error fetching remote snapshot listing via ssh to $REMUSER@$REMHOST."
-    fi
-    if [ -z $newest_remote ]; then
-	echo "$err_msg" >&2
-	[ $DEBUG ] || touch $LOCK
-	return 1
+    newest_local=$(echo "$all_locals" | grep $TAG | head -n $RECENT | tail -n1)
+    if [ -z "$newest_local" ]; then
+        echo "Error: no snapshots matching tag '$TAG' for ${DATASET}!" >&2
+        return 1
     fi
-    snap1=${newest_remote#*@}
-    [ "$DEBUG" -o "$VERBOSE" ] && echo "newest remote snapshot: $snap1"
+    msg="using local snapshot ($(ord $RECENT) most recent):"
+    snap2=${newest_local#*@}
+    [ "$DEBUG" -o "$VERBOSE" ] && echo "$msg $snap2"
 
-    if ! $ZFS list -t snapshot -H $DATASET@$snap1 > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-	exec 1>&2
-	echo "Newest remote snapshot '$snap1' does not exist locally!"
-	echo "Perhaps it has been already rotated out."
-	echo ""
-	echo "Manually run zfs send/recv to bring $TARGET on $REMHOST"
-	echo "to a snapshot that exists on this host (newest local snapshot with the"
-	echo "tag $TAG is $snap2)."
-	[ $DEBUG ] || touch $LOCK
-	return 1
-    fi
-    if ! $ZFS list -t snapshot -H $DATASET@$snap2 > /dev/null 2>&1; then
-	exec 1>&2
-	echo "Something has gone horribly wrong -- local snapshot $snap2"
-	echo "has suddenly disappeared!"
-	[ $DEBUG ] || touch $LOCK
-	return 1
+    snap1=""
+    tried_snapshots=0
+    for remote in $all_remotes; do
+        snap1_candidate=${remote#*@}
+        if (echo "$all_locals" | grep -q $snap1_candidate); then
+            snap1=$snap1_candidate
+            break
+        else
+            [ "$DEBUG" -o "$VERBOSE" ] && echo "Remote snapshot not found locally: \"$remote\" (probably already rotated out); skipping."
+        fi
+	tried_snapshots=$((tried_snapshots+1))
+	[ $MAXAGE -gt 0 -a $tried_snapshots -ge $MAXAGE ] && break
+    done
+    if [ -z "$snap1" ]; then
+        echo "Error: no matching snapshot between remote and local found in the last $MAXAGE snapshots." >&2
+        echo "This means that too many snapshot have been rotated out in the local, and manual intervention is required." >&2
+        echo "Entering manteinance mode." >&2
+        touch $LOCK
+        exit 4
     fi
 
     if [ "$snap1" = "$snap2" ]; then
@@ -248,12 +237,23 @@ do_backup() {
 	echo "would run: $PFEXEC $ZFS send -R -I $snap1 $DATASET@$snap2 |"
 	echo "  $REMZFS_CMD recv $VERBOSE $RECV_OPT -F $REMPOOL"
     else
+	RELEASE_CMD="$ZFS release $TAG $DATASET@$snap2"
+	trap "$RELEASE_CMD" EXIT
+	if ! $ZFS hold $TAG $DATASET@$snap2; then
+	    echo "Error: \"$snap1\" was rotated out while this program was running." >&2
+	    echo "You should wait for the rotation script to be finished," >&2
+	    echo "before running this script. Entering mantainance mode." >&2
+	    touch $LOCK
+	    exit 8
+	fi
 	if ! $PFEXEC $ZFS send -R -I $snap1 $DATASET@$snap2 | \
 	  $REMZFS_CMD recv $VERBOSE $RECV_OPT -F $REMPOOL; then
 	    echo 1>&2 "Error sending snapshot."
 	    touch $LOCK
 	    return 1
 	fi
+	$RELEASE_CMD
+	trap - EXIT
     fi
 }