diff --git a/changelogs/unreleased/1708-skriss b/changelogs/unreleased/1708-skriss
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a7bd811cea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/unreleased/1708-skriss
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+remove any stale locks from restic repositories every 5m
diff --git a/pkg/controller/restic_repository_controller.go b/pkg/controller/restic_repository_controller.go
index b74814dc98..9d6f369603 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/restic_repository_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/restic_repository_controller.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package controller
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	jsonpatch "github.com/evanphx/json-patch"
@@ -120,9 +121,19 @@ func (c *resticRepositoryController) processQueueItem(key string) error {
 	// Don't mutate the shared cache
 	reqCopy := req.DeepCopy()
 
-	switch req.Status.Phase {
-	case "", v1.ResticRepositoryPhaseNew:
+	if req.Status.Phase == "" || req.Status.Phase == v1.ResticRepositoryPhaseNew {
 		return c.initializeRepo(reqCopy, log)
+	}
+
+	// If the repository is ready or not-ready, check it for stale locks, but if
+	// this fails for any reason, it's non-critical so we still continue on to the
+	// rest of the "process" logic.
+	log.Debug("Checking repository for stale locks")
+	if err := c.repositoryManager.UnlockRepo(reqCopy); err != nil {
+		log.WithError(err).Error("Error checking repository for stale locks")
+	}
+
+	switch req.Status.Phase {
 	case v1.ResticRepositoryPhaseReady:
 		return c.runMaintenanceIfDue(reqCopy, log)
 	case v1.ResticRepositoryPhaseNotReady:
@@ -162,14 +173,23 @@ func (c *resticRepositoryController) initializeRepo(req *v1.ResticRepository, lo
 	})
 }
 
-// ensureRepo first tries to connect to the repo, and returns if it succeeds. If it fails,
-// it attempts to init the repo, and returns the result.
+// ensureRepo checks to see if a repository exists, and attempts to initialize it if
+// it does not exist. An error is returned if the repository can't be connected to
+// or initialized.
 func ensureRepo(repo *v1.ResticRepository, repoManager restic.RepositoryManager) error {
-	if repoManager.ConnectToRepo(repo) == nil {
-		return nil
+	if err := repoManager.ConnectToRepo(repo); err != nil {
+		// If the repository has not yet been initialized, the error message will always include
+		// the following string. This is the only scenario where we should try to initialize it.
+		// Other errors (e.g. "already locked") should be returned as-is since the repository
+		// does already exist, but it can't be connected to.
+		if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "Is there a repository at the following location?") {
+			return repoManager.InitRepo(repo)
+		}
+
+		return err
 	}
 
-	return repoManager.InitRepo(repo)
+	return nil
 }
 
 func (c *resticRepositoryController) runMaintenanceIfDue(req *v1.ResticRepository, log logrus.FieldLogger) error {
diff --git a/pkg/restic/command_factory.go b/pkg/restic/command_factory.go
index da75f313d6..fd913125f3 100644
--- a/pkg/restic/command_factory.go
+++ b/pkg/restic/command_factory.go
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
-Copyright 2018 the Velero contributors.
+Copyright 2018, 2019 the Velero contributors.
 
 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -112,3 +112,10 @@ func ForgetCommand(repoIdentifier, snapshotID string) *Command {
 		Args:           []string{snapshotID},
 	}
 }
+
+func UnlockCommand(repoIdentifier string) *Command {
+	return &Command{
+		Command:        "unlock",
+		RepoIdentifier: repoIdentifier,
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/restic/repository_manager.go b/pkg/restic/repository_manager.go
index fe7b32a970..31925b7369 100644
--- a/pkg/restic/repository_manager.go
+++ b/pkg/restic/repository_manager.go
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
-Copyright 2018 the Velero contributors.
+Copyright 2018, 2019 the Velero contributors.
 
 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@ type RepositoryManager interface {
 	// PruneRepo deletes unused data from a repo.
 	PruneRepo(repo *velerov1api.ResticRepository) error
 
+	// UnlockRepo removes stale locks from a repo.
+	UnlockRepo(repo *velerov1api.ResticRepository) error
+
 	// Forget removes a snapshot from the list of
 	// available snapshots in a repo.
 	Forget(context.Context, SnapshotIdentifier) error
@@ -213,6 +216,14 @@ func (rm *repositoryManager) PruneRepo(repo *velerov1api.ResticRepository) error
 	return rm.exec(PruneCommand(repo.Spec.ResticIdentifier), repo.Spec.BackupStorageLocation)
 }
 
+func (rm *repositoryManager) UnlockRepo(repo *velerov1api.ResticRepository) error {
+	// restic unlock requires a non-exclusive lock
+	rm.repoLocker.Lock(repo.Name)
+	defer rm.repoLocker.Unlock(repo.Name)
+
+	return rm.exec(UnlockCommand(repo.Spec.ResticIdentifier), repo.Spec.BackupStorageLocation)
+}
+
 func (rm *repositoryManager) Forget(ctx context.Context, snapshot SnapshotIdentifier) error {
 	// We can't wait for this in the constructor, because this informer is coming
 	// from the shared informer factory, which isn't started until *after* the repo