diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 3d18f3db..b9d683a5 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -739,9 +739,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "conflate"
-version = "0.2.0"
+version = "0.3.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "06f57b4959992e02db0da86fcb4b0c80dc112d31b823de27f61576b1c809bc45"
+checksum = "ce1803bd64597191f7f4afa2dd0437f76b7b3c065d0e4566380012406c28eaac"
 dependencies = [
  "conflate_derive",
  "num-traits",
diff --git a/crates/backend/Cargo.toml b/crates/backend/Cargo.toml
index abc8c9e7..525600b2 100644
--- a/crates/backend/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/backend/Cargo.toml
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ url = "2.5.2"
 
 # cli support
 clap = { version = "4.5.19", optional = true, features = ["derive", "env", "wrap_help"] }
-conflate = { version = "0.2.0", optional = true }
+conflate = { version = "0.3.1", optional = true }
 
 # local backend
 aho-corasick = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/crates/backend/src/choose.rs b/crates/backend/src/choose.rs
index 9dca3831..ca83a42d 100644
--- a/crates/backend/src/choose.rs
+++ b/crates/backend/src/choose.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 //! This module contains [`BackendOptions`] and helpers to choose a backend from a given url.
 use derive_setters::Setters;
-use std::{collections::HashMap, sync::Arc};
+use std::{collections::BTreeMap, sync::Arc};
 use strum_macros::{Display, EnumString};
 
 use rustic_core::{ErrorKind, RepositoryBackends, RusticError, RusticResult, WriteBackend};
@@ -48,18 +48,18 @@ pub struct BackendOptions {
 
     /// Other options for this repository (hot and cold part)
     #[cfg_attr(feature = "clap", clap(skip))]
-    #[cfg_attr(feature = "merge", merge(strategy = conflate::hashmap::ignore))]
-    pub options: HashMap<String, String>,
+    #[cfg_attr(feature = "merge", merge(strategy = conflate::btreemap::append_or_ignore))]
+    pub options: BTreeMap<String, String>,
 
     /// Other options for the hot repository
     #[cfg_attr(feature = "clap", clap(skip))]
-    #[cfg_attr(feature = "merge", merge(strategy = conflate::hashmap::ignore))]
-    pub options_hot: HashMap<String, String>,
+    #[cfg_attr(feature = "merge", merge(strategy = conflate::btreemap::append_or_ignore))]
+    pub options_hot: BTreeMap<String, String>,
 
     /// Other options for the cold repository
     #[cfg_attr(feature = "clap", clap(skip))]
-    #[cfg_attr(feature = "merge", merge(strategy = conflate::hashmap::ignore))]
-    pub options_cold: HashMap<String, String>,
+    #[cfg_attr(feature = "merge", merge(strategy = conflate::btreemap::append_or_ignore))]
+    pub options_cold: BTreeMap<String, String>,
 }
 
 impl BackendOptions {
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ impl BackendOptions {
     fn get_backend(
         &self,
         repo_string: Option<&String>,
-        options: HashMap<String, String>,
+        options: BTreeMap<String, String>,
     ) -> RusticResult<Option<Arc<dyn WriteBackend>>> {
         repo_string
             .map(|string| {
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ pub trait BackendChoice {
     fn to_backend(
         &self,
         location: BackendLocation,
-        options: Option<HashMap<String, String>>,
+        options: Option<BTreeMap<String, String>>,
     ) -> RusticResult<Arc<dyn WriteBackend>>;
 }
 
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ impl BackendChoice for SupportedBackend {
     fn to_backend(
         &self,
         location: BackendLocation,
-        options: Option<HashMap<String, String>>,
+        options: Option<BTreeMap<String, String>>,
     ) -> RusticResult<Arc<dyn WriteBackend>> {
         let options = options.unwrap_or_default();
 
diff --git a/crates/backend/src/opendal.rs b/crates/backend/src/opendal.rs
index e1fb71fa..c57b5c7f 100644
--- a/crates/backend/src/opendal.rs
+++ b/crates/backend/src/opendal.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /// `OpenDAL` backend for rustic.
-use std::{collections::HashMap, str::FromStr, sync::OnceLock};
+use std::{collections::BTreeMap, str::FromStr, sync::OnceLock};
 
 use bytes::Bytes;
 use bytesize::ByteSize;
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ impl OpenDALBackend {
     /// # Returns
     ///
     /// A new `OpenDAL` backend.
-    pub fn new(path: impl AsRef<str>, options: HashMap<String, String>) -> RusticResult<Self> {
+    pub fn new(path: impl AsRef<str>, options: BTreeMap<String, String>) -> RusticResult<Self> {
         let max_retries = match options.get("retry").map(String::as_str) {
             Some("false" | "off") => 0,
             None | Some("default") => constants::DEFAULT_RETRY,
@@ -521,7 +521,7 @@ mod tests {
         #[derive(Deserialize)]
         struct TestCase {
             path: String,
-            options: HashMap<String, String>,
+            options: BTreeMap<String, String>,
         }
 
         let test: TestCase = toml::from_str(&fs::read_to_string(test_case)?)?;
diff --git a/crates/backend/src/rclone.rs b/crates/backend/src/rclone.rs
index 24836cf4..94bb4b3b 100644
--- a/crates/backend/src/rclone.rs
+++ b/crates/backend/src/rclone.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 use std::{
-    collections::HashMap,
+    collections::BTreeMap,
     io::{BufRead, BufReader},
     process::{Child, Command, Stdio},
     thread::JoinHandle,
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ impl RcloneBackend {
     /// * If the rclone command is not found.
     // TODO: This should be an error, not a panic.
     #[allow(clippy::too_many_lines)]
-    pub fn new(url: impl AsRef<str>, options: HashMap<String, String>) -> RusticResult<Self> {
+    pub fn new(url: impl AsRef<str>, options: BTreeMap<String, String>) -> RusticResult<Self> {
         let rclone_command = options.get("rclone-command");
         let use_password = options
             .get("use-password")
diff --git a/crates/core/Cargo.toml b/crates/core/Cargo.toml
index 2c02d814..382c27cf 100644
--- a/crates/core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/core/Cargo.toml
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ dirs = "5.0.1"
 
 # cli support
 clap = { version = "4.5.19", optional = true, features = ["derive", "env", "wrap_help"] }
-conflate = { version = "0.2.0", optional = true }
+conflate = { version = "0.3.1", optional = true }
 
 # vfs support
 dav-server = { version = "0.7.0", default-features = false, optional = true }