diff --git a/podman-compose-backup.py b/podman-compose-backup.py
index 77a81fa..db243c1 100644
--- a/podman-compose-backup.py
+++ b/podman-compose-backup.py
@@ -25,10 +25,11 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 import argparse
 
-from functools import cached_property, wraps
+from functools import cache, cached_property, wraps
 import os
 from pathlib import Path
 import shlex
+from subprocess import CompletedProcess, PIPE, run
 import sys
 from typing import (
     Dict,
@@ -131,6 +132,18 @@ def combine_cmds(*commands: CommandArgs | List[Optional[str]]) -> CommandArgs:
     return CommandArgs([arg for cmd in commands for arg in filter_cmds(cmd)])
 
 
+def exec_cmd(
+    command: CommandArgs, check: bool = True, capture_stdout: bool = True
+) -> CompletedProcess:
+    res = run(
+        args=command,
+        check=check,
+        shell=False,
+        stdout=PIPE if capture_stdout else None,
+    )
+    return res
+
+
 @wraps(print)
 def error(*args, **kwargs):
     ret = print(*args, file=sys.stderr, **kwargs)