diff --git a/pkg/logutil/logging.go b/pkg/logutil/logging.go
index 1bd5467d3..7e803ba64 100644
--- a/pkg/logutil/logging.go
+++ b/pkg/logutil/logging.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	backuppb "github.com/pingcap/kvproto/pkg/backup"
 	"github.com/pingcap/kvproto/pkg/import_sstpb"
 	"github.com/pingcap/kvproto/pkg/metapb"
+	"github.com/pingcap/log"
 	"go.uber.org/zap"
 	"go.uber.org/zap/zapcore"
 
@@ -186,3 +187,21 @@ func Keys(keys [][]byte) zap.Field {
 func ShortError(err error) zap.Field {
 	return zap.String("error", err.Error())
 }
+
+var loggerToTerm, _, _ = log.InitLogger(new(log.Config), zap.AddCallerSkip(1))
+
+// WarnTerm put a log both to terminal and to the log file.
+func WarnTerm(message string, fields ...zap.Field) {
+	log.Warn(message, fields...)
+	if loggerToTerm != nil {
+		loggerToTerm.Warn(message, fields...)
+	}
+}
+
+// RedactAny constructs a redacted field that carries an interface{}.
+func RedactAny(fieldKey string, key interface{}) zap.Field {
+	if redact.NeedRedact() {
+		return zap.String(fieldKey, "?")
+	}
+	return zap.Any(fieldKey, key)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/task/backup.go b/pkg/task/backup.go
index 59f41f93e..abaa68e4c 100644
--- a/pkg/task/backup.go
+++ b/pkg/task/backup.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/docker/go-units"
 	"github.com/opentracing/opentracing-go"
 	"github.com/pingcap/errors"
 	backuppb "github.com/pingcap/kvproto/pkg/backup"
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/backup"
 	berrors "github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/glue"
+	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/logutil"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/storage"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/summary"
 	"github.com/pingcap/br/pkg/utils"
@@ -164,12 +166,27 @@ func parseCompressionFlags(flags *pflag.FlagSet) (*CompressionConfig, error) {
 // so that both binary and TiDB will use same default value.
 func (cfg *BackupConfig) adjustBackupConfig() {
 	cfg.adjust()
+	usingDefaultConcurrency := false
 	if cfg.Config.Concurrency == 0 {
 		cfg.Config.Concurrency = defaultBackupConcurrency
+		usingDefaultConcurrency = true
 	}
 	if cfg.Config.Concurrency > maxBackupConcurrency {
 		cfg.Config.Concurrency = maxBackupConcurrency
 	}
+	if cfg.RateLimit != unlimited {
+		// TiKV limits the upload rate by each backup request.
+		// When the backup requests are sent concurrently,
+		// the ratelimit couldn't work as intended.
+		// Degenerating to sequentially sending backup requests to avoid this.
+		if !usingDefaultConcurrency {
+			logutil.WarnTerm("setting `--ratelimit` and `--concurrency` at the same time, "+
+				"ignoring `--concurrency`: `--ratelimit` forces sequential (i.e. concurrency = 1) backup",
+				zap.String("ratelimit", units.HumanSize(float64(cfg.RateLimit))+"/s"),
+				zap.Uint32("concurrency-specified", cfg.Config.Concurrency))
+		}
+		cfg.Config.Concurrency = 1
+	}
 
 	if cfg.GCTTL == 0 {
 		cfg.GCTTL = utils.DefaultBRGCSafePointTTL
diff --git a/pkg/task/common.go b/pkg/task/common.go
index 0a6959688..cbf99ab7c 100644
--- a/pkg/task/common.go
+++ b/pkg/task/common.go
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ const (
 	defaultSwitchInterval       = 5 * time.Minute
 	defaultGRPCKeepaliveTime    = 10 * time.Second
 	defaultGRPCKeepaliveTimeout = 3 * time.Second
+
+	unlimited = 0
 )
 
 // TLSConfig is the common configuration for TLS connection.
@@ -146,7 +148,7 @@ func DefineCommonFlags(flags *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	flags.Uint(flagChecksumConcurrency, variable.DefChecksumTableConcurrency, "The concurrency of table checksumming")
 	_ = flags.MarkHidden(flagChecksumConcurrency)
 
-	flags.Uint64(flagRateLimit, 0, "The rate limit of the task, MB/s per node")
+	flags.Uint64(flagRateLimit, unlimited, "The rate limit of the task, MB/s per node")
 	flags.Bool(flagChecksum, true, "Run checksum at end of task")
 	flags.Bool(flagRemoveTiFlash, true,
 		"Remove TiFlash replicas before backup or restore, for unsupported versions of TiFlash")