diff --git a/plugins/common/functions b/plugins/common/functions
index c84ff522e..983e763e8 100755
--- a/plugins/common/functions
+++ b/plugins/common/functions
@@ -323,8 +323,13 @@ release_and_deploy() {
 
 docker_cleanup() {
   # delete all non-running containers
+  # if a container has the label `dokku.service`,
+  # then that container is not deleted.
+  # This can be used to mark data containers
+  # as non-removable by the cleanup function
   # shellcheck disable=SC2046
-  docker rm $(docker ps -a -f 'status=exited' -q) &> /dev/null || true
+  docker rm $(comm <(docker ps -aq -f 'status=exited' | sort) <(docker ps -aq -f 'status=exited' -f 'label=dokku.service' | sort) -3) &> /dev/null || true
+
   # delete unused images
   # shellcheck disable=SC2046
   docker rmi $(docker images -f 'dangling=true' -q) &> /dev/null &