diff --git a/docs/zed.md b/docs/zed.md
index c76d65c2..ee21bb0c 100644
--- a/docs/zed.md
+++ b/docs/zed.md
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ zed backup <filename> [flags]
 
 ### Children commands
 
-- [zed backup create](#reference-zed-backup-create)	 - Backup a permission system to a file
+- [zed backup create](#reference-zed-backup-create)	 - Back up a permission system to a file, or to stdout by passing "-"
 - [zed backup parse-relationships](#reference-zed-backup-parse-relationships)	 - Extract the relationships from a backup file
 - [zed backup parse-revision](#reference-zed-backup-parse-revision)	 - Extract the revision from a backup file
 - [zed backup parse-schema](#reference-zed-backup-parse-schema)	 - Extract the schema from a backup file
@@ -94,10 +94,10 @@ zed backup <filename> [flags]
 
 ## Reference: `zed backup create`
 
-Backup a permission system to a file
+Back up a permission system to a file, or to stdout by passing "-"
 
 ```
-zed backup create <filename> [flags]
+zed backup create <filename-or-dash> [flags]
 ```
 
 ### Options
diff --git a/internal/cmd/backup.go b/internal/cmd/backup.go
index 1b082eb6..b7ed25a2 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/backup.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/backup.go
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ func registerBackupCmd(rootCmd *cobra.Command) {
 	}
 
 	backupCreateCmd := &cobra.Command{
-		Use:   "create <filename>",
-		Short: "Backup a permission system to a file",
+		Use:   "create <filename-or-dash>",
+		Short: "Back up a permission system to a file, or to stdout by passing \"-\"",
 		Args:  commands.ValidationWrapper(cobra.MaximumNArgs(1)),
 		RunE:  withErrorHandling(backupCreateCmdFunc),
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/backupformat/encoder.go b/pkg/backupformat/encoder.go
index d1f3147a..e0d8e049 100644
--- a/pkg/backupformat/encoder.go
+++ b/pkg/backupformat/encoder.go
@@ -193,9 +193,22 @@ func (e *OcfEncoder) Close() error {
 // format, while also persisting it to a file and maintaining a lockfile that
 // tracks the progress so that it can be resumed if stopped.
 type OcfFileEncoder struct {
-	file             *os.File
+	// file is the destination the encoder writes to. For regular backups this
+	// is a file on disk; when streaming it is os.Stdout.
+	file *os.File
+	// fileIsStream is true when the underlying file is a stream (e.g. os.Stdout)
+	// for which lockfile-based progress tracking and Sync/Close are not
+	// applicable.
+	fileIsStream bool
+	// lastSyncedCursor is the most recent cursor value written to the lockfile.
+	// It is used to avoid redundant lockfile writes when the cursor has not
+	// advanced since the previous Append call.
 	lastSyncedCursor string
-	completed        bool
+	// completed indicates that the backup finished successfully. When true,
+	// Close removes the lockfile because no resume is needed.
+	completed bool
+	// OcfEncoder is the embedded AVRO OCF encoder that performs the actual
+	// serialization of relationships into the file.
 	*OcfEncoder
 }
 
@@ -204,6 +217,9 @@ func (fe *OcfFileEncoder) lockFileName() string {
 }
 
 func (fe *OcfFileEncoder) Cursor() (string, error) {
+	if fe.fileIsStream {
+		return "", errors.New("resume is not supported when streaming to stdout")
+	}
 	cursorBytes, err := os.ReadFile(fe.lockFileName())
 	if os.IsNotExist(err) {
 		return "", errors.New("completed backup file already exists")
@@ -218,7 +234,8 @@ func NewFileEncoder(filename string) (e *OcfFileEncoder, existed bool, err error
 	backupExisted := filename != "-" && err == nil
 
 	var f *os.File
-	if filename == "-" {
+	isStream := filename == "-"
+	if isStream {
 		f = os.Stdout
 	} else {
 		var err error
@@ -228,7 +245,7 @@ func NewFileEncoder(filename string) (e *OcfFileEncoder, existed bool, err error
 		}
 	}
 
-	return &OcfFileEncoder{file: f, OcfEncoder: &OcfEncoder{w: f}}, backupExisted, nil
+	return &OcfFileEncoder{file: f, fileIsStream: isStream, OcfEncoder: &OcfEncoder{w: f}}, backupExisted, nil
 }
 
 func (fe *OcfFileEncoder) Append(r *v1.Relationship, cursor string) error {
@@ -236,6 +253,11 @@ func (fe *OcfFileEncoder) Append(r *v1.Relationship, cursor string) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error storing relationship: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	// Streaming destinations (e.g. stdout) can't be resumed, so skip writing the cursor lockfile.
+	if fe.fileIsStream {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	if cursor != fe.lastSyncedCursor { // Only write to disk when necessary
 		if err := atomic.WriteFile(fe.lockFileName(), bytes.NewBufferString(cursor)); err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to store cursor in lockfile: %w", err)
@@ -251,23 +273,31 @@ func (fe *OcfFileEncoder) MarkComplete() { fe.completed = true }
 func (fe *OcfFileEncoder) Close() error {
 	// Don't throw any errors if the file is nil when flushing/closing.
 	safeClose := func() error {
-		if fe.file != nil && fe.enc != nil {
-			fe.OcfEncoder.Close()
-			return errors.Join(fe.file.Sync(), fe.file.Close())
+		if fe.file == nil || fe.enc == nil {
+			return nil
 		}
-		return nil
+		fe.OcfEncoder.Close()
+		// Stdout is owned by the process; Sync would fail with
+		// "inappropriate ioctl for device" and we must not close it.
+		if fe.fileIsStream {
+			return nil
+		}
+		return errors.Join(fe.file.Sync(), fe.file.Close())
 	}
 
-	removeCompleted := func(filename string) error {
+	removeCompleted := func() error {
+		if fe.fileIsStream {
+			return nil
+		}
 		if fe.completed {
-			return os.Remove(filename)
+			return os.Remove(fe.lockFileName())
 		}
 		return nil
 	}
 
 	return errors.Join(
 		safeClose(),
-		removeCompleted(fe.lockFileName()),
+		removeCompleted(),
 	)
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/backupformat/encoder_test.go b/pkg/backupformat/encoder_test.go
index db47a3be..f18501e8 100644
--- a/pkg/backupformat/encoder_test.go
+++ b/pkg/backupformat/encoder_test.go
@@ -436,6 +436,51 @@ func TestNewFileEncoder(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestFileEncoderStreamingToStdout(t *testing.T) {
+	// Redirect stdout to a temp file so the encoder writes there instead of
+	// the test runner's stdout. Don't run in parallel: it mutates os.Stdout.
+	tempDir := t.TempDir()
+	fakeStdout, err := os.Create(filepath.Join(tempDir, "fake-stdout"))
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	origStdout := os.Stdout
+	os.Stdout = fakeStdout
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		os.Stdout = origStdout
+		_ = fakeStdout.Close()
+	})
+
+	enc, existed, err := NewFileEncoder("-")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.False(t, existed)
+
+	require.NoError(t, enc.WriteSchema("definition user {}", "tok"))
+
+	rel := &v1.Relationship{
+		Resource: &v1.ObjectReference{ObjectType: "user", ObjectId: "1"},
+		Relation: "...",
+		Subject:  &v1.SubjectReference{Object: &v1.ObjectReference{ObjectType: "user", ObjectId: "2"}},
+	}
+	// Append must not try to create a lockfile next to "-".
+	require.NoError(t, enc.Append(rel, "cursor-1"))
+
+	_, statErr := os.Stat("-.lock")
+	require.True(t, os.IsNotExist(statErr), "no lockfile should be created when streaming to stdout")
+
+	// Resume isn't possible on a stream — Cursor must surface a clear error.
+	_, err = enc.Cursor()
+	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "stdout")
+
+	enc.MarkComplete()
+	// Close must not Sync/Close stdout, which would error with
+	// "inappropriate ioctl for device" on most platforms.
+	require.NoError(t, enc.Close())
+
+	info, err := os.Stat(fakeStdout.Name())
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Positive(t, info.Size(), "encoded data should have been written to stdout")
+}
+
 func TestWithProgress(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		name   string