Handle edge cases in serialization

**Feature request**
It would be great to have backup for helpers.

**Use case**
Many users need this functionality for production deployments.

**Implementation idea**
Add a new config option `enable_backup` with default `false`.

Start by locating the helper serialization path and the configuration handling for the new `enable_backup` option. Confirm how helpers are currently processed, then make the option default to `false` and verify that enabling it provides the requested backup behavior, including the stated edge cases.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.