diff --git a/debian/conf/gitlab-debian.conf.example b/debian/conf/gitlab-debian.conf.example
index 08399ff3d0..2d1da004e0 100644
--- a/debian/conf/gitlab-debian.conf.example
+++ b/debian/conf/gitlab-debian.conf.example
@@ -2,27 +2,4 @@ RAILS_ENV=production
 DB=postgres
 gitlab_app_root=/usr/share/gitlab
 gitlab_data_dir=/var/lib/gitlab
-gitlab_cache_path=/var/cache/gitlab
-gitlab_scripts=/usr/lib/gitlab/scripts
-gitlab_yml_example=/usr/lib/gitlab/templates/gitlab.yml.example
-gitlab_yml_private=/var/lib/gitlab/gitlab.yml
-gitlab_yml=/etc/gitlab/gitlab.yml
-gitlab_debian_conf_example=/usr/lib/gitlab/templates/gitlab-debian.conf.example
-gitlab_debian_conf_private=/var/lib/gitlab/gitlab-debian.conf
-gitlab_debian_conf=/etc/gitlab/gitlab-debian.conf
-gitlab_shell_config_example=/usr/lib/gitlab-shell/config.yml.example
-gitlab_shell_config_private=/var/lib/gitlab/gitlab-shell-config.yml
-gitlab_shell_config=/etc/gitlab-shell/config.yml
-gitlab_nginx_log=/var/log/gitlab
-gitlab_ssl_path=/etc/gitlab/ssl
-gitlab_shell_root=/usr/share/gitlab-shell
-gitlab_shell_log=/var/log/gitlab-shell
-gitlab_log_dir=/var/log/gitlab
 gitlab_pid_path=/run/gitlab
-gitlab_tmpfiles_example=/usr/lib/gitlab/templates/tmpfiles.d/gitlab.conf.example
-gitlab_tmpfiles_private=/var/lib/gitlab/tmpfiles.d-gitlab.conf
-gitlab_tmpfiles=/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/gitlab.conf
-nginx_user=www-data
-nginx_conf_example=/usr/lib/gitlab/templates/nginx.conf.example
-nginx_ssl_conf_example=/usr/lib/gitlab/templates/nginx.ssl.conf.example
-nginx_site_private=/var/lib/gitlab/nginx.conf
diff --git a/debian/conf/gitlab-debian.defaults b/debian/conf/gitlab-debian.defaults
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0355ee4aee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/conf/gitlab-debian.defaults
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+gitlab_cache_path=/var/cache/gitlab
+gitlab_scripts=/usr/lib/gitlab/scripts
+gitlab_yml_example=/usr/lib/gitlab/templates/gitlab.yml.example
+gitlab_yml_private=/var/lib/gitlab/gitlab.yml
+gitlab_yml=/etc/gitlab/gitlab.yml
+gitlab_shell_config_example=/usr/lib/gitlab-shell/config.yml.example
+gitlab_shell_config_private=/var/lib/gitlab/gitlab-shell-config.yml
+gitlab_shell_config=/etc/gitlab-shell/config.yml
+gitlab_nginx_log=/var/log/gitlab
+gitlab_ssl_path=/etc/gitlab/ssl
+gitlab_shell_root=/usr/share/gitlab-shell
+gitlab_shell_log=/var/log/gitlab-shell
+gitlab_log_dir=/var/log/gitlab
+gitlab_tmpfiles_example=/usr/lib/gitlab/templates/tmpfiles.d/gitlab.conf.example
+gitlab_tmpfiles_private=/var/lib/gitlab/tmpfiles.d-gitlab.conf
+gitlab_tmpfiles=/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/gitlab.conf
+nginx_user=www-data
+nginx_conf_example=/usr/lib/gitlab/templates/nginx.conf.example
+nginx_ssl_conf_example=/usr/lib/gitlab/templates/nginx.ssl.conf.example
+nginx_site_private=/var/lib/gitlab/nginx.conf
diff --git a/debian/install b/debian/install
index 621767263e..f7bed76108 100644
--- a/debian/install
+++ b/debian/install
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ debian/conf/database.yml etc/gitlab
 debian/conf/gitlab.yml.example usr/lib/gitlab/templates
 debian/conf/resque.yml etc/gitlab
 debian/conf/gitlab-debian.conf.example usr/lib/gitlab/templates
+debian/conf/gitlab-debian.defaults usr/lib/gitlab
 debian/conf/*.target lib/systemd/system
 debian/conf/smtp_settings.rb etc/gitlab/initializers
 debian/conf/tmpfiles.d/gitlab.conf.example usr/lib/gitlab/templates/tmpfiles.d
diff --git a/debian/postinst b/debian/postinst
index 58dd3eb227..ec8de0f0c5 100755
--- a/debian/postinst
+++ b/debian/postinst
@@ -7,6 +7,17 @@
 
 set -e
 
+# Setup variables
+# Now using gitlab-debian.defaults to override variables used only in
+# maintainer scripts. Earlier versions used gitlab-debian.conf for this.
+# Now gitlab-debian.conf will only have user/admin configurable variables
+# and variables required by systemd services.
+gitlab_debian_conf_example=/usr/lib/gitlab/templates/gitlab-debian.conf.example
+gitlab_debian_conf_private=/var/lib/gitlab/gitlab-debian.conf
+gitlab_debian_conf=/etc/gitlab/gitlab-debian.conf
+gitlab_debian_defaults=/usr/lib/gitlab/gitlab-debian.defaults
+gitlab_debian_defaults_copy=/var/lib/gitlab/gitlab-debian.defaults
+
 # Show debconf questions
 . /usr/share/debconf/confmodule
 
@@ -34,7 +45,6 @@ set -e
 #######################################################################
 
 # Bootstrap config file - first try
-gitlab_debian_conf_example=/usr/lib/gitlab/templates/gitlab-debian.conf.example
 export $(cat ${gitlab_debian_conf_example})
 # second try
 test -f ${gitlab_debian_conf_private} || \
@@ -44,6 +54,14 @@ export $(cat ${gitlab_debian_conf_private})
 # If /etc/gitlab/gitlab-debian.conf is already present, use it
 test -f ${gitlab_debian_conf} && export $(cat ${gitlab_debian_conf})
 
+# Read default values (we cannot do this before gitlab-debian.conf is exported
+# as we want to override variables set by gitlab-debian.conf in earlier gitlab
+# versions with gitlab-debian.defaults)
+. ${gitlab_debian_defaults}
+
+# Copy defaults for use with postrm
+cp ${gitlab_debian_defaults} ${gitlab_debian_defaults_copy}
+
 # Read gitlab_user from debconf db
 db_get gitlab/user
 gitlab_user=${RET:-gitlab} >/dev/null
diff --git a/debian/postrm b/debian/postrm
index ce08093024..10b1a8d0d4 100644
--- a/debian/postrm
+++ b/debian/postrm
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
 # Abort if any command returns an error value
 set -e
 
+# Set variables
+gitlab_debian_conf=/etc/gitlab/gitlab-debian.conf
+gitlab_debian_defaults=/var/lib/gitlab/gitlab-debian.defaults
+
 # This script is called twice during the removal of the package; once
 # after the removal of the package's files from the system, and as
 # the final step in the removal of this package, after the package's
@@ -14,8 +18,8 @@ set -e
 # Ensure the menu system is updated
 
 # Read and export debian specific configuration
-gitlab_debian_conf=/etc/gitlab/gitlab-debian.conf
 test -f ${gitlab_debian_conf} && export $(cat ${gitlab_debian_conf})
+. ${gitlab_debian_defaults}
 
 case "$1" in
   remove)