diff --git a/debian/gitlab.postinst b/debian/gitlab.postinst
index 9d64ba7755..61dd2aea64 100755
--- a/debian/gitlab.postinst
+++ b/debian/gitlab.postinst
@@ -314,6 +314,9 @@ case "$1" in
     # enable the pg_trgm extension
     runuser -u postgres -- sh -c "psql -d gitlab_production -c \"CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pg_trgm;\""
 
+    # Allow gitlab user to create schema
+    runuser -u postgres -- sh -c "psql -c \"GRANT CREATE ON database gitlab_production TO ${gitlab_user};\""
+
     # Remove Gemfile.lock if present
     rm -f ${gitlab_data_dir}/Gemfile.lock