diff --git a/debian/conf/gitlab b/debian/conf/gitlab
index c1c86e87ac..9918667d2a 100755
--- a/debian/conf/gitlab
+++ b/debian/conf/gitlab
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ RAILS_ENV="production"
 # Read debian specific configuration
 . /etc/gitlab/gitlab-debian.conf
 
+for i in $(grep -v '#' /etc/gitlab/gitlab-debian.conf | cut -d= -f 1)
+do
+  export $i
+done
+
 # app_user defines the user that GitLab is run as.
 # The default is "git".
 app_user=${gitlab_user}