diff --git a/debian/conf/gitlab-debian.conf.example b/debian/conf/gitlab-debian.conf.example
index ebf2701131..2e324bf3d7 100644
--- a/debian/conf/gitlab-debian.conf.example
+++ b/debian/conf/gitlab-debian.conf.example
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 # Variables with all caps are passed to gitlab app
 RAILS_ENV=production
 DB=postgres
+GEM_HOME=/var/lib/gitlab/.gem
 # This will be replaced by debian/rules at the time of build.
 GITLAB_DEBIAN_VERSION="__NEW_VERSION__"
 SALSA_TAG_URL="https://salsa.debian.org/ruby-team/gitlab/tags/debian/"