diff --git a/debian/gitlab-rake.sh b/debian/gitlab-rake.sh
index dda61b5cd9..ba847eb1f0 100755
--- a/debian/gitlab-rake.sh
+++ b/debian/gitlab-rake.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ set -e
 # Read debian specific configuration
 . /etc/gitlab-common/gitlab-common.conf
 . /etc/gitlab/gitlab-debian.conf
-export DB RAILS_ENV
+export DB RAILS_ENV GEM_HOME
 
 cd /usr/share/gitlab