diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 4a2512991c..bad8a41f10 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 gitlab (8.12.1+dfsg1-1) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
 
-  * New upstream release
+  * New upstream release (Closes: #838256)
   * Use spec.rake and spec.pattern to select tests
   * Use INCLUDE_TEST_DEPENDS variable in Gemfile to select test dependencies
     (--without does not work with --local in bundle install)
   * Move /usr/share/gitlab/.bundle to /var/lib/gitlab
+  * Create db/schema.rb only in postinst (Closes: #838668)
 
   [ Dmitry Smirnov ]
   * Fix failure to start masked gitlab.service after reinstall
diff --git a/debian/gitlab.links b/debian/gitlab.links
index 94f178b230..318d510855 100644
--- a/debian/gitlab.links
+++ b/debian/gitlab.links
@@ -15,7 +15,5 @@ usr/share/javascript/clipboard/clipboard.js usr/share/gitlab/vendor/assets/javas
 usr/share/javascript/chartjs/Chart.js usr/share/gitlab/vendor/assets/javascripts/chart-lib.min.js
 usr/share/javascript/graphael/g.raphael-min.js usr/share/gitlab/vendor/assets/javascripts/g.raphael-min.js
 usr/share/javascript/graphael/g.bar-min.js usr/share/gitlab/vendor/assets/javascripts/g.bar-min.js
-
-/var/lib/gitlab/.secret    /usr/share/gitlab/.secret
 /var/lib/gitlab/.gitlab_workhorse_secret    /usr/share/gitlab/.gitlab_workhorse_secret
 /var/lib/gitlab/Gemfile.lock    /usr/share/gitlab/Gemfile.lock
diff --git a/debian/rake-tasks.sh b/debian/rake-tasks.sh
index a51898d2dd..357cd9a452 100755
--- a/debian/rake-tasks.sh
+++ b/debian/rake-tasks.sh
@@ -18,17 +18,13 @@ if [ "$1" = "check" ]; then
     exit
 fi
 
-
-if ! [ -f "${gitlab_app_root}/config/secrets.yml" ]; then
-  echo "Creating secrets.yml..."
-  cd ${gitlab_app_root}
-  su gitlab -c 'bundle exec rake config/initializers/secret_token.rb'
-fi
-
 # Check if the db is already present
 if [ "$(LANG=C su postgres -c "psql gitlab_production -c \"\d\"")" = \
 "No relations found." ]; then
   echo "Initializing database..."
+  test -f ${gitlab_home}/db/schema.rb || \
+  su ${gitlab_user} -s /bin/sh -c\
+  "cp ${gitlab_home}/db/schema.rb.template ${gitlab_home}/db/schema.rb"
   su ${gitlab_user} -s /bin/sh -c 'bundle exec rake db:schema:load'
   su ${gitlab_user} -s /bin/sh -c 'bundle exec rake db:seed_fu'
 else
diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index 9fd0b753a6..6a20f557e8 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ override_dh_install:
 	# Make sure we are installing all required files in debian/install
 	sh debian/upstream-file-count-check.sh
 	rm -rf debian/gitlab/usr/share/gitlab/tmp/*
+	mv debian/gitlab/var/lib/gitlab/db/schema.rb debian/gitlab/var/lib/gitlab/db/schema.rb.template
 
 override_dh_installinit:
 	dh_installinit --no-start -p gitlab --name=gitlab-sidekiq