diff --git a/debian/scripts/koha-create b/debian/scripts/koha-create
index 74c8cf92e6..afe1f55edc 100755
--- a/debian/scripts/koha-create
+++ b/debian/scripts/koha-create
@@ -684,7 +684,7 @@ then
     if [ -e "$DEFAULTSQL" ]
     then
         # Populate the database with default content.
-        zcat "$DEFAULTSQL" |
+        zcat -f "$DEFAULTSQL" |
         sed "s/__KOHASITE__/koha_$name/g" |
         mysql --host="$mysqlhost" --user="$mysqluser" --password="$mysqlpwd" "$mysqldb"
 
diff --git a/debian/templates/koha-sites.conf b/debian/templates/koha-sites.conf
index 53a1250220..3be4c55d73 100644
--- a/debian/templates/koha-sites.conf
+++ b/debian/templates/koha-sites.conf
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ OPACSUFFIX=""
 #
 # DEFAULTSQL: filename
 # Specify an SQL file with default data to load during instance creation
+# The SQL file can be optionally compressed with gzip
 # default: (empty)
 DEFAULTSQL=""