diff --git a/debian/docs/koha-create.xml b/debian/docs/koha-create.xml
index 47b4a002b4..632140d471 100644
--- a/debian/docs/koha-create.xml
+++ b/debian/docs/koha-create.xml
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
       <arg><option>--adminuser</option> n</arg>
       <arg><option>--enable-sru</option></arg>
       <arg><option>--sru-port</option> port</arg>
+      <arg><option>--template-cache-dir</option> directory</arg>
       <arg><option>--upload-path</option> directory</arg>
       <arg><option>--letsencrypt</option></arg>
       <arg><option>--help</option>|<option>-h</option></arg>
@@ -184,6 +185,14 @@
       </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
 
+    <varlistentry>
+      <term><option>--template-cache-dir</option></term>
+      <listitem>
+        <para>Specify a <option>directory</option> for storing the template cache files of the instance.
+              It defaults to <filename>/var/cache/koha/instance/templates</filename>.</para>
+      </listitem>
+    </varlistentry>
+
     <varlistentry>
       <term><option>--upload-path</option></term>
       <listitem>
diff --git a/debian/koha-common.dirs b/debian/koha-common.dirs
index 93a60417cb..b98541d007 100644
--- a/debian/koha-common.dirs
+++ b/debian/koha-common.dirs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 etc/koha/sites
+var/cache/koha
 var/lib/koha
 var/log/koha
 var/lock/koha
diff --git a/debian/scripts/koha-create b/debian/scripts/koha-create
index 7b6b51297a..aa01f809b7 100755
--- a/debian/scripts/koha-create
+++ b/debian/scripts/koha-create
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@ Options:
   --database dbname         Enforce the use of the specified DB name (64 char limit)
   --adminuser n             Explicit the admin user ID in the DB. Relevant in
                             conjunction with --defaultsql and --populate-db.
+  --template-cache-dir      Set a user defined template_cache_dir. It defaults to
+                            /var/cache/koha/<instance>/templates
   --upload-path dir         Set a user defined upload_path. It defaults to
                             /var/lib/koha/<instance>/uploads
   --letsencrypt             Set up a https-only site with letsencrypt certificates
@@ -113,6 +115,7 @@ generate_config_file() {
         -e "s/__DB_PASS__/$mysqlpwd/g" \
         -e "s/__UNIXUSER__/$username/g" \
         -e "s/__UNIXGROUP__/$username/g" \
+        -e "s#__TEMPLATE_CACHE_DIR__#$TEMPLATE_CACHE_DIR#g" \
         -e "s#__UPLOAD_PATH__#$UPLOAD_PATH#g" \
         -e "s/__LOG_DIR__/\/var\/log\/koha\/$name/g" \
         -e "s/__PLUGINS_DIR__/\/var\/lib\/koha\/$name\/plugins/g" \
@@ -406,6 +409,8 @@ DEFAULT_MEMCACHED_PREFIX="koha_"
 UPLOAD_PATH_BASE="/var/lib/koha"
 UPLOAD_DIR="uploads"
 UPLOAD_PATH=""
+# cache base dir
+CACHE_DIR_BASE="/var/cache/koha"
 # Generate a randomizaed API secret
 API_SECRET="$(pwgen -s 64 1)"
 # SRU server variables
@@ -434,7 +439,7 @@ fi
 
 [ $# -ge 1 ] && [ $# -le 16 ] || ( usage ; die "Error: wrong parameters" )
 
-TEMP=`getopt -o chrpm:l:d:f:b:a: -l create-db,request-db,populate-db,use-db,use-memcached,enable-sru,sru-port:,help,marcflavor:,auth-idx:,biblio-idx:,zebralang:,defaultsql:,configfile:,passwdfile:,dbhost:,database:,adminuser:,memcached-servers:,memcached-prefix:,upload-path:,letsencrypt, \
+TEMP=`getopt -o chrpm:l:d:f:b:a: -l create-db,request-db,populate-db,use-db,use-memcached,enable-sru,sru-port:,help,marcflavor:,auth-idx:,biblio-idx:,zebralang:,defaultsql:,configfile:,passwdfile:,dbhost:,database:,adminuser:,memcached-servers:,memcached-prefix:,template-cache-dir:,upload-path:,letsencrypt, \
      -n "$0" -- "$@"`
 
 # Note the quotes around `$TEMP': they are essential!
@@ -451,6 +456,7 @@ CLO_MEMCACHED_SERVERS=""
 CLO_MEMCACHED_PREFIX=""
 CLO_UPLOAD_PATH=""
 CLO_LETSENCRYPT=""
+CLO_TEMPLATE_CACHE_DIR=""
 
 while true ; do
     case "$1" in
@@ -492,6 +498,8 @@ while true ; do
             ENABLE_SRU="yes" ; shift ;;
         --sru-port)
             SRU_SERVER_PORT="$2" ; shift 2 ;;
+        --template-cache-dir)
+            CLO_TEMPLATE_CACHE_DIR="$2" ; shift 2 ;;
         --upload-path)
             CLO_UPLOAD_PATH="$2" ; shift 2 ;;
         --letsencrypt)
@@ -593,6 +601,13 @@ else
     MEMCACHED_PREFIX=""
 fi
 
+# Set template cache dir
+if [ "$CLO_TEMPLATE_CACHE_DIR" != "" ]; then
+    TEMPLATE_CACHE_DIR="$CLO_TEMPLATE_CACHE_DIR"
+else
+    TEMPLATE_CACHE_DIR="$CACHE_DIR_BASE/$name/templates"
+fi
+
 # Are we root? If not, the mod_rewrite check will fail and be confusing, so
 # we look into this first.
 if [[ $UID -ne 0 ]]
@@ -728,7 +743,6 @@ eof
     generate_config_file zebra.passwd.in \
         "/etc/koha/sites/$name/zebra.passwd"
 
-
     # Create a GPG-encrypted file for requesting a DB to be set up.
     if [ "$op" = request ]
     then
diff --git a/debian/scripts/koha-create-dirs b/debian/scripts/koha-create-dirs
index dae0d48d68..6d47c157bc 100755
--- a/debian/scripts/koha-create-dirs
+++ b/debian/scripts/koha-create-dirs
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ for name in "$@"
 do
     rootdir "/var/spool/koha/$name"
     userdir "$name" "/etc/koha/sites/$name"
+    userdir "$name" "/var/cache/koha/$name"
+    userdir "$name" "/var/cache/koha/$name/templates"
     userdir "$name" "/var/lib/koha/$name"
     userdir "$name" "/var/lib/koha/$name/authorities"
     userdir "$name" "/var/lib/koha/$name/authorities/key"
diff --git a/debian/scripts/koha-remove b/debian/scripts/koha-remove
index 763da29ae5..06847808fa 100755
--- a/debian/scripts/koha-remove
+++ b/debian/scripts/koha-remove
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ eof
         rm -r "/var/lock/koha/$name"
     [ -d "/var/log/koha/$name" ] && \
         rm -r "/var/log/koha/$name"
+    [ -d "/var/cache/koha/$name" ] && \
+        rm -r "/var/cache/koha/$name"
     [ -d "/var/run/koha/$name" ] && \
         rm -r "/var/run/koha/$name"
     [ "$purgeall" = "1" ] && [ -d "/var/lib/koha/$name" ] && \
diff --git a/debian/templates/koha-conf-site.xml.in b/debian/templates/koha-conf-site.xml.in
index a8152a9cc7..85b54a9ec5 100644
--- a/debian/templates/koha-conf-site.xml.in
+++ b/debian/templates/koha-conf-site.xml.in
@@ -291,10 +291,7 @@ __END_SRU_PUBLICSERVER__
  <!-- <zebra_loglevels>none,fatal,warn</zebra_loglevels> -->
  <memcached_servers>__MEMCACHED_SERVERS__</memcached_servers>
  <memcached_namespace>__MEMCACHED_NAMESPACE__</memcached_namespace>
- <!-- Uncomment the following line if you want to use template caching
-      That will bring a performance boost
-      <template_cache_dir>/tmp</template_cache_dir>
- -->
+ <template_cache_dir>__TEMPLATE_CACHE_DIR__</template_cache_dir>
 
  <!-- Secret passphrase used by Mojolicious for signed cookies -->
  <api_secret_passphrase>__API_SECRET__</api_secret_passphrase>