diff --git a/debian/.gitignore b/debian/.gitignore
index 2cc3c2b9..d3c73b9e 100644
--- a/debian/.gitignore
+++ b/debian/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-compat
 files
 html
 rscds
diff --git a/debian/compat b/debian/compat
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7ed6ff82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/compat
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+5