diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/typesafe/sbt/packager/archetypes/JavaServerApplication.scala b/src/main/scala/com/typesafe/sbt/packager/archetypes/JavaServerApplication.scala
index 0035e92fc..923cf1bd9 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/typesafe/sbt/packager/archetypes/JavaServerApplication.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/typesafe/sbt/packager/archetypes/JavaServerApplication.scala
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ object JavaServerAppPackaging {
       map makeEtcDefaultScript,
     linuxPackageMappings <++= (makeEtcDefault, packageName in Linux) map { (conf, name) =>
       conf.map(c => LinuxPackageMapping(Seq(c -> ("/etc/default/" + name)),
-        LinuxFileMetaData(Users.Root, Users.Root)).withConfig()).toSeq
+        LinuxFileMetaData(Users.Root, Users.Root, "644")).withConfig()).toSeq
     },
 
     // === /var/run/app pid folder ===
diff --git a/src/sbt-test/rpm/test-executableScriptName/build.sbt b/src/sbt-test/rpm/test-executableScriptName/build.sbt
index 2976918e0..47c06b788 100644
--- a/src/sbt-test/rpm/test-executableScriptName/build.sbt
+++ b/src/sbt-test/rpm/test-executableScriptName/build.sbt
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ TaskKey[Unit]("check-spec-file") <<= (target, streams) map { (target, out) =>
   out.log.success(spec)
   assert(spec contains "%attr(0644,root,root) /usr/share/rpm-test/lib/rpm-test.rpm-test-0.1.0.jar", "Wrong installation path\n" + spec)
   assert(spec contains "%config %attr(0755,root,root) /etc/init.d/rpm-test", "Wrong /etc/init.d/\n" + spec)
-  assert(spec contains "%config %attr(755,root,root) /etc/default/rpm-test", "Wrong etc default file\n" + spec)
+  assert(spec contains "%config %attr(644,root,root) /etc/default/rpm-test", "Wrong etc default file\n" + spec)
   assert(spec contains "%dir %attr(755,rpm-test,rpm-test) /var/log/rpm-test", "Wrong logging dir path\n" + spec)
   assert(spec contains "%dir %attr(755,rpm-test,rpm-test) /var/run/rpm-test", "Wrong /var/run dir path\n" + spec)
   out.log.success("Successfully tested rpm-test file")
diff --git a/src/sbt-test/rpm/test-packageName/build.sbt b/src/sbt-test/rpm/test-packageName/build.sbt
index 14657befb..3f7397033 100644
--- a/src/sbt-test/rpm/test-packageName/build.sbt
+++ b/src/sbt-test/rpm/test-packageName/build.sbt
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ TaskKey[Unit]("check-spec-file") <<= (target, streams) map { (target, out) =>
   out.log.success(spec)
   assert(spec contains "%attr(0644,root,root) /usr/share/rpm-package/lib/rpm-test.rpm-test-0.1.0.jar", "Wrong installation path\n" + spec)
   assert(spec contains "%config %attr(0755,root,root) /etc/init.d/rpm-package", "Wrong /etc/init.d path\n" + spec)
-  assert(spec contains "%config %attr(755,root,root) /etc/default/rpm-package", "Wrong /etc default file\n" + spec)
+  assert(spec contains "%config %attr(644,root,root) /etc/default/rpm-package", "Wrong /etc default file\n" + spec)
   assert(spec contains "%dir %attr(755,rpm-package,rpm-package) /var/log/rpm-package", "Wrong logging dir path\n" + spec)
   assert(spec contains "%dir %attr(755,rpm-package,rpm-package) /var/run/rpm-package", "Wrong /var/run dir path\n" + spec)
   out.log.success("Successfully tested rpm-package file")