diff --git a/config/site_settings.yml b/config/site_settings.yml
index 7e31adf9ce3..6b9a16cecc7 100644
--- a/config/site_settings.yml
+++ b/config/site_settings.yml
@@ -1481,6 +1481,11 @@ developer:
   enable_safe_mode:
     default: true
     client: true
+  refresh_maxmind_db_during_precompile_days:
+    min: 0
+    max: 120
+    default: 2
+    hidden: true
 
 embedding:
   feed_polling_enabled:
diff --git a/lib/discourse_ip_info.rb b/lib/discourse_ip_info.rb
index 343312c6968..70819ad23cd 100644
--- a/lib/discourse_ip_info.rb
+++ b/lib/discourse_ip_info.rb
@@ -16,6 +16,36 @@ class DiscourseIpInfo
     @cache = LruRedux::ThreadSafeCache.new(2000)
   end
 
+  def self.mmdb_path(name)
+    File.join(Rails.root, 'vendor', 'data', "#{name}.mmdb")
+  end
+
+  def self.mmdb_download(name)
+    require 'rubygems/package'
+    require 'zlib'
+
+    uri = URI("https://geolite.maxmind.com/download/geoip/database/#{name}.tar.gz")
+
+    tar_gz_file = Tempfile.new
+    begin
+      tar_gz_file.binmode
+      tar_gz_file.write(Net::HTTP.get(uri))
+      tar_gz_file.close
+
+      extractor = Gem::Package::TarReader.new(Zlib::GzipReader.open(tar_gz_file.path))
+      extractor.rewind
+
+      extractor.each do |entry|
+        next unless entry.full_name.ends_with?(".mmdb")
+        File.open(mmdb_path(name), "wb") { |f| f.write(entry.read) }
+      end
+    ensure
+      tar_gz_file.close
+      tar_gz_file.unlink
+      extractor.close
+    end
+  end
+
   def mmdb_load(filepath)
     begin
       MaxMindDB.new(filepath, MaxMindDB::LOW_MEMORY_FILE_READER)
diff --git a/lib/tasks/assets.rake b/lib/tasks/assets.rake
index 2815f4440c5..09511f4056f 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/assets.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/assets.rake
@@ -164,6 +164,18 @@ def concurrent?
 end
 
 task 'assets:precompile' => 'assets:precompile:before' do
+  path = DiscourseIpInfo.mmdb_path('GeoLite2-City')
+  mtime = File.exist?(path) && File.mtime(path)
+
+  if refresh_days = SiteSetting.refresh_maxmind_db_during_precompile_days
+    if !mtime || mtime < refresh_days.days.ago
+      puts "Downloading MaxMindDB..."
+      mmdb_thread = Thread.new do
+        DiscourseIpInfo.mmdb_download('GeoLite2-City')
+        DiscourseIpInfo.mmdb_download('GeoLite2-ASN')
+      end
+    end
+  end
 
   if $bypass_sprockets_uglify
     puts "Compressing Javascript and Generating Source Maps"
@@ -218,6 +230,7 @@ task 'assets:precompile' => 'assets:precompile:before' do
     end
   end
 
+  mmdb_thread.join if mmdb_thread
 end
 
 Rake::Task["assets:precompile"].enhance do
diff --git a/lib/tasks/maxminddb.rake b/lib/tasks/maxminddb.rake
index 9ce9ea995be..90961c52c06 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/maxminddb.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/maxminddb.rake
@@ -1,30 +1,10 @@
-require 'rubygems/package'
-require 'zlib'
+require_dependency 'discourse_ip_info'
 
 desc "downloads MaxMind's GeoLite2-City database"
 task "maxminddb:get" do
+  puts "Downloading MaxMindDb's GeoLite2-City..."
+  DiscourseIpInfo.mmdb_download('GeoLite2-City')
 
-  def download_mmdb(name)
-    puts "Downloading MaxMindDb #{name}"
-    uri = URI("http://geolite.maxmind.com/download/geoip/database/#{name}.tar.gz")
-    tar_gz_archive = Net::HTTP.get(uri)
-
-    extractor = Gem::Package::TarReader.new(Zlib::GzipReader.new(StringIO.new(tar_gz_archive)))
-    extractor.rewind
-
-    extractor.each do |entry|
-      next unless entry.full_name.ends_with?(".mmdb")
-
-      filename = File.join(Rails.root, 'vendor', 'data', "#{name}.mmdb")
-      puts "Writing #{filename}..."
-      File.open(filename, "wb") do |f|
-        f.write(entry.read)
-      end
-    end
-
-    extractor.close
-  end
-
-  download_mmdb('GeoLite2-City')
-  download_mmdb('GeoLite2-ASN')
+  puts "Downloading MaxMindDb's GeoLite2-ASN..."
+  DiscourseIpInfo.mmdb_download('GeoLite2-ASN')
 end