diff --git a/templates/lxc-debian.in b/templates/lxc-debian.in
index 4b92328f2..fa87cb95d 100644
--- a/templates/lxc-debian.in
+++ b/templates/lxc-debian.in
@@ -768,12 +768,13 @@ if [ -n "$authkey" ]; then
     fi
 fi
 
-current_release=$(wget "${MIRROR}/dists/stable/Release" -O - 2> /dev/null | head |awk '/^Codename: (.*)$/ { print $2; }')
-release=${release:-${current_release}}
-valid_releases=('wheezy' 'jessie' 'stretch' 'buster' 'testing' 'sid' 'unstable')
-if [[ ! "${valid_releases[*]}" =~ (^|[^[:alpha:]])$release([^[:alpha:]]|$) ]]; then
-    echo "Invalid release ${release}, valid ones are: ${valid_releases[*]}"
-    exit 1
+release=${release:-stable}
+permanent_releases=('stable' 'testing' 'sid' 'unstable')
+if [[ ! "${permanent_releases[*]}" =~ (^|[^[:alpha:]])$release([^[:alpha:]]|$) ]]; then
+    if ! wget "${MIRROR}/dists/${release}/Release" -O /dev/null 2> /dev/null; then
+	echo "Invalid release ${release} (not found in mirror)"
+	exit 1
+    fi
 fi
 
 # detect rootfs