diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c9fc75790..94fa9edde 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## beornlake PR
+- Updated Laravel recipe to not run 'artisan:optimize' on Laravel >= 5.5, as that command is now deprecated ([see upgrade notes](https://laravel.com/docs/5.5/upgrade)).
+- Laravel version check defaults to 5.5 if not found.
+
 ## master
 [v6.0.2...master](https://github.com/deployphp/deployer/compare/v6.0.2...master)
 
@@ -8,7 +12,7 @@
 ## v6.0.2
 [v6.0.1...v6.0.2](https://github.com/deployphp/deployer/compare/v6.0.1...v6.0.2)
 
-### Fixed 
+### Fixed
 - Fixed bug with curl ssh check in _Httpie_ util
 
 ## v6.0.1
@@ -42,7 +46,7 @@
 - Improved environment variables management
 - Fixed `runLocally` to not cd into remote dir
 
-### Removed 
+### Removed
 - Removed `terminate_message` option
 - Removed `Result` class
 
@@ -70,7 +74,7 @@
 ## v5.1.1
 [v5.1.0...v5.1.1](https://github.com/deployphp/deployer/compare/v5.1.0...v5.1.1)
 
-### Fixed 
+### Fixed
 - Fixed bug with `self-update` warnings [#1226]
 
 
diff --git a/recipe/laravel.php b/recipe/laravel.php
index 73ac99a96..9ed5b5695 100644
--- a/recipe/laravel.php
+++ b/recipe/laravel.php
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 
     preg_match_all('/(\d+\.?)+/', $result, $matches);
 
-    $version = $matches[0][0] ?? 5.4;
+    $version = $matches[0][0] ?? 5.5;
 
     return $version;
 });
@@ -105,7 +105,12 @@
 
 desc('Execute artisan optimize');
 task('artisan:optimize', function () {
-    run('{{bin/php}} {{release_path}}/artisan optimize');
+    $deprecatedVersion = 5.5;
+    $currentVersion = get('laravel_version');
+
+    if (version_compare($currentVersion, $deprecatedVersion, '<')) {
+        run('{{bin/php}} {{release_path}}/artisan optimize');
+    }
 });
 
 desc('Execute artisan queue:restart');