diff --git a/mopidy/core/actor.py b/mopidy/core/actor.py
index 59f10450..52c3dfb3 100644
--- a/mopidy/core/actor.py
+++ b/mopidy/core/actor.py
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ class Core(
         Save current state to disk.
         """
 
-        file_name = os.path.join(self._get_data_dir(), 'persistent.state')
+        file_name = os.path.join(self._get_data_dir(), b'state.json.gz')
         logger.info('Save state to %s', file_name)
 
         data = {}
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ class Core(
         :type coverage: list of string (see above)
         """
 
-        file_name = os.path.join(self._get_data_dir(), 'persistent.state')
+        file_name = os.path.join(self._get_data_dir(), b'state.json.gz')
         logger.info('Load state from %s', file_name)
 
         data = storage.load(file_name)
diff --git a/tests/core/test_actor.py b/tests/core/test_actor.py
index e935241f..9d71fcef 100644
--- a/tests/core/test_actor.py
+++ b/tests/core/test_actor.py
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ class CoreActorExportRestoreTest(unittest.TestCase):
         # TODO: implement meaningful test
 
     def test_delete_state_file_on_restore(self):
-        file_path = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, 'core', 'persistent.state')
+        file_path = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, 'core', 'state.json.gz')
 
         data = {}
         storage.save(file_path, data)