diff --git a/internal/config/paths.go b/internal/config/paths.go
index 52a2d86..b5752c4 100644
--- a/internal/config/paths.go
+++ b/internal/config/paths.go
@@ -11,6 +11,12 @@ import (
 // system
 func Paths(sys string, envvars map[string]string) ([]string, error) {
 
+	// get the user's home directory
+	home, err := homedir.Dir()
+	if err != nil {
+		return []string{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to get user home directory: %v", err)
+	}
+
 	// if `CHEAT_CONFIG_PATH` is set, expand ~ and return it
 	if confpath, ok := envvars["CHEAT_CONFIG_PATH"]; ok {
 
@@ -32,10 +38,10 @@ func Paths(sys string, envvars map[string]string) ([]string, error) {
 			paths = append(paths, path.Join(xdgpath, "/cheat/conf.yml"))
 		}
 
-		// `HOME` will always be set on a POSIX-compliant system, though
+		// if `XDG_CONFIG_HOME` is not set, search the user's home directory
 		paths = append(paths, []string{
-			path.Join(envvars["HOME"], ".config/cheat/conf.yml"),
-			path.Join(envvars["HOME"], ".cheat/conf.yml"),
+			path.Join(home, ".config/cheat/conf.yml"),
+			path.Join(home, ".cheat/conf.yml"),
 		}...)
 
 		return paths, nil