diff -p -up xdg-user-dirs-0.10/xdg-user-dirs-update.c.home xdg-user-dirs-0.10/xdg-user-dirs-update.c
--- xdg-user-dirs-0.10/xdg-user-dirs-update.c.home	2008-03-06 12:04:07.000000000 +0100
+++ xdg-user-dirs-0.10/xdg-user-dirs-update.c	2008-03-06 12:08:14.000000000 +0100
@@ -290,14 +290,17 @@ get_home_dir (void)
   if (home_dir != NULL)
     return home_dir;
 
-  setpwent ();
-  pw = getpwuid (getuid ());
-  endpwent ();
-  
-  if (pw && pw->pw_dir)
-    home_dir = strdup (pw->pw_dir);
-  else
-    home_dir = getenv ("HOME");
+  home_dir = getenv ("HOME");
+  if (home_dir == NULL) {
+    setpwent ();
+    pw = getpwuid (getuid ());
+    endpwent ();
+
+    if (pw && pw->pw_dir)
+      home_dir = strdup (pw->pw_dir);
+    else
+      home_dir = strdup ("/");
+  }
 
   return home_dir;
 }