diff --git a/test/elpa.el b/test/elpa.el
index f501af1..a5dac47 100644
--- a/test/elpa.el
+++ b/test/elpa.el
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 (setq package-user-dir
-      (expand-file-name (format ".elpa/%s/elpa" emacs-version)))
+      (expand-file-name (format "~/.elpa/%s/elpa" emacs-version)))
 (package-initialize)
 (add-to-list 'load-path default-directory)
diff --git a/test/make-update.el b/test/make-update.el
index 47b54f0..634679a 100644
--- a/test/make-update.el
+++ b/test/make-update.el
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 ;;* initialize package.el
 (setq package-user-dir
-      (expand-file-name (format ".elpa/%s/elpa" emacs-version)))
+      (expand-file-name (format "~/.elpa/%s/elpa" emacs-version)))
 (message "installing in %s ...\n" package-user-dir)
 (package-initialize)
 (setq package-archives