diff --git a/src/flake8/options/config.py b/src/flake8/options/config.py
index f5c93ce7..36fe9760 100644
--- a/src/flake8/options/config.py
+++ b/src/flake8/options/config.py
@@ -23,7 +23,10 @@ def _stat_key(s: str) -> Tuple[int, int]:
 def _find_config_file(path: str) -> Optional[str]:
     # on windows if the homedir isn't detected this returns back `~`
     home = os.path.expanduser("~")
-    home_stat = _stat_key(home) if home != "~" else None
+    try:
+        home_stat = _stat_key(home) if home != "~" else None
+    except OSError:  # FileNotFoundError / PermissionError / etc.
+        home_stat = None
 
     dir_stat = _stat_key(path)
     cfg = configparser.RawConfigParser()
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_options_config.py b/tests/unit/test_options_config.py
index 7a7c4f7c..bdc22087 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_options_config.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_options_config.py
@@ -78,6 +78,13 @@ def test_find_config_ignores_homedir(tmp_path):
         assert config._find_config_file(str(subdir)) is None
 
 
+def test_find_config_ignores_unknown_homedir(tmp_path):
+    subdir = tmp_path.joinpath("d")
+
+    with mock.patch.object(os.path, "expanduser", return_value=str(subdir)):
+        assert config._find_config_file(str(tmp_path)) is None
+
+
 def test_load_config_config_specified_skips_discovery(tmpdir):
     tmpdir.join("setup.cfg").write("[flake8]\nindent-size=2\n")
     custom_cfg = tmpdir.join("custom.cfg")