diff --git a/.changelog/f6aec06ae77b40118322f509f6ad4096.json b/.changelog/f6aec06ae77b40118322f509f6ad4096.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a9479060b4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/f6aec06ae77b40118322f509f6ad4096.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+    "id": "f6aec06a-e77b-4011-8322-f509f6ad4096",
+    "type": "feature",
+    "description": "Add alternative mechanism for determning the users `$HOME` or `%USERPROFILE%` location when the environment variables are not present.",
+    "modules": [
+        "config"
+    ]
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/config/shared_config.go b/config/shared_config.go
index 835d71fbc37..45f0f3ef923 100644
--- a/config/shared_config.go
+++ b/config/shared_config.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
+	"os/user"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -1149,8 +1150,18 @@ func (e CredentialRequiresARNError) Error() string {
 
 func userHomeDir() string {
 	// Ignore errors since we only care about Windows and *nix.
-	homedir, _ := os.UserHomeDir()
-	return homedir
+	home, _ := os.UserHomeDir()
+
+	if len(home) > 0 {
+		return home
+	}
+
+	currUser, _ := user.Current()
+	if currUser != nil {
+		home = currUser.HomeDir
+	}
+
+	return home
 }
 
 func oneOrNone(bs ...bool) bool {