diff --git a/src/config.ts b/src/config.ts
index 6c64cb8..da25429 100644
--- a/src/config.ts
+++ b/src/config.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import os from 'os';
 import path from 'path';
 
 import { readEnvFile } from './env.js';
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ export const SCHEDULER_POLL_INTERVAL = 60000;
 
 // Absolute paths needed for container mounts
 const PROJECT_ROOT = process.cwd();
-const HOME_DIR = process.env.HOME || '/Users/user';
+const HOME_DIR = process.env.HOME || os.homedir();
 
 // Mount security: allowlist stored OUTSIDE project root, never mounted into containers
 export const MOUNT_ALLOWLIST_PATH = path.join(
diff --git a/src/mount-security.ts b/src/mount-security.ts
index d0d1416..3dceea5 100644
--- a/src/mount-security.ts
+++ b/src/mount-security.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
  * Allowlist location: ~/.config/nanoclaw/mount-allowlist.json
  */
 import fs from 'fs';
+import os from 'os';
 import path from 'path';
 import pino from 'pino';
 
@@ -121,7 +122,7 @@ export function loadMountAllowlist(): MountAllowlist | null {
  * Expand ~ to home directory and resolve to absolute path
  */
 function expandPath(p: string): string {
-  const homeDir = process.env.HOME || '/Users/user';
+  const homeDir = process.env.HOME || os.homedir();
   if (p.startsWith('~/')) {
     return path.join(homeDir, p.slice(2));
   }