diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 2ebba30..85babf5 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ nvm_has() {
 }
 
 nvm_install_dir() {
-  echo "${NVM_DIR:-"$HOME/.nvm"}"
+  printf %s "${NVM_DIR:-"$HOME/.nvm"}" | sed "s:^$HOME:\$HOME:"
 }
 
 nvm_latest_version() {
diff --git a/test/install_script/nvm_install_dir b/test/install_script/nvm_install_dir
index 1c685e3..94c784f 100755
--- a/test/install_script/nvm_install_dir
+++ b/test/install_script/nvm_install_dir
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ unset NVM_DIR
 
 # NVM_DIR is not set
 install_dir=$(nvm_install_dir)
-[ "_$install_dir" = "_$HOME/.nvm" ] || die "nvm_install_dir should default to \$HOME/.nvm. Current output: $install_dir"
+[ "_$install_dir" = "_\$HOME/.nvm" ] || die "nvm_install_dir should default to \$HOME/.nvm. Current output: $install_dir"
 
 cleanup