diff --git a/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsExtensions.cs b/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsExtensions.cs
index 2c43255cca4..d4e1ba033ef 100644
--- a/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsExtensions.cs
@@ -1044,6 +1044,11 @@ private static string InternalGetFolderPath(SpecialFolder folder)
             string folderPath = null;
 
 #if UNIX
+            string envHome = System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable(Platform.CommonEnvVariableNames.Home);
+            if (null == envHome)
+            {
+                envHome = Platform.GetTemporaryDirectory();
+            }
             switch (folder)
             {
                 case SpecialFolder.ProgramFiles:
@@ -1060,11 +1065,22 @@ private static string InternalGetFolderPath(SpecialFolder folder)
                     if (!System.IO.Directory.Exists(folderPath)) { folderPath = null; }
                     break;
                 case SpecialFolder.Personal:
-                    folderPath = System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("HOME");
+                    folderPath = envHome;
                     break;
                 case SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData:
-                    folderPath = System.IO.Path.Combine(System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("HOME"), ".config");
-                    if (!System.IO.Directory.Exists(folderPath)) { System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(folderPath); }
+                    folderPath = System.IO.Path.Combine(envHome, ".config");
+                    if (!System.IO.Directory.Exists(folderPath)) 
+                    {
+                        try
+                        {
+                            System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(folderPath); 
+                        }
+                        catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
+                        {
+                            // directory creation may fail if the account doesn't have filesystem permission such as some service accounts
+                            folderPath = String.Empty;
+                        }
+                    }
                     break;
                 default:
                     throw new NotSupportedException();
@@ -1100,7 +1116,7 @@ private static string InternalGetFolderPath(SpecialFolder folder)
                     }
                     break;
                 case SpecialFolder.MyDocuments: // same as SpecialFolder.Personal
-                    userProfile = System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("USERPROFILE");
+                    userProfile = System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable(Platform.CommonEnvVariableNames.Home);
                     if (userProfile != null)
                     {
                         folderPath = System.IO.Path.Combine(userProfile, "Documents");
@@ -1117,7 +1133,7 @@ private static string InternalGetFolderPath(SpecialFolder folder)
                         // It's guaranteed by NanoServer team that 'USERPROFILE' will be already set when SetupComplete.cmd runs.
                         // So we use the path '%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local' as an alternative in this case, and also set the env
                         // variable %LOCALAPPDATA% to it, so that modules running in PS can depend on this env variable.
-                        userProfile = System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("USERPROFILE");
+                        userProfile = System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable(Platform.CommonEnvVariableNames.Home);
                         if (userProfile != null)
                         {
                             string alternatePath = System.IO.Path.Combine(userProfile, @"AppData\Local");
diff --git a/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsPlatform.cs b/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsPlatform.cs
index bc558d053d6..d3f8cead66f 100644
--- a/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsPlatform.cs
+++ b/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsPlatform.cs
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ namespace System.Management.Automation
     /// </summary>
     public static class Platform
     {
+        private static string _tempDirectory = null;
+
         /// <summary>
         /// True if the current platform is Linux.
         /// </summary>
@@ -204,6 +206,41 @@ internal static class CommonEnvVariableNames
 #endif
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Remove the temporary directory created for the current process
+        /// </summary>
+        internal static void RemoveTemporaryDirectory()
+        {
+            if (null == _tempDirectory)
+            {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            try
+            {
+                Directory.Delete(_tempDirectory, true);
+            }
+            catch
+            {
+                // ignore if there is a failure
+            }
+            _tempDirectory = null;
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Get a temporary directory to use for the current process
+        /// </summary>
+        internal static string GetTemporaryDirectory()
+        {
+            if (null != _tempDirectory)
+            {
+                return _tempDirectory;
+            }
+
+            _tempDirectory = PsUtils.GetTemporaryDirectory();
+            return _tempDirectory;
+        }
+
 #if UNIX
         /// <summary>
         /// X Desktop Group configuration type enum.
@@ -234,10 +271,15 @@ public static string SelectProductNameForDirectory(Platform.XDG_Type dirpath)
             string xdgconfighome = System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("XDG_CONFIG_HOME");
             string xdgdatahome = System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("XDG_DATA_HOME");
             string xdgcachehome = System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("XDG_CACHE_HOME");
-            string xdgConfigHomeDefault = Path.Combine(System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("HOME"), ".config", "powershell");
-            string xdgDataHomeDefault = Path.Combine(System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("HOME"), ".local", "share", "powershell");
+            string envHome = System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable(CommonEnvVariableNames.Home);
+            if (null == envHome)
+            {
+                envHome = GetTemporaryDirectory();
+            }
+            string xdgConfigHomeDefault = Path.Combine(envHome, ".config", "powershell");
+            string xdgDataHomeDefault = Path.Combine(envHome, ".local", "share", "powershell");
             string xdgModuleDefault = Path.Combine(xdgDataHomeDefault, "Modules");
-            string xdgCacheDefault = Path.Combine(System.Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("HOME"), ".cache", "powershell");
+            string xdgCacheDefault = Path.Combine(envHome, ".cache", "powershell");
 
             switch (dirpath)
             {
@@ -268,6 +310,7 @@ public static string SelectProductNameForDirectory(Platform.XDG_Type dirpath)
                             catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
                             {
                                 //service accounts won't have permission to create user folder
+                                return GetTemporaryDirectory();
                             }
                         }
                         return xdgDataHomeDefault;
@@ -291,6 +334,7 @@ public static string SelectProductNameForDirectory(Platform.XDG_Type dirpath)
                             catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
                             {
                                 //service accounts won't have permission to create user folder
+                                return GetTemporaryDirectory();
                             }
                         }
                         return xdgModuleDefault;
@@ -317,6 +361,7 @@ public static string SelectProductNameForDirectory(Platform.XDG_Type dirpath)
                             catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
                             {
                                 //service accounts won't have permission to create user folder
+                                return GetTemporaryDirectory();
                             }
                         }
 
@@ -334,6 +379,7 @@ public static string SelectProductNameForDirectory(Platform.XDG_Type dirpath)
                             catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
                             {
                                 //service accounts won't have permission to create user folder
+                                return GetTemporaryDirectory();
                             }                                
                         }
 
diff --git a/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/hostifaces/LocalConnection.cs b/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/hostifaces/LocalConnection.cs
index b218f1ea551..d9e295282ca 100644
--- a/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/hostifaces/LocalConnection.cs
+++ b/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/hostifaces/LocalConnection.cs
@@ -1267,6 +1267,8 @@ protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
                         RunspaceOpening = null;
                     }
 
+                    Platform.RemoveTemporaryDirectory();
+
                     // Dispose the event manager
                     if (this.ExecutionContext != null && this.ExecutionContext.Events != null)
                     {
diff --git a/src/System.Management.Automation/utils/PsUtils.cs b/src/System.Management.Automation/utils/PsUtils.cs
index 96a29ff2684..d764203da25 100644
--- a/src/System.Management.Automation/utils/PsUtils.cs
+++ b/src/System.Management.Automation/utils/PsUtils.cs
@@ -604,6 +604,30 @@ internal static bool IsRunningOnProcessorArchitectureARM()
 #endif
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Get a temporary directory to use, needs to be unique to avoid collision
+        /// </summary>
+        internal static string GetTemporaryDirectory()
+        {
+            string tempDir = String.Empty;
+            string tempPath = Path.GetTempPath();
+            do
+            {
+                tempDir = Path.Combine(tempPath,System.Guid.NewGuid().ToString());
+            }
+            while (Directory.Exists(tempDir));
+
+            try
+            {
+                Directory.CreateDirectory(tempDir);
+            }
+            catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
+            {
+                tempDir = String.Empty; // will become current working directory
+            }
+            return tempDir;
+        }
+
         internal static string GetHostName()
         {
             // Note: non-windows CoreCLR does not support System.Net yet
diff --git a/test/powershell/Host/ConsoleHost.Tests.ps1 b/test/powershell/Host/ConsoleHost.Tests.ps1
index 000bbf86103..aafb0b2649f 100644
--- a/test/powershell/Host/ConsoleHost.Tests.ps1
+++ b/test/powershell/Host/ConsoleHost.Tests.ps1
@@ -403,6 +403,12 @@ foo
             [int]$output | Should BeGreaterThan 0
         }
     }
+
+    Context "HOME environment variable" {
+        It "Should start if HOME is not defined" -skip:($IsWindows) {
+            bash -c "unset HOME;$powershell -c '1+1'" | Should BeExactly 2
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 Describe "Console host api tests" -Tag CI {