diff --git a/pmb/chroot/root.py b/pmb/chroot/root.py
index a46b5dd8..d4e0f20b 100644
--- a/pmb/chroot/root.py
+++ b/pmb/chroot/root.py
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ def root(args, cmd, suffix="native", working_dir="/", output="log",
     # Merge env with defaults into env_all
     env_all = {"CHARSET": "UTF-8",
                "HISTFILE": "~/.ash_history",
+               "HOME": "/root",
                "PATH": pmb.config.chroot_path,
                "SHELL": "/bin/ash",
                "TERM": "xterm"}
diff --git a/pmb/chroot/user.py b/pmb/chroot/user.py
index cb5cb236..fa614cd4 100644
--- a/pmb/chroot/user.py
+++ b/pmb/chroot/user.py
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ def user(args, cmd, suffix="native", working_dir="/", output="log",
     See pmb.helpers.run_core.core() for a detailed description of all other
     arguments and the return value.
     """
+    if "HOME" not in env:
+        env["HOME"] = "/home/pmos"
+
     flat_cmd = pmb.helpers.run.flat_cmd(cmd, env=env)
     cmd = ["busybox", "su", "pmos", "-c", flat_cmd]
     return pmb.chroot.root(args, cmd, suffix, working_dir, output,