diff --git a/etc/spack/defaults/config.yaml b/etc/spack/defaults/config.yaml
index b4d81f69da..36ea2b0f23 100644
--- a/etc/spack/defaults/config.yaml
+++ b/etc/spack/defaults/config.yaml
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ config:
   # This is the path to the root of the Spack install tree.
   # You can use $spack here to refer to the root of the spack instance.
   install_tree:
-    root: $spack/opt/spack
+    root: $user_cache_path
     projections:
       all: "{architecture}/{compiler.name}-{compiler.version}/{name}-{version}-{hash}"
     # install_tree can include an optional padded length (int or boolean)
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ config:
 
   # Cache directory for already downloaded source tarballs and archived
   # repositories. This can be purged with `spack clean --downloads`.
-  source_cache: $spack/var/spack/cache
+  source_cache: $user_cache_path/cache
 
 
   ## Directory where spack managed environments are created and stored