diff --git a/guix/utils.scm b/guix/utils.scm
index 6bcee17776..9e1b8ead0a 100644
--- a/guix/utils.scm
+++ b/guix/utils.scm
@@ -637,10 +637,11 @@ output port, and PROC's result is returned."
 
 (define (cache-directory)
   "Return the cache directory for Guix, by default ~/.cache/guix."
-  (or (getenv "XDG_CACHE_HOME")
-      (and=> (or (getenv "HOME")
-                 (passwd:dir (getpwuid (getuid))))
-             (cut string-append <> "/.cache/guix"))))
+  (string-append (or (getenv "XDG_CACHE_HOME")
+                     (and=> (or (getenv "HOME")
+                                (passwd:dir (getpwuid (getuid))))
+                            (cut string-append <> "/.cache")))
+                 "/guix"))
 
 (define (readlink* file)
   "Call 'readlink' until the result is not a symlink."