diff --git a/src/radical/utils/config.py b/src/radical/utils/config.py
index f55db688..f795f540 100644
--- a/src/radical/utils/config.py
+++ b/src/radical/utils/config.py
@@ -27,10 +27,12 @@
 
     module         = 'module'
     module_path    = radical.utils.debug.find_module(module)
-    usr_base_dir   = os.environ.get('RADICAL_CONFIG_USER_DIR') or \
-                     os.environ.get('HOME', '/tmp')
-    sys_config_dir = '%s/configs'     % (module_path)
-    usr_config_dir = '%s/.%s/configs' % (usr_base_dir, module.replace('.', '/'))
+    sys_config_dir = '%s/configs' % module_path
+    usr_base_dir   = os.getenv('RADICAL_CONFIG_USER_DIR') or \
+                     os.getenv('HOME')
+    if usr_base_dir:
+        usr_config_dir = '%s/.%s/configs' % \
+            (usr_base_dir, module.replace('.', '/'))
 
 so the location of the module's `__init__.py` is used to derive the location
 of the installed system config files, and the module name is used to derive
@@ -282,14 +284,18 @@ def __init__(self, module=None, category=None, name=None, cfg=None,
             if not modpath:
                 raise ValueError("Cannot find module %s" % module)
 
-            home    = os.environ.get('HOME', '/tmp')
-            home    = os.environ.get('RADICAL_CONFIG_USER_DIR', home)
-            sys_dir = "%s/configs"     % (modpath)
-            usr_dir = "%s/.%s/configs" % (home, module.replace('.', '/'))
-            fname   = '%s_%s.json'     % (category.replace('.', '/'), name)
+            fname     = '%s_%s.json' % (category.replace('.', '/'), name)
 
-            sys_fspec = '%s/%s' % (sys_dir, fname)
-            usr_fspec = '%s/%s' % (usr_dir, fname)
+            sys_dir   = '%s/configs' % modpath
+            sys_fspec = '%s/%s'      % (sys_dir, fname)
+
+            home = os.getenv('RADICAL_CONFIG_USER_DIR') or os.getenv('HOME')
+            if home:
+                usr_dir   = '%s/.%s/configs' % (home, module.replace('.', '/'))
+                usr_fspec = '%s/%s'          % (usr_dir, fname)
+            else:
+                usr_dir   = None
+                usr_fspec = None
 
             if '*' in fname: starred = True
             else           : starred = False
@@ -371,10 +377,13 @@ def __init__(self, module=None, category=None, name=None, cfg=None,
 
             fname     = '%s.json' % (category.replace('.', '/'))
             sys_fname = '%s/%s'   % (sys_dir, fname)
-            usr_fname = '%s/%s'   % (usr_dir, fname)
+            if os.path.isfile(sys_fname):
+                sys_cfg = read_json(sys_fname)
 
-            if os.path.isfile(sys_fname): sys_cfg = read_json(sys_fname)
-            if os.path.isfile(usr_fname): usr_cfg = read_json(usr_fname)
+            if usr_dir:
+                usr_fname = '%s/%s' % (usr_dir, fname)
+                if os.path.isfile(usr_fname):
+                    usr_cfg = read_json(usr_fname)
 
 
         # merge sys, usr and app cfg before expansion
diff --git a/tests/unittests/test_config.py b/tests/unittests/test_config.py
index e541d086..54258a82 100755
--- a/tests/unittests/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/unittests/test_config.py
@@ -2,7 +2,10 @@
 
 # pylint: disable=protected-access
 
+import glob
 import os
+import shutil
+import tempfile
 
 from unittest import TestCase
 
@@ -13,6 +16,25 @@
 #
 class ConfigTestCase(TestCase):
 
+    _cleanup_files = []
+
+    # --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    #
+    @classmethod
+    def tearDownClass(cls) -> None:
+
+        for p in cls._cleanup_files:
+            if p is None:
+                continue
+            for f in glob.glob(p):
+                if os.path.isdir(f):
+                    try:
+                        shutil.rmtree(f)
+                    except OSError as e:
+                        print('[ERROR] %s - %s' % (e.filename, e.strerror))
+                else:
+                    os.unlink(f)
+
     # --------------------------------------------------------------------------
     #
     def test_config(self):
@@ -68,5 +90,36 @@ def test_default_config(self):
         self.assertEqual(id(dc1), id(dc2))
         self.assertEqual(dc1, dc2)
 
+    # --------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    #
+    def test_user_config(self):
+
+        cfg_dir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
+        self._cleanup_files.append(cfg_dir)
+
+        os.environ['RADICAL_CONFIG_USER_DIR'] = cfg_dir
+        self.assertNotEqual(os.environ['RADICAL_CONFIG_USER_DIR'],
+                            os.environ['HOME'])
+
+        cfg_dir += '/.radical/utils/configs'
+        ru.rec_makedir(cfg_dir)
+
+        cfg = {'foo_0': {'foo_1': {'foo2': 'bar'}}}
+        ru.write_json(cfg, cfg_dir + '/user_default.json')
+
+        c = ru.Config(module='radical.utils', category='user')
+        self.assertEqual(c.foo_0.foo_1.foo2, 'bar')
+        self.assertIsInstance(c.foo_0.foo_1, ru.Config)
+
+        saved_home_dir = os.environ['HOME']
+        del os.environ['HOME']
+        del os.environ['RADICAL_CONFIG_USER_DIR']
+
+        c2 = ru.Config(module='radical.utils', category='user')
+        # no config data collected
+        self.assertFalse(c2.as_dict())
+
+        os.environ['HOME'] = saved_home_dir
+
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------