diff --git a/cli/src/main/scala-2.11/coursier/cli/Bootstrap.scala b/cli/src/main/scala-2.11/coursier/cli/Bootstrap.scala
index 1288cc0b5..d07f5a8fe 100644
--- a/cli/src/main/scala-2.11/coursier/cli/Bootstrap.scala
+++ b/cli/src/main/scala-2.11/coursier/cli/Bootstrap.scala
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ case class Bootstrap(
     if (options.downloadDir.isEmpty)
       helper.baseDependencies.headOption match {
         case Some(dep) =>
-          s"\\$$HOME/.coursier/bootstrap/${dep.module.organization}/${dep.module.name}"
+          s"$${user.home}/.coursier/bootstrap/${dep.module.organization}/${dep.module.name}"
         case None =>
           Console.err.println("Error: no dependencies specified.")
           sys.exit(255)