diff --git a/internal/util-collection/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/Util.scala b/internal/util-collection/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/Util.scala
index 5274b6083..06afd24a7 100644
--- a/internal/util-collection/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/Util.scala
+++ b/internal/util-collection/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/Util.scala
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ object Util {
 
   def ignoreResult[T](f: => T): Unit = macro Macro.ignore
 
+  lazy val isMac: Boolean =
+    System.getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase(Locale.ENGLISH).contains("mac")
+
   lazy val isWindows: Boolean =
     System.getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase(Locale.ENGLISH).contains("windows")
 
diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Keys.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Keys.scala
index 14b3d54dc..3e45c51b3 100644
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Keys.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/Keys.scala
@@ -388,6 +388,7 @@ object Keys {
   val pushRemoteCacheTo = settingKey[Option[Resolver]]("The resolver to publish remote cache to.")
   val remoteCacheResolvers = settingKey[Seq[Resolver]]("Resolvers for remote cache.")
   val remoteCachePom = taskKey[File]("Generates a pom for publishing when publishing Maven-style.")
+  val localCacheDirectory = settingKey[File]("Directory to pull the remote cache to.")
   val usePipelining = settingKey[Boolean]("Use subproject pipelining for compilation.").withRank(BSetting)
   val exportPipelining = settingKey[Boolean]("Product early output so downstream subprojects can do pipelining.").withRank(BSetting)
 
diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/RemoteCache.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/RemoteCache.scala
index be3b29b82..a6d017b37 100644
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/RemoteCache.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/RemoteCache.scala
@@ -50,10 +50,19 @@ object RemoteCache {
       .toList
       .map(_.take(commitLength))
 
+  lazy val defaultCacheLocation: File = SysProp.globalLocalCache
+
   lazy val globalSettings: Seq[Def.Setting[_]] = Seq(
     remoteCacheId := "",
     remoteCacheIdCandidates := Nil,
-    pushRemoteCacheTo :== None
+    pushRemoteCacheTo :== None,
+    localCacheDirectory :== defaultCacheLocation,
+    pushRemoteCache / ivyPaths := {
+      val app = appConfiguration.value
+      val base = app.baseDirectory.getCanonicalFile
+      // base is used only to resolve relative paths, which should never happen
+      IvyPaths(base, localCacheDirectory.value),
+    },
   )
 
   lazy val projectSettings: Seq[Def.Setting[_]] = (Seq(
@@ -114,7 +123,7 @@ object RemoteCache {
     remoteCacheResolvers := pushRemoteCacheTo.value.toVector,
   ) ++ inTask(pushRemoteCache)(
     Seq(
-      ivyPaths := IvyPaths(baseDirectory.value, crossTarget.value / "remote-cache"),
+      ivyPaths := (Scope.Global / pushRemoteCache / ivyPaths).value,
       ivyConfiguration := {
         val config0 = Classpaths.mkIvyConfiguration.value
         config0
diff --git a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/SysProp.scala b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/SysProp.scala
index 8ce0bb4b8..86bf9a0b6 100644
--- a/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/SysProp.scala
+++ b/main/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/SysProp.scala
@@ -8,13 +8,15 @@
 package sbt
 package internal
 
+import java.io.File
 import java.util.Locale
 
 import scala.util.control.NonFatal
 import scala.concurrent.duration._
-import sbt.internal.util.{ Terminal => ITerminal }
+import sbt.internal.util.{ Terminal => ITerminal, Util }
 import sbt.internal.util.complete.SizeParser
 import sbt.nio.Keys._
+import sbt.io.syntax._
 
 // See also BuildPaths.scala
 // See also LineReader.scala
@@ -176,4 +178,40 @@ object SysProp {
     }
   }
 
+  private[this] def file(value: String): File = new File(value)
+  private[this] def home: File = file(sys.props("user.home"))
+
+  /** Operating system specific cache directory, similar to Coursier cache.
+   */
+  def globalLocalCache: File = {
+    val appName = "sbt"
+    def propCacheDir: Option[File] = sys.props.get("sbt.global.localcache").map(file)
+    def propCacheDir2: Option[File] =
+      sys.props.get(BuildPaths.GlobalBaseProperty) match {
+        case Some(base) => Some(file(base) / "cache")
+        case _          => None
+      }
+    def envCacheDir: Option[File] = sys.env.get("SBT_LOCAL_CACHE").map(file)
+    def windowsCacheDir: Option[File] =
+      sys.env.get("LOCALAPPDATA") match {
+        case Some(app) if Util.isWindows => Some(file(app) / appName)
+        case _                           => None
+      }
+    def macCacheDir: Option[File] =
+      if (Util.isMac) Some(home / "Library" / "Caches" / appName)
+      else None
+    def linuxCache: File =
+      sys.env.get("XDG_CACHE_HOME") match {
+        case Some(cache) => file(cache) / appName
+        case _           => home / ".cache" / appName
+      }
+    def baseCache: File =
+      propCacheDir
+        .orElse(propCacheDir2)
+        .orElse(envCacheDir)
+        .orElse(windowsCacheDir)
+        .orElse(macCacheDir)
+        .getOrElse(linuxCache)
+    baseCache.getAbsoluteFile / "v1"
+  }
 }