diff --git a/lisp/thumbs.el b/lisp/thumbs.el
index 7df2d295c9e..56f4e45dcb3 100644
--- a/lisp/thumbs.el
+++ b/lisp/thumbs.el
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
   :version "22.1"
   :group 'multimedia)
 
-(defcustom thumbs-thumbsdir "~/.emacs.d/thumbs"
+(defcustom thumbs-thumbsdir (concat user-emacs-directory "thumbs")
   "*Directory to store thumbnails."
   :type 'directory
   :group 'thumbs)