diff --git a/cmd/helm/init.go b/cmd/helm/init.go
index 9cfa30c97..c8eb3a7e6 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/init.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/init.go
@@ -409,9 +409,7 @@ func initStableRepo(cacheFile string, out io.Writer, skipRefresh bool, home helm
 		return &c, nil
 	}
 
-	// In this case, the cacheFile is always absolute. So passing empty string
-	// is safe.
-	if err := r.DownloadIndexFile(""); err != nil {
+	if err := r.DownloadIndexFile(home.Cache()); err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Looks like %q is not a valid chart repository or cannot be reached: %s", stableRepositoryURL, err.Error())
 	}