diff --git a/Gopkg.lock b/Gopkg.lock
index 37cf1dc08..3b9a9908a 100644
--- a/Gopkg.lock
+++ b/Gopkg.lock
@@ -123,6 +123,14 @@
   revision = "ccb8e960c48f04d6935e72476ae4a51028f9e22f"
   version = "v9"
 
+[[projects]]
+  branch = "master"
+  digest = "1:ef3589c5082eac12d04efdeca6dab7f8bac2d10bac4cfdbe51b252e4022b535a"
+  name = "github.com/casimir/xdg-go"
+  packages = ["."]
+  pruneopts = "UT"
+  revision = "372ccc2180dab73316615641d5617c5ed3e35529"
+
 [[projects]]
   branch = "master"
   digest = "1:d6afaeed1502aa28e80a4ed0981d570ad91b2579193404256ce672ed0a609e0d"
@@ -1624,6 +1632,7 @@
     "github.com/docker/distribution/registry",
     "github.com/docker/distribution/registry/storage/driver/inmemory",
     "github.com/docker/go-units",
+    "github.com/casimir/xdg-go",
     "github.com/evanphx/json-patch",
     "github.com/ghodss/yaml",
     "github.com/gobwas/glob",
diff --git a/Gopkg.toml b/Gopkg.toml
index 4c334aa7f..482e6138b 100644
--- a/Gopkg.toml
+++ b/Gopkg.toml
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@
   name = "github.com/stretchr/testify"
   version = "^1.3.0"
 
+[[constraint]]
+  branch = "master"
+  name = "github.com/casimir/xdg-go"
+
 [[override]]
   name = "k8s.io/apiserver"
   branch = "release-1.13"
diff --git a/cmd/helm/init.go b/cmd/helm/init.go
index f665bbe42..ad91308d4 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/init.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/init.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 const initDesc = `
-This command sets up local configuration in $HELM_HOME (default ~/.helm/).
+This command sets up local configuration in $HELM_HOME (default $XDG_CONFIG_DIR/helm/).
 `
 
 const (
diff --git a/cmd/helm/root.go b/cmd/helm/root.go
index ec47071d7..dba679e93 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/root.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/root.go
@@ -44,7 +44,11 @@ Common actions from this point include:
 - helm list:      list releases of charts
 
 Environment:
-  $HELM_HOME          set an alternative location for Helm files. By default, these are stored in ~/.helm
+  $HELM_HOME          set an alternative location for Helm files. By default, these are stored in 
+					  "$XDG_CONFIG_DIR/helm"" on *nix, "%APPDATA%\helm" on Windows and 
+                      "$HOME/Library/Preferences" on OSX.
+                      NOTE: if you have old-style "~/.helm" directory, it will be used, but consider 
+					  moving it to a new home.
   $HELM_DRIVER        set the backend storage driver. Values are: configmap, secret, memory
   $HELM_NO_PLUGINS    disable plugins. Set HELM_NO_PLUGINS=1 to disable plugins.
   $KUBECONFIG         set an alternative Kubernetes configuration file (default "~/.kube/config")
diff --git a/cmd/helm/root_test.go b/cmd/helm/root_test.go
index 163b24bb6..924ec8a7a 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/root_test.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/root_test.go
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ func TestRootCmd(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			name: "defaults",
 			args: "home",
-			home: filepath.Join(homedir.HomeDir(), ".helm"),
+			home: filepath.Join(homedir.HomeDir(), ".config/helm"),
 		},
 		{
 			name: "with --home set",
diff --git a/pkg/helm/environment/environment.go b/pkg/helm/environment/environment.go
index c0b911175..73744b78b 100644
--- a/pkg/helm/environment/environment.go
+++ b/pkg/helm/environment/environment.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ These dependencies are expressed as interfaces so that alternate implementations
 package environment
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"github.com/casimir/xdg-go"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -33,7 +34,6 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/helm/helmpath"
 )
 
-
 var oldDefaultHelmHome = filepath.Join(homedir.HomeDir(), ".helm")
 var defaultHelmHome = filepath.Join(xdg.ConfigHome(), "helm")
 
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ func getDefaultConfigHome() string {
 	} else if _, err := os.Stat(oldDefaultHelmHome); err != nil {
 		return defaultHelmHome
 	}
-	// TODO: Write a warning to output
+	fmt.Printf("WARNING: using old-style configuration directiry. Please, consider moving it to %s\n", defaultHelmHome)
 	return oldDefaultHelmHome
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/helm/environment/environment_test.go b/pkg/helm/environment/environment_test.go
index 48e048862..f54127c6d 100644
--- a/pkg/helm/environment/environment_test.go
+++ b/pkg/helm/environment/environment_test.go
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ func TestEnvSettings(t *testing.T) {
 	}{
 		{
 			name:    "defaults",
-			home:    oldDefaultHelmHome,
-			plugins: helmpath.Home(oldDefaultHelmHome).Plugins(),
+			home:    defaultHelmHome,
+			plugins: helmpath.Home(defaultHelmHome).Plugins(),
 			ns:      "",
 		},
 		{