diff --git a/src/utils.c b/src/utils.c
index 61bc43d83..9a4c1695f 100644
--- a/src/utils.c
+++ b/src/utils.c
@@ -180,12 +180,10 @@ int string_array_length(char **s)
 char *string_to_path(char *string)
 {
 
-        if (string && STRN_EQ(string, "~/", 2)) {
-                char *home = g_strconcat(user_get_home(), "/", NULL);
-
-                string = string_replace_at(string, 0, 2, home);
-
-                g_free(home);
+        if (string && (STRN_EQ(string, "~/", 2) || STRN_EQ(string, "$HOME/", 6))) {
+                char *ret = g_strconcat(user_get_home(), strstr(string, "/"), NULL);
+                g_free(string);
+                return ret;
         }
 
         return string;