diff --git a/flags.go b/flags.go
index e5467f5a6c..7388411166 100644
--- a/flags.go
+++ b/flags.go
@@ -1,11 +1,25 @@
 package main
 
-import "github.com/codegangsta/cli"
+import (
+	"github.com/codegangsta/cli"
+	"os/user"
+	"path"
+
+	log "github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
+)
+
+func homepath(p string) string {
+	usr, err := user.Current()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	return path.Join(usr.HomeDir, p)
+}
 
 var (
 	flStore = cli.StringFlag{
-		Name:  "store",
-		Value: "/var/lib/docker/swarm/store",
+		Name:  "rootdir",
+		Value: homepath(".swarm"),
 		Usage: "",
 	}
 	flDiscovery = cli.StringFlag{
diff --git a/manage.go b/manage.go
index 46f251527a..86cd9c4341 100644
--- a/manage.go
+++ b/manage.go
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ func manage(c *cli.Context) {
 		}
 	}
 
-	store := state.NewStore(path.Join(c.String("store"), "state"))
+	store := state.NewStore(path.Join(c.String("rootdir"), "state"))
 	if err := store.Initialize(); err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}