diff --git a/liquidctl/keyval.py b/liquidctl/keyval.py
index a1e71bf67..6efe6c782 100644
--- a/liquidctl/keyval.py
+++ b/liquidctl/keyval.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ def get_runtime_dirs(appname='liquidctl'):
     if sys.platform == 'win32':
         dirs = [os.path.join(os.getenv('TEMP'), appname)]
     elif sys.platform == 'darwin':
-        dirs = [os.path.join('~/Library/Caches', appname)]
+        dirs = [os.path.expanduser(os.path.join('~/Library/Caches', appname))]
     elif sys.platform == 'linux':
         # threat all other platforms as *nix and conform to XDG basedir spec
         dirs = []
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ def __init__(self, key_prefixes):
         self._read_dirs = [os.path.join(x, *key_prefixes) for x in get_runtime_dirs()]
         self._write_dir = self._read_dirs[0]
         os.makedirs(self._write_dir, exist_ok=True)
-        if XDG_RUNTIME_DIR and os.path.commonpath([XDG_RUNTIME_DIR, self._write_dir]):
+        if sys.platform == 'linux':
             # set the sticky bit to prevent removal during cleanup
             os.chmod(self._write_dir, 0o1700)
             LOGGER.debug('data in %s (within XDG_RUNTIME_DIR)', self._write_dir)