diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 8a2e788..3fcbf17 100644
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -3,16 +3,16 @@
 # clean + prepare local dirs
 rm -rf ~/.cache ~/.config/_cache
 rm -rf ~/.fdignore ~/.fzf.bash ~/.fzf.zsh ~/.gitconfig ~/.gitignore ~/.history ~/.tmux.conf ~/.vim* ~/.zcomp* ~/.zsh*
-mkdir -p ~/.cache/ ~/.config ~/.local/bin ~/.local/share ~/.local/config
+mkdir -p /tmp/${USER}-cache/ ~/.config ~/.local/bin ~/.local/share ~/.local/config
 
 # prepare global variables
 echo "skip_global_compinit=1" > $HOME/.zshenv
-echo "export XDG_DATA_HOME=$HOME/.local/share" >> $HOME/.zshenv
 case $(uname -s) in
   Darwin) echo "export XDG_CACHE_HOME=$HOME/Library/Caches" >> $HOME/.zshenv;;
-  Linux)  echo "export XDG_CACHE_HOME=$HOME/.cache" >> $HOME/.zshenv;;
+  Linux)  echo 'export XDG_CACHE_HOME=/tmp/${USER}-cache' >> $HOME/.zshenv;;
 esac
 echo "export XDG_CONFIG_HOME=$HOME/.config" >> $HOME/.zshenv
+echo "export XDG_DATA_HOME=$HOME/.local/share" >> $HOME/.zshenv
 echo "export ZDOTDIR=$HOME/.config/zsh" >> $HOME/.zshenv
 source $HOME/.zshenv
 
diff --git a/zsh/.zshrc b/zsh/.zshrc
index 97f0d56..f411f6d 100644
--- a/zsh/.zshrc
+++ b/zsh/.zshrc
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+[ ! -L ~/.cache ] && { rm -rf ~/.cache; mkdir -p $XDG_CACHE_HOME; ln -sf $XDG_CACHE_HOME ~/.cache ; }
 # global exports and options
 [ $(command -v vivid) ] && export LS_COLORS=$(vivid generate molokai) || unset LS_COLORS
 export HISTSIZE=10000