diff --git a/src/container.c b/src/container.c
index 4d4d31b..06a9097 100644
--- a/src/container.c
+++ b/src/container.c
@@ -348,6 +348,9 @@ static int hyper_container_init(void *data)
 		goto fail;
 	}
 
+	// set additinal env before config so that the config can overwrite it
+	setenv("HOME", "/root", 1);
+
 	if (hyper_setup_env(container->envs, container->envs_num) < 0) {
 		fprintf(stdout, "setup env failed\n");
 		goto fail;