diff --git a/config.go b/config.go
index 191eb93..c942409 100644
--- a/config.go
+++ b/config.go
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	// FilePasswordFunc is a required function used to prompt the user for a password
 	FilePasswordFunc PromptFunc
 
-	// FileDir is the directory that keyring files are stored in, ~ is resolved to home dir
+	// FileDir is the directory that keyring files are stored in, ~/ is resolved to the users' home dir
 	FileDir string
 
 	// KeyCtlScope is the scope of the kernel keyring (either "user", "session", "process" or "thread")
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	// LibSecretCollectionName is the name collection in secret-service
 	LibSecretCollectionName string
 
-	// PassDir is the pass password-store directory
+	// PassDir is the pass password-store directory, ~/ is resolved to the users' home dir
 	PassDir string
 
 	// PassCmd is the name of the pass executable
diff --git a/file.go b/file.go
index fd2f6e5..a325a15 100644
--- a/file.go
+++ b/file.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"strings"
 	"time"
 
 	jose "github.com/dvsekhvalnov/jose2go"
@@ -38,16 +37,9 @@ func (k *fileKeyring) resolveDir() (string, error) {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("No directory provided for file keyring")
 	}
 
-	dir := k.dir
-
-	// expand tilde for home directory
-	if strings.HasPrefix(dir, "~") {
-		home, err := os.UserHomeDir()
-		if err != nil {
-			return "", err
-		}
-		dir = strings.Replace(dir, "~", home, 1)
-		debugf("Expanded file dir to %s", dir)
+	dir, err := ExpandTilde(k.dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
 	}
 
 	stat, err := os.Stat(dir)
diff --git a/pass.go b/pass.go
index 8ab252e..823666f 100644
--- a/pass.go
+++ b/pass.go
@@ -15,33 +15,37 @@ import (
 
 func init() {
 	supportedBackends[PassBackend] = opener(func(cfg Config) (Keyring, error) {
+		var err error
+
 		pass := &passKeyring{
 			passcmd: cfg.PassCmd,
 			dir:     cfg.PassDir,
 			prefix:  cfg.PassPrefix,
 		}
-		if cfg.PassCmd == "" {
+
+		if pass.passcmd == "" {
 			pass.passcmd = "pass"
 		}
-		if cfg.PassDir == "" {
+
+		if pass.dir == "" {
 			if passDir, found := os.LookupEnv("PASSWORD_STORE_DIR"); found {
 				pass.dir = passDir
 			} else {
-				pass.dir = filepath.Join(os.Getenv("HOME"), ".password-store")
-			}
-		} else if strings.HasPrefix(pass.dir, "~") {
-			if len(pass.dir) > 1 && pass.dir[1] != '/' {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("Cannot expand path: %s", pass.dir)
+				homeDir, err := os.UserHomeDir()
+				if err != nil {
+					return nil, err
+				}
+				pass.dir = filepath.Join(homeDir, ".password-store")
 			}
-			home, err := os.UserHomeDir()
-			if err != nil {
-				return nil, err
-			}
-			pass.dir = filepath.Join(home, pass.dir[1:])
+		}
+
+		pass.dir, err = ExpandTilde(pass.dir)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
 		}
 
 		// fail if the pass program is not available
-		_, err := exec.LookPath(pass.passcmd)
+		_, err = exec.LookPath(pass.passcmd)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, errors.New("The pass program is not available")
 		}
diff --git a/tilde.go b/tilde.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3b9d54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tilde.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package keyring
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// ~/ or ~\ depending on OS
+var tildePrefix = string([]rune{'~', filepath.Separator})
+
+// expand tilde for home directory
+func ExpandTilde(dir string) (string, error) {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(dir, tildePrefix) {
+		homeDir, err := os.UserHomeDir()
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", err
+		}
+		dir = strings.Replace(dir, "~", homeDir, 1)
+		debugf("Expanded file dir to %s", dir)
+	}
+	return dir, nil
+}