diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/timetagger/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/timetagger/default.nix
index 0efc930550ba..c41952f85424 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/timetagger/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/timetagger/default.nix
@@ -16,24 +16,6 @@ python3Packages.buildPythonPackage rec {
     sha256 = "1x0hy9wnifi694glwv6irhnjvwh1kgl6wn6qlk5qy4x6z6bkii24";
   };
 
-  meta = with lib; {
-    homepage = "https://timetagger.app";
-    license = licenses.gpl3;
-    description = "Tag your time, get the insight";
-    maintainers = with maintainers; [ matthiasbeyer ];
-  };
-
-  checkInputs = [
-    pytestCheckHook
-    requests
-  ];
-
-  preCheck = ''
-    # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/12591
-    mkdir -p check-phase
-    export HOME=$(pwd)/check-phase
-  '';
-
   propagatedBuildInputs = with python3Packages; [
     asgineer
     itemdb
@@ -44,4 +26,19 @@ python3Packages.buildPythonPackage rec {
     uvicorn
   ];
 
+  preCheck = ''
+    export HOME=$(mktemp -d)
+  '';
+
+  checkInputs = [
+    pytestCheckHook
+    requests
+  ];
+
+  meta = with lib; {
+    homepage = "https://timetagger.app";
+    license = licenses.gpl3;
+    description = "Tag your time, get the insight";
+    maintainers = with maintainers; [ matthiasbeyer ];
+  };
 }