diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/font_manager.py b/lib/matplotlib/font_manager.py
index 3d33a28ce923..9a7c792102cd 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/font_manager.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/font_manager.py
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@
     ""
 ]
 
-if not USE_FONTCONFIG:
+if not USE_FONTCONFIG and sys.platform != 'win32':
     home = os.environ.get('HOME')
     if home is not None:
         # user fonts on OSX