diff --git a/src/template.jl b/src/template.jl
index d59cb76..40a85cc 100644
--- a/src/template.jl
+++ b/src/template.jl
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ create a template, you can use [`interactive_template`](@ref) instead.
 
         years = string(years)
 
+        dir = abspath(expanduser(dir))
+
         requirements_dedup = collect(Set(requirements))
         diff = length(requirements) - length(requirements_dedup)
         names = [tokens[1] for tokens in split.(requirements_dedup)]
@@ -101,7 +103,7 @@ create a template, you can use [`interactive_template`](@ref) instead.
         end
 
         new(
-            user, host, license, authors, years, abspath(dir), julia_version,
+            user, host, license, authors, years, dir, julia_version,
             requirements_dedup, gitconfig, plugin_dict,
         )
     end
diff --git a/test/tests.jl b/test/tests.jl
index 6248576..1a36a87 100644
--- a/test/tests.jl
+++ b/test/tests.jl
@@ -61,6 +61,10 @@ write(test_file, template_text)
 
     t = Template(; user=me, dir=test_file)
     @test t.dir == abspath(test_file)
+    if is_unix()  # ~ means temporary file on Windows, not $HOME.
+        t = Template(; user=me, dir="~/$(basename(test_file))")
+        @test t.dir == joinpath(homedir(), basename(test_file))
+    end
 
     t = Template(; user=me, julia_version=v"0.1.2")
     @test t.julia_version == v"0.1.2"