diff --git a/crates/rattler_cache/src/lib.rs b/crates/rattler_cache/src/lib.rs
index a6995f46a..753b867a1 100644
--- a/crates/rattler_cache/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/rattler_cache/src/lib.rs
@@ -7,9 +7,22 @@ pub mod validation;
 mod consts;
 pub use consts::{PACKAGE_CACHE_DIR, REPODATA_CACHE_DIR};
 
-/// Returns the default cache directory used by rattler.
+/// Determines the default cache directory for rattler.
+/// It first checks the environment variable `RATTLER_CACHE_DIR`.
+/// If not set, it falls back to the standard cache directory provided by `dirs::cache_dir()/rattler/cache`.
 pub fn default_cache_dir() -> anyhow::Result<PathBuf> {
-    Ok(dirs::cache_dir()
-        .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("could not determine cache directory for current platform"))?
-        .join("rattler/cache"))
+    std::env::var("RATTLER_CACHE_DIR")
+        .map(PathBuf::from)
+        .or_else(|_| {
+            dirs::cache_dir()
+                .ok_or_else(|| {
+                    anyhow::anyhow!("could not determine cache directory for current platform")
+                })
+                // Append `rattler/cache` to the cache directory
+                .map(|mut p| {
+                    p.push("rattler");
+                    p.push("cache");
+                    p
+                })
+        })
 }
diff --git a/crates/rattler_shell/Cargo.toml b/crates/rattler_shell/Cargo.toml
index 2a484d19c..40543a167 100644
--- a/crates/rattler_shell/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/rattler_shell/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ readme.workspace = true
 [dependencies]
 enum_dispatch = { workspace = true }
 indexmap = { workspace = true }
+fs-err = { workspace = true }
 itertools = { workspace = true }
 rattler_conda_types = { path="../rattler_conda_types", version = "0.29.0", default-features = false }
 serde_json = { workspace = true, features = ["preserve_order"] }
diff --git a/crates/rattler_shell/src/activation.rs b/crates/rattler_shell/src/activation.rs
index cc12d0b96..d5e200f16 100644
--- a/crates/rattler_shell/src/activation.rs
+++ b/crates/rattler_shell/src/activation.rs
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@
 //! This crate provides helper functions to activate and deactivate virtual
 //! environments.
 
+use fs_err as fs;
 use std::{
     collections::HashMap,
     ffi::OsStr,
-    fs,
     path::{Path, PathBuf},
     process::ExitStatus,
 };
diff --git a/crates/rattler_shell/src/run/mod.rs b/crates/rattler_shell/src/run/mod.rs
index 03d4e688b..d925b6d79 100644
--- a/crates/rattler_shell/src/run/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/rattler_shell/src/run/mod.rs
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ pub fn run_in_environment(
     let file = tempfile::Builder::new()
         .suffix(&format!(".{}", shell.extension()))
         .tempfile()?;
-    std::fs::write(file.path(), shell_script.contents()?)?;
+    fs_err::write(file.path(), shell_script.contents()?)?;
 
     match shell {
         ShellEnum::Bash(_) => Ok(Command::new(shell.executable()).arg(file.path()).output()?),