diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/melpa-packages.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/melpa-packages.nix
index 96920e3baca..f9022767ccd 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/melpa-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/emacs-modes/melpa-packages.nix
@@ -163,6 +163,11 @@ self:
             (attrs.nativeBuildInputs or []) ++ [ external.git ];
          }));
 
+      # tries to write to $HOME
+      php-auto-yasnippets = super.php-auto-yasnippets.overrideAttrs (attrs: {
+        HOME = "/tmp";
+      });
+
       # upstream issue: mismatched filename
       processing-snippets = markBroken super.processing-snippets;