diff --git a/snamellit/common.scm b/snamellit/common.scm
index 2fa37c2..faf21b5 100644
--- a/snamellit/common.scm
+++ b/snamellit/common.scm
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@
    (simple-service 'my-xdg-data-dirs home-environment-variables-service-type
                    `(("XDG_DATA_DIRS" . 
                       ,(add-folders-to-path
-                        (getenv "XDG_DATA_DIRS")
+                        (or (getenv "XDG_DATA_DIRS") "")
                         '("/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share"
                           "/home/pti/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share"
                           "/home/pti/.guix-home/profile/share")))))