diff --git a/modules/programs/gpg.nix b/modules/programs/gpg.nix
index 1c77d871e..dc3dd107f 100644
--- a/modules/programs/gpg.nix
+++ b/modules/programs/gpg.nix
@@ -35,6 +35,13 @@ in
         <link xlink:href="https://gnupg.org/documentation/manpage.html"/>.
       '';
     };
+
+    homedir = mkOption {
+      type = types.path;
+      example = literalExample "${config.xdg.dataHome}/gnupg";
+      default = "${config.home.homeDirectory}/.gnupg";
+      description = "Directory to store keychains and configuration.";
+    };
   };
 
   config = mkIf cfg.enable {
@@ -60,7 +67,10 @@ in
     };
 
     home.packages = [ pkgs.gnupg ];
+    home.sessionVariables = {
+      GNUPGHOME = cfg.homedir;
+    };
 
-    home.file.".gnupg/gpg.conf".text = cfgText;
+    home.file."${cfg.homedir}/gpg.conf".text = cfgText;
   };
 }
diff --git a/modules/services/gpg-agent.nix b/modules/services/gpg-agent.nix
index 8237c6f7b..41a1ff39d 100644
--- a/modules/services/gpg-agent.nix
+++ b/modules/services/gpg-agent.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+{ config, options, lib, pkgs, ... }:
 
 with lib;
 
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ let
 
   cfg = config.services.gpg-agent;
 
+  homedir = config.programs.gpg.homedir;
+
   gpgInitStr = ''
     GPG_TTY="$(tty)"
     export GPG_TTY
@@ -13,6 +15,27 @@ let
   + optionalString cfg.enableSshSupport
       "${pkgs.gnupg}/bin/gpg-connect-agent updatestartuptty /bye > /dev/null";
 
+  # mimic `gpgconf` output for use in `systemd` unit definitions.
+  # we cannot use `gpgconf` directly because it heavily depends on system
+  # state, but we need the values at build time. original:
+  # https://github.com/gpg/gnupg/blob/c6702d77d936b3e9d91b34d8fdee9599ab94ee1b/common/homedir.c#L672-L681
+  gpgconf = dir: let
+    f = pkgs.runCommand dir {} ''
+      PATH=${pkgs.coreutils}/bin:${pkgs.xxd}/bin:$PATH
+
+      if [[ ${homedir} = ${options.programs.gpg.homedir.default} ]]
+      then
+        echo -n "%t/gnupg/${dir}" > $out
+      else
+        hash=$(echo -n ${homedir} | sha1sum -b | xxd -r -p | base32 | \
+               cut -c -24 | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | \
+               tr abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz234567 \
+                  ybndrfg8ejkmcpqxot1uwisza345h769)
+         echo -n "%t/gnupg/d.$hash/${dir}" > $out
+      fi
+    '';
+    in "${builtins.readFile f}";
+
 in
 
 {
@@ -154,7 +177,7 @@ in
 
   config = mkIf cfg.enable (mkMerge [
     {
-      home.file.".gnupg/gpg-agent.conf".text = concatStringsSep "\n" (
+      home.file."${homedir}/gpg-agent.conf".text = concatStringsSep "\n" (
         optional (cfg.enableSshSupport) "enable-ssh-support"
         ++
         optional (!cfg.grabKeyboardAndMouse) "no-grab"
@@ -193,7 +216,7 @@ in
 
     (mkIf (cfg.sshKeys != null) {
       # Trailing newlines are important
-      home.file.".gnupg/sshcontrol".text = concatMapStrings (s: "${s}\n") cfg.sshKeys;
+      home.file."${homedir}/sshcontrol".text = concatMapStrings (s: "${s}\n") cfg.sshKeys;
     })
 
     # The systemd units below are direct translations of the
@@ -227,7 +250,7 @@ in
         };
 
         Socket = {
-          ListenStream = "%t/gnupg/S.gpg-agent";
+          ListenStream = gpgconf "S.gpg-agent";
           FileDescriptorName = "std";
           SocketMode = "0600";
           DirectoryMode = "0700";
@@ -247,7 +270,7 @@ in
         };
 
         Socket = {
-          ListenStream = "%t/gnupg/S.gpg-agent.ssh";
+          ListenStream = gpgconf "S.gpg-agent.ssh";
           FileDescriptorName = "ssh";
           Service = "gpg-agent.service";
           SocketMode = "0600";
@@ -268,7 +291,7 @@ in
         };
 
         Socket = {
-          ListenStream = "%t/gnupg/S.gpg-agent.extra";
+          ListenStream = gpgconf "S.gpg-agent.extra";
           FileDescriptorName = "extra";
           Service = "gpg-agent.service";
           SocketMode = "0600";
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/gpg/override-defaults.nix b/tests/modules/programs/gpg/override-defaults.nix
index 905b984c5..3b00e451b 100644
--- a/tests/modules/programs/gpg/override-defaults.nix
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/gpg/override-defaults.nix
@@ -16,11 +16,13 @@ with lib;
           "0xYYYYYYYYYYYYY"
         ];
       };
+
+      homedir = "${config.home.homeDirectory}/bar/foopg";
     };
 
     nmt.script = ''
-      assertFileExists home-files/.gnupg/gpg.conf
-      assertFileContent home-files/.gnupg/gpg.conf ${./override-defaults-expected.conf}
+      assertFileExists home-files/bar/foopg/gpg.conf
+      assertFileContent home-files/bar/foopg/gpg.conf ${./override-defaults-expected.conf}
     '';
   };
 }
diff --git a/tests/modules/services/gpg-agent/default-homedir.nix b/tests/modules/services/gpg-agent/default-homedir.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f7ebf5739
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/modules/services/gpg-agent/default-homedir.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+
+with lib;
+
+{
+  config = {
+    services.gpg-agent.enable = true;
+    programs.gpg.enable = true;
+
+    nixpkgs.overlays =
+      [ (self: super: { gnupg = pkgs.writeScriptBin "dummy-gnupg" ""; }) ];
+
+    nmt.script = ''
+      in="${config.systemd.user.sockets.gpg-agent.Socket.ListenStream}"
+      if [[ $in != "%t/gnupg/S.gpg-agent" ]]
+      then
+        echo $in
+        fail "gpg-agent socket directory not set to default value"
+      fi
+    '';
+  };
+}
diff --git a/tests/modules/services/gpg-agent/default.nix b/tests/modules/services/gpg-agent/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cf34517b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/modules/services/gpg-agent/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+  gpg-agent-default-homedir = ./default-homedir.nix;
+  gpg-agent-override-homedir = ./override-homedir.nix;
+}
diff --git a/tests/modules/services/gpg-agent/override-homedir.nix b/tests/modules/services/gpg-agent/override-homedir.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6705a0014
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/modules/services/gpg-agent/override-homedir.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+
+with lib;
+
+{
+  config = {
+    services.gpg-agent.enable = true;
+    programs.gpg = {
+      enable = true;
+      homedir = "${config.home.homeDirectory}/foo/bar";
+    };
+
+    nixpkgs.overlays =
+      [ (self: super: { gnupg = pkgs.writeScriptBin "dummy-gnupg" ""; }) ];
+
+    nmt.script = ''
+      in="${config.systemd.user.sockets.gpg-agent.Socket.ListenStream}"
+      if [[ $in != "%t/gnupg/d."????????????????????????"/S.gpg-agent" ]]
+      then
+        echo $in
+        fail "gpg-agent socket directory is malformed"
+      fi
+    '';
+  };
+}