diff --git a/nixops/deployment.py b/nixops/deployment.py
index 42facaba5..cff1b768e 100644
--- a/nixops/deployment.py
+++ b/nixops/deployment.py
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ def _get_deployment_lock(
         self,
     ) -> Any:  # FIXME: DeploymentLock is defined inside the function
         if self._lock_file_path is None:
-            lock_dir = os.environ.get("HOME", "") + "/.nixops/locks"
+            lock_dir = os.environ.get("NIXOPS_STATE", os.environ.get("HOME", "") + "/.nixops" ) + "/locks"
             if not os.path.exists(lock_dir):
                 os.makedirs(lock_dir, 0o700)
             self._lock_file_path = lock_dir + "/" + self.uuid