diff --git a/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsPlatform.cs b/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsPlatform.cs
index 62f84e8545f..e9960a2abe5 100644
--- a/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsPlatform.cs
+++ b/src/System.Management.Automation/CoreCLR/CorePsPlatform.cs
@@ -261,7 +261,14 @@ public static string SelectProductNameForDirectory(Platform.XDG_Type dirpath)
                         // create the xdg folder if needed
                         if (!Directory.Exists(xdgDataHomeDefault))
                         {
-                            Directory.CreateDirectory(xdgDataHomeDefault);
+                            try
+                            {
+                                Directory.CreateDirectory(xdgDataHomeDefault);
+                            }
+                            catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
+                            {
+                                //service accounts won't have permission to create user folder
+                            }
                         }
                         return xdgDataHomeDefault;
                     }
@@ -277,7 +284,14 @@ public static string SelectProductNameForDirectory(Platform.XDG_Type dirpath)
                         //xdg values have not been set
                         if (!Directory.Exists(xdgModuleDefault)) //module folder not always guaranteed to exist
                         {
-                            Directory.CreateDirectory(xdgModuleDefault);
+                            try
+                            {
+                                Directory.CreateDirectory(xdgModuleDefault);
+                            }
+                            catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
+                            {
+                                //service accounts won't have permission to create user folder
+                            }
                         }
                         return xdgModuleDefault;
                     }
@@ -296,7 +310,14 @@ public static string SelectProductNameForDirectory(Platform.XDG_Type dirpath)
                         //xdg values have not been set
                         if (!Directory.Exists(xdgCacheDefault)) //module folder not always guaranteed to exist
                         {
-                            Directory.CreateDirectory(xdgCacheDefault);
+                            try
+                            {
+                                Directory.CreateDirectory(xdgCacheDefault);
+                            }
+                            catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
+                            {
+                                //service accounts won't have permission to create user folder
+                            }
                         }
 
                         return xdgCacheDefault;
@@ -306,7 +327,14 @@ public static string SelectProductNameForDirectory(Platform.XDG_Type dirpath)
                     {
                         if (!Directory.Exists(Path.Combine(xdgcachehome, "powershell")))
                         {
-                            Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.Combine(xdgcachehome, "powershell"));
+                            try
+                            {
+                                Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.Combine(xdgcachehome, "powershell"));
+                            }
+                            catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
+                            {
+                                //service accounts won't have permission to create user folder
+                            }                                
                         }
 
                         return Path.Combine(xdgcachehome, "powershell");
diff --git a/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/Modules/AnalysisCache.cs b/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/Modules/AnalysisCache.cs
index 3e626f5402d..19809589557 100644
--- a/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/Modules/AnalysisCache.cs
+++ b/src/System.Management.Automation/engine/Modules/AnalysisCache.cs
@@ -618,6 +618,8 @@ private static byte[] GetHeader()
 
         private int _saveCacheToDiskQueued;
 
+        private bool _saveCacheToDisk = true;
+
         public void QueueSerialization()
         {
             // We expect many modules to rapidly call for serialization.
@@ -625,7 +627,7 @@ public void QueueSerialization()
             // after it seems like we've stopped adding stuff to write out.  This is
             // avoids blocking the pipeline thread waiting for the write to finish.
             // We want to make sure we only queue one task.
-            if (Interlocked.Increment(ref _saveCacheToDiskQueued) == 1)
+            if (_saveCacheToDisk && Interlocked.Increment(ref _saveCacheToDiskQueued) == 1)
             {
                 Task.Run(async delegate
                 {
@@ -694,6 +696,8 @@ private static void Write(string val, byte[] bytes, FileStream stream)
         private void Serialize(string filename)
         {
             AnalysisCacheData fromOtherProcess = null;
+            Diagnostics.Assert(_saveCacheToDisk != false, "Serialize should never be called without going through QueueSerialization which has a check");
+
             try
             {
                 if (Utils.NativeFileExists(filename))
@@ -710,7 +714,16 @@ private void Serialize(string filename)
                     var folder = Path.GetDirectoryName(filename);
                     if (!Directory.Exists(folder))
                     {
-                        Directory.CreateDirectory(folder);
+                        try
+                        {
+                            Directory.CreateDirectory(folder);
+                        }
+                        catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
+                        {
+                            // service accounts won't be able to create directory
+                            _saveCacheToDisk = false;
+                            return;
+                        }
                     }
                 }
             }
diff --git a/test/powershell/Host/ConsoleHost.Tests.ps1 b/test/powershell/Host/ConsoleHost.Tests.ps1
index 531187fc77e..434a1dba993 100644
--- a/test/powershell/Host/ConsoleHost.Tests.ps1
+++ b/test/powershell/Host/ConsoleHost.Tests.ps1
@@ -381,6 +381,28 @@ foo
             }
         }
     }
+
+    Context "Data, Config, and Cache locations" {
+        BeforeEach {
+            $XDG_CACHE_HOME = $env:XDG_CACHE_HOME
+            $XDG_DATA_HOME = $env:XDG_DATA_HOME
+            $XDG_CONFIG_HOME = $env:XDG_CONFIG_HOME
+        }
+
+        AfterEach {
+            $env:XDG_CACHE_HOME = $XDG_CACHE_HOME
+            $env:XDG_DATA_HOME = $XDG_DATA_HOME
+            $env:XDG_CONFIG_HOME = $XDG_CONFIG_HOME            
+        }
+
+        It "Should start if Data, Config, and Cache location is not accessible" -skip:($IsWindows) {
+            $env:XDG_CACHE_HOME = "/dev/cpu"
+            $env:XDG_DATA_HOME = "/dev/cpu"
+            $env:XDG_CONFIG_HOME = "/dev/cpu"
+            $output = & powershell -noprofile -Command { (get-command).count }
+            [int]$output | Should BeGreaterThan 0
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 Describe "Console host api tests" -Tag CI {