diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/rustc.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/rustc.nix
index 056f17c43d72..66da4d33251a 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/rustc.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/rustc.nix
@@ -206,6 +206,8 @@ in stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   # https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/30181
   # enableParallelBuilding = false;
 
+  setupHooks = ./setup-hook.sh;
+
   requiredSystemFeatures = [ "big-parallel" ];
 
   meta = with stdenv.lib; {
diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/setup-hook.sh b/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/setup-hook.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7078ec7060b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/rust/setup-hook.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Fix 'failed to open: /homeless-shelter/.cargo/.package-cache' in rust 1.36.
+if [[ -z $IN_NIX_SHELL && -z $CARGO_HOME ]]; then
+    export CARGO_HOME=$TMPDIR
+fi