ghc-pkg insists on having HOME environment variable set

Even in cases when it should not need it, ghc-pkg still fails if HOME is unset:

% env - ~/bin/ghc-pkg --global list
ghc-pkg.bin: HOME: getEnv: does not exist (no environment variable)

Yet, if I just set the variable to a dummy value, ghc-pkg is happy:

% env - HOME=/non-existent ~/bin/ghc-pkg --global list
.../lib/ghc-6.8.2/package.conf:
    Cabal-1.2.3.0, HUnit-1.2.0.0, QuickCheck-1.1.0.0, array-0.1.0.0,
    base-3.0.1.0, bytestring-0.9.0.1, cgi-3001.1.5.1,
    containers-0.1.0.1, directory-1.0.0.0, fgl-5.4.1.1,
...

Trac metadata

Trac field	Value
Version	6.8.2
Type	Bug
TypeOfFailure	OtherFailure
Priority	normal
Resolution	Unresolved
Component	Compiler
Test case
Differential revisions
BlockedBy
Related
Blocking
CC
Operating system
Architecture	Unknown