diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/livecheck.rb b/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/livecheck.rb
index a3f8e36c87..0028cc83aa 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/livecheck.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/livecheck.rb
@@ -11,10 +11,7 @@ module Homebrew
 
   module_function
 
-  WATCHLIST_PATH = (
-    Homebrew::EnvConfig.livecheck_watchlist ||
-    "#{Dir.home}/.brew_livecheck_watchlist"
-  ).freeze
+  WATCHLIST_PATH = File.expand_path(Homebrew::EnvConfig.livecheck_watchlist).freeze
 
   sig { returns(CLI::Parser) }
   def livecheck_args
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/env_config.rb b/Library/Homebrew/env_config.rb
index 237c307731..000df15d0d 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/env_config.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/env_config.rb
@@ -221,9 +221,10 @@ module Homebrew
         boolean:     true,
       },
       HOMEBREW_LIVECHECK_WATCHLIST:              {
-        description: "Consult this file for the list of formulae to check by default when no formula argument " \
-                     "is passed to `brew livecheck`.",
-        default:     "$HOME/.brew_livecheck_watchlist",
+        description:  "Consult this file for the list of formulae to check by default when no formula argument " \
+                      "is passed to `brew livecheck`.",
+        default_text: "$HOME/.brew_livecheck_watchlist",
+        default:      "~/.brew_livecheck_watchlist",
       },
       HOMEBREW_LOGS:                             {
         description:  "Use this directory to store log files.",