diff --git a/x/imagegen/manifest.go b/x/imagegen/manifest.go
index 3b3006779..25571bc19 100644
--- a/x/imagegen/manifest.go
+++ b/x/imagegen/manifest.go
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@ import (
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"runtime"
 	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/ollama/ollama/envconfig"
 )
 
 // ManifestLayer represents a layer in the manifest.
@@ -32,33 +33,6 @@ type ModelManifest struct {
 	BlobDir  string
 }
 
-// DefaultBlobDir returns the default blob storage directory.
-func DefaultBlobDir() string {
-	home, err := os.UserHomeDir()
-	if err != nil {
-		home = "."
-	}
-	switch runtime.GOOS {
-	case "darwin":
-		return filepath.Join(home, ".ollama", "models", "blobs")
-	case "linux":
-		return filepath.Join(home, ".ollama", "models", "blobs")
-	case "windows":
-		return filepath.Join(home, ".ollama", "models", "blobs")
-	default:
-		return filepath.Join(home, ".ollama", "models", "blobs")
-	}
-}
-
-// DefaultManifestDir returns the default manifest storage directory.
-func DefaultManifestDir() string {
-	home, err := os.UserHomeDir()
-	if err != nil {
-		home = "."
-	}
-	return filepath.Join(home, ".ollama", "models", "manifests")
-}
-
 // LoadManifest loads a manifest for the given model name.
 // Model name format: "modelname" or "modelname:tag" or "host/namespace/name:tag"
 func LoadManifest(modelName string) (*ModelManifest, error) {
@@ -76,7 +50,7 @@ func LoadManifest(modelName string) (*ModelManifest, error) {
 
 	return &ModelManifest{
 		Manifest: &manifest,
-		BlobDir:  DefaultBlobDir(),
+		BlobDir:  filepath.Join(envconfig.Models(), "blobs"),
 	}, nil
 }
 
@@ -107,7 +81,7 @@ func resolveManifestPath(modelName string) string {
 		name = parts[1]
 	}
 
-	return filepath.Join(DefaultManifestDir(), host, namespace, name, tag)
+	return filepath.Join(envconfig.Models(), "manifests", host, namespace, name, tag)
 }
 
 // BlobPath returns the full path to a blob given its digest.
diff --git a/x/imagegen/manifest_test.go b/x/imagegen/manifest_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..081c187c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/x/imagegen/manifest_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package imagegen
+
+import (
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ollama/ollama/envconfig"
+)
+
+func TestLoadManifestRespectsOLLAMA_MODELS(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("OLLAMA_MODELS", "/custom/models/path")
+
+	// Verify envconfig.Models() returns our custom path
+	if got := envconfig.Models(); got != "/custom/models/path" {
+		t.Fatalf("envconfig.Models() = %q, want %q", got, "/custom/models/path")
+	}
+
+	// LoadManifest will fail (no manifest exists), but we can verify
+	// the error message contains the custom path
+	_, err := LoadManifest("test-model")
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected error, got nil")
+	}
+
+	expectedPath := filepath.Join("/custom/models/path", "manifests", "registry.ollama.ai", "library", "test-model", "latest")
+	if got := err.Error(); got != "read manifest: open "+expectedPath+": no such file or directory" {
+		t.Errorf("error = %q, want path to contain %q", got, expectedPath)
+	}
+}