diff --git a/spoolman/env.py b/spoolman/env.py
index 40e2970..b64f582 100644
--- a/spoolman/env.py
+++ b/spoolman/env.py
@@ -264,6 +264,11 @@ def get_backups_dir() -> Path:
     return backups_dir
 
 
+def get_cache_dir() -> Path:
+    """Get the cache directory."""
+    return get_data_dir() / "cache"
+
+
 def get_version() -> str:
     """Get the version of the package.
 
diff --git a/spoolman/externaldb.py b/spoolman/externaldb.py
index 6e382b3..96a767b 100644
--- a/spoolman/externaldb.py
+++ b/spoolman/externaldb.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
 from scheduler.asyncio.scheduler import Scheduler
 
 from spoolman import filecache
+from spoolman.env import get_cache_dir
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -21,12 +22,13 @@ DEFAULT_SYNC_INTERVAL = 3600
 
 controller = hishel.Controller(allow_stale=True)
 try:
-    cache_storage = hishel.AsyncFileStorage()
+    cache_path = get_cache_dir() / "hishel"
+    cache_storage = hishel.AsyncFileStorage(base_path=cache_path)
 except PermissionError:
     logger.warning(
         "Failed to setup disk-based cache due to permission error. Ensure the path %s is writable. "
         "Using in-memory cache instead as fallback.",
-        str(Path(".cache/hishel").resolve()),
+        str(cache_path.resolve()),
     )
     cache_storage = hishel.AsyncInMemoryStorage()
 
diff --git a/spoolman/filecache.py b/spoolman/filecache.py
index 5318bfa..3221d85 100644
--- a/spoolman/filecache.py
+++ b/spoolman/filecache.py
@@ -2,17 +2,12 @@
 
 from pathlib import Path
 
-from spoolman.env import get_data_dir
-
-
-def _get_cache_dir() -> Path:
-    """Get the cache directory."""
-    return get_data_dir() / "cache"
+from spoolman.env import get_cache_dir
 
 
 def get_file(name: str) -> Path:
-    """Get the path to a file."""
-    return _get_cache_dir() / name
+    """Get the path to a file in the cache dir."""
+    return get_cache_dir() / name
 
 
 def update_file(name: str, data: bytes) -> None: