diff --git a/R/nix_hash.R b/R/nix_hash.R
index bb7cadd4..dd55fd2a 100644
--- a/R/nix_hash.R
+++ b/R/nix_hash.R
@@ -91,6 +91,26 @@ nix_sri_hash <- function(path) {
   if (isFALSE(has_nix_shell)) {
     stop_no_nix_shell()
   }
+  
+  # not needed for Nix R sessions, workaround on Debian and Debian-based 
+  # systems with nix installed
+  LD_LIBRARY_PATH_default <- Sys.getenv("LD_LIBRARY_PATH")
+  needs_ld_fix <- isFALSE(nzchar(Sys.getenv("NIX_STORE"))) &&
+    nzchar(LD_LIBRARY_PATH_default)
+  
+  if (isTRUE(needs_ld_fix)) {
+    # On Debian and Debian-based systems, like Ubuntu 22.04, we found that a
+    # preset `LD_LIBRARY_PATH` environment variable in the system's R session
+    # leads to errors like
+    # nix-hash: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.38' not found (required by nix-hash)
+    # nix-hash: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.38' not found (required by /nix/store/4z754a0vzl98asv0pa95i5d9szw5jqbs-lowdown-1.0.2-lib/lib/liblowdown.so.3)
+    # etc...
+    # for both `nix-hash`; it occurs via
+    # `sys::exec_internal`, `base::system()` or `base::system2()` from R.
+    # Therefore, we set it to `""` and set  back the default (old)
+    # `LD_LIBRARY_PATH` when `with_nix()` exits.
+    fix_ld_library_path()
+  }
 
   cmd <- "nix-hash"
   args <- c("--type", "sha256", "--sri", path)
@@ -104,6 +124,12 @@ nix_sri_hash <- function(path) {
     what = cmd,
     message_type = "quiet"
   )
+  
+  if (isTRUE(needs_ld_fix)) {
+    # set old LD_LIBRARY_PATH (only if non-Nix R session, and if it wasn't
+    # `""`)
+    on.exit(Sys.setenv(LD_LIBRARY_PATH = LD_LIBRARY_PATH_default))
+  }
 
   sri_hash <- sys::as_text(proc$stdout)
   return(sri_hash)
diff --git a/R/rix.R b/R/rix.R
index eb2ffc66..70139d30 100644
--- a/R/rix.R
+++ b/R/rix.R
@@ -201,26 +201,14 @@ for more details."
     project_path <- normalizePath(path = project_path)
   }
 
-  default.nix_path <- if (project_path == ".") {
-    "default.nix"
-  } else {
-    file.path(project_path, "default.nix")
-  }
-
-  .Rprofile_path <- if (project_path == ".") {
-                      ".Rprofile"
-                    } else {
-                      file.path(project_path, ".Rprofile")
-                    }
-
+  default.nix_path <- file.path(project_path, "default.nix")
+  .Rprofile_path <- file.path(project_path, ".Rprofile")
+  
   # Find url to use
   # In case of bleeding or frozen edge, the rstats-on-nix/nixpkgs
   # fork is used. Otherwise, upstream NixOS/nixpkgs
   nix_repo <- make_nixpkgs_url(r_ver)
 
-  default.nix_path <- file.path(default.nix_path)
-  .Rprofile_path <- file.path(.Rprofile_path)
-
   rix_call <- match.call()
 
   # Get the two lists. One list is current CRAN packages
@@ -293,6 +281,11 @@ for more details."
   }
 
   if (!file.exists(default.nix_path) || overwrite) {
+    
+    if (!dir.exists(project_path)) {
+      dir.create(project_path)
+    }
+    file.create(default.nix_path)
     writeLines(default.nix, default.nix_path)
     
     if (file.exists(.Rprofile_path)) {
diff --git a/R/rix_init.R b/R/rix_init.R
index c6bbfb45..bab32a1b 100644
--- a/R/rix_init.R
+++ b/R/rix_init.R
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ rix_init <- function(project_path = ".",
 
         if (message_type == "verbose") {
           cat("\n* Current lines of local `.Rprofile` are\n:")
-          cat(readLines(con = file(rprofile_file)), sep = "\n")
+          cat(readLines(con = rprofile_file), sep = "\n")
         }
         set_message_session_PATH(message_type = message_type)
       }