diff --git a/src/global/Configs.cpp b/src/global/Configs.cpp
index e7bec9c..f0dfe53 100644
--- a/src/global/Configs.cpp
+++ b/src/global/Configs.cpp
@@ -404,6 +404,12 @@ namespace Configs {
     // System Utils
 
     QString FindCoreRealPath() {
+        // find in PATH first
+        QString path_for_nixos = QStandardPaths::findExecutable("throne-core");
+        if (!path_for_nixos.isEmpty()) {
+            return path_for_nixos;
+        }
+
         auto fn = QApplication::applicationDirPath() + "/Core";
 #ifdef Q_OS_WIN
         fn += ".exe";
diff --git a/src/ui/mainwindow.cpp b/src/ui/mainwindow.cpp
index d31c311..ce4c357 100644
--- a/src/ui/mainwindow.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/mainwindow.cpp
@@ -151,8 +151,7 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent) : QMainWindow(parent), ui(new Ui::MainWi
     Configs::dataStore->core_port = MkPort();
     if (Configs::dataStore->core_port <= 0) Configs::dataStore->core_port = 19810;
 
-    auto core_path = QApplication::applicationDirPath() + "/";
-    core_path += "Core";
+    auto core_path = Configs::FindCoreRealPath();
 
     QStringList args;
     args.push_back("-port");
@@ -1045,6 +1044,15 @@ bool MainWindow::get_elevated_permissions(int reason) {
         return true;
     }
     if (Configs::IsAdmin()) return true;
+    QMessageBox::critical(
+        GetMessageBoxParent(),
+        tr("Unable to elevate privileges when installed with Nix"),
+        tr("Due to the read-only property of Nix store, we cannot set suid for throne-core. If you are using NixOS, please set `programs.throne.tunMode.enable` option to elevate privileges."),
+        QMessageBox::Ok
+    );
+    return false;
+    // The following code isn't effective, preserve to avoid merge conflict
+
 #ifdef Q_OS_LINUX
     if (!Linux_HavePkexec()) {
         MessageBoxWarning(software_name, "Please install \"pkexec\" first.");