diff --git a/src/winml/modelkit/compiler/configs.py b/src/winml/modelkit/compiler/configs.py
index dfe4db9e5..a35805418 100644
--- a/src/winml/modelkit/compiler/configs.py
+++ b/src/winml/modelkit/compiler/configs.py
@@ -269,11 +269,18 @@ def for_vitisai(cls, device: str | None = None) -> WinMLCompileConfig:
         when available (target=X1, xclbin=<install>/voe-4.0-win_amd64/
         xclbins/phoenix/4x4.xclbin, xlnx_enable_py3_round=0). VitisAI EP
         ignores ``device_type``; the correct device hint is the xclbin path.
+        The cache is placed under WinML's user-writable cache root instead of
+        VitisAI's installation-relative default, which may resolve through the
+        protected WindowsApps directory and fail during model compilation.
         """
         import os
         from pathlib import Path as _Path
 
-        provider_options: dict[str, str] = {}
+        from ..cache import get_cache_dir
+
+        vaip_cache_dir = (get_cache_dir() / "vitisai").resolve()
+        vaip_cache_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+        provider_options: dict[str, str] = {"cache_dir": str(vaip_cache_dir)}
         ryzen_ai = os.environ.get("RYZEN_AI_INSTALLATION_PATH")
         if ryzen_ai:
             xclbin = _Path(ryzen_ai) / "voe-4.0-win_amd64" / "xclbins" / "phoenix" / "4x4.xclbin"
diff --git a/tests/unit/compiler/test_compiler_configs.py b/tests/unit/compiler/test_compiler_configs.py
index ccfc24ac2..f6f300639 100644
--- a/tests/unit/compiler/test_compiler_configs.py
+++ b/tests/unit/compiler/test_compiler_configs.py
@@ -99,11 +99,14 @@ def test_for_openvino(self):
         assert config.ep_config.provider == "openvino"
         assert config.ep_config.enable_ep_context is True
 
-    def test_for_vitisai(self):
+    def test_for_vitisai(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
         """Test Vitis AI factory method."""
+        monkeypatch.setenv("WINML_CACHE_DIR", str(tmp_path))
         config = WinMLCompileConfig.for_vitisai()
         assert config.ep_config.provider == "vitisai"
         assert config.ep_config.enable_ep_context is True
+        assert config.ep_config.provider_options["cache_dir"] == str(tmp_path / "vitisai")
+        assert (tmp_path / "vitisai").is_dir()
 
     def test_for_migraphx(self):
         """Test MIGraphX factory method."""