Cannot install packages due to lock creation in read only root install location

[M C]

I have a conda installation on NFS that is read only, and I'm trying to create local environments. Per the docs and a few issues I've read through on Github, this should be possible, but I'm getting errors when installing packages due to conda trying to create locks in the install root, which is read only. 

This is the main issue on Github that should have solved the issue - https://github.com/conda/conda/issues/3469. It should have been included in v4.2.11, and I'm running the latest, v4.2.12. 

My .condarc file lists our mirrors to conda-forge and continuum analytics anaconda packages. It also sets the envs_dirs variable that according to issue 3469, should resolve the lock creation issue. What is odd, is that I see the default install location under envs directories and package cache when I run conda info. 

How can I prevent conda from needing to create locks on the root install path, and only create the locks on the path for each respective (local) environment?