diff --git a/cmd/init.go b/cmd/init.go
index e3b5c0d6e..8738459e1 100644
--- a/cmd/init.go
+++ b/cmd/init.go
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ func init() {
 	InitCmd.Flags().String("network", "", "The Docker network on which to deploy the Dapr runtime")
 	InitCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&fromDir, "from-dir", "", "", "Use Dapr artifacts from local directory for self-hosted installation")
 	InitCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&imageVariant, "image-variant", "", "", "The image variant to use for the Dapr runtime, for example: mariner")
-	InitCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&schedulerVolume, "scheduler-volume", "", "dapr_scheduler", "Self-hosted only. Specify a volume for the scheduler service data directory.")
+	InitCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&schedulerVolume, "scheduler-volume", "", "", "Self-hosted only. Specify a volume for the scheduler service data directory.")
 	InitCmd.Flags().BoolP("help", "h", false, "Print this help message")
 	InitCmd.Flags().StringArrayVar(&values, "set", []string{}, "set values on the command line (can specify multiple or separate values with commas: key1=val1,key2=val2)")
 	InitCmd.Flags().String("image-registry", "", "Custom/private docker image repository URL")
diff --git a/pkg/standalone/standalone.go b/pkg/standalone/standalone.go
index ac9e7ae97..dd648a0f3 100644
--- a/pkg/standalone/standalone.go
+++ b/pkg/standalone/standalone.go
@@ -642,8 +642,23 @@ func runSchedulerService(wg *sync.WaitGroup, errorChan chan<- error, info initIn
 		"-d",
 		"--entrypoint", "./scheduler",
 	}
+
 	if info.schedulerVolume != nil {
-		args = append(args, "--volume", *info.schedulerVolume+":/var/lib/dapr/scheduler")
+		if *info.schedulerVolume == "" {
+			schedulerDataDir := path_filepath.Join(info.installDir, "data/scheduler")
+			if err = os.MkdirAll(schedulerDataDir, 0o755); err != nil {
+				errorChan <- err
+				return
+			}
+			// if dir exists, change the permissions.
+			if err = os.Chmod(schedulerDataDir, 0o777); err != nil {
+				errorChan <- err
+				return
+			}
+			args = append(args, "--volume", schedulerDataDir+":/var/lib/dapr/scheduler")
+		} else {
+			args = append(args, "--volume", *info.schedulerVolume+":/var/lib/dapr/scheduler")
+		}
 	}
 
 	if info.dockerNetwork != "" {