diff --git a/plugins/storage/functions b/plugins/storage/functions
index 6fc97da21..d8b8e4dae 100755
--- a/plugins/storage/functions
+++ b/plugins/storage/functions
@@ -6,7 +6,13 @@ source "$PLUGIN_AVAILABLE_PATH/docker-options/functions"
 
 verify_paths() {
   declare desc="verifies storage paths"
-  echo "$1" | grep -qe '^/.*\:/' || dokku_log_fail "Storage path must be two valid paths divided by colon."
+  local -r passed_path=$1
+  if [[ "$passed_path" = /* ]]; then
+    echo "$passed_path" | grep -qe '^/.*\:/' || dokku_log_fail "Storage path must be two valid paths divided by colon."
+  else
+    echo "$passed_path" | grep -qe '^[a-zA-Z0-9]\{1\}[a-zA-Z0-9_.-]\+\:\/' || dokku_log_fail "Volume name must be two characters or more. Volume name must not contain invalid characters. Storage path must be two valid paths divided by colon."
+  fi
+
 }
 
 check_if_path_exists() {
diff --git a/tests/unit/storage.bats b/tests/unit/storage.bats
index 1c0dacb35..8a20f0be8 100644
--- a/tests/unit/storage.bats
+++ b/tests/unit/storage.bats
@@ -53,4 +53,8 @@ teardown() {
   echo "status: $status"
   assert_output " !     Mount path does not exist."
   assert_failure
+  run /bin/bash -c "dokku storage:mount $TEST_APP mount_volume:/mount"
+  echo "output: $output"
+  echo "status: $status"
+  assert_success
 }