diff --git a/pkg/apis/psmdb/v1alpha1/psmdb_defaults.go b/pkg/apis/psmdb/v1alpha1/psmdb_defaults.go
index 1ed4a10579..eec71a40f2 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/psmdb/v1alpha1/psmdb_defaults.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/psmdb/v1alpha1/psmdb_defaults.go
@@ -246,6 +246,10 @@ func (m *MultiAZ) reconcileAffinityOpts() {
 }
 
 func (v *VolumeSpec) reconcileOpts() error {
+	if v.EmptyDir == nil && v.HostPath == nil && v.PersistentVolumeClaim == nil {
+		v.PersistentVolumeClaim = &corev1.PersistentVolumeClaimSpec{}
+	}
+
 	if v.PersistentVolumeClaim != nil {
 		_, ok := v.PersistentVolumeClaim.Resources.Requests[corev1.ResourceStorage]
 		if !ok {