diff --git a/docs/pages/kubernetes-access/helm/reference/teleport-cluster.mdx b/docs/pages/kubernetes-access/helm/reference/teleport-cluster.mdx
index 4f4f7b5aa4521..88acb41c300c0 100644
--- a/docs/pages/kubernetes-access/helm/reference/teleport-cluster.mdx
+++ b/docs/pages/kubernetes-access/helm/reference/teleport-cluster.mdx
@@ -407,39 +407,61 @@ Teleport's RBAC policies to define access rules for the cluster.
 | `gcp` | [Running an HA Teleport cluster using a Google Cloud GKE cluster](../guides/gcp.mdx) |
 | `custom` | [Running a Teleport cluster with a custom config](../guides/custom.mdx) |
 
-## `standalone`
+## `persistence`
 
-### `standalone.existingClaimName`
+### `persistence.enabled`
+
+| Type | Default value | Can be used in `custom` mode? |
+| - | - | - |
+| `bool` | `true` | ✅ |
+
+`persistence.enabled` can be used to enable data persistence using either a new or pre-existing `PersistentVolumeClaim`.
+
+<Tabs>
+  <TabItem label="values.yaml">
+  ```yaml
+  persistence:
+    enabled: true
+  ```
+  </TabItem>
+  <TabItem label="--set">
+  ```code
+  $ --set persistence.enabled=true
+  ```
+  </TabItem>
+</Tabs>
+
+### `persistence.existingClaimName`
 
 | Type | Default value | Can be used in `custom` mode? |
 | - | - | - |
 | `string` | `nil` | ✅ |
 
-`standalone.existingClaimName` can be used to provide the name of a pre-existing `PersistentVolumeClaim` to use if desired.
+`persistence.existingClaimName` can be used to provide the name of a pre-existing `PersistentVolumeClaim` to use if desired.
 
-The default is left blank, which will automatically create a `PersistentVolumeClaim` to use for Teleport storage in `standalone` mode.
+The default is left blank, which will automatically create a `PersistentVolumeClaim` to use for Teleport storage in `standalone` or `custom` mode.
 
 <Tabs>
   <TabItem label="values.yaml">
   ```yaml
-  standalone:
+  persistence:
     existingClaimName: my-existing-pvc-name
   ```
   </TabItem>
   <TabItem label="--set">
   ```code
-  $ --set standalone.existingClaimName=my-existing-pvc-name
+  $ --set persistence.existingClaimName=my-existing-pvc-name
   ```
   </TabItem>
 </Tabs>
 
-### `standalone.volumeSize`
+### `persistence.volumeSize`
 
 | Type | Default value | Can be used in `custom` mode? |
 | - | - | - |
 | `string`  | `10Gi` | ✅ |
 
-You can set `volumeSize` to request a different size of persistent volume when installing the Teleport chart in `standalone` mode.
+You can set `volumeSize` to request a different size of persistent volume when installing the Teleport chart in `standalone` or `custom` mode.
 
 <Admonition type="note">
   `volumeSize` will be ignored if `existingClaimName` is set.
@@ -448,13 +470,13 @@ You can set `volumeSize` to request a different size of persistent volume when i
 <Tabs>
   <TabItem label="values.yaml">
   ```yaml
-  standalone:
+  persistence:
     volumeSize: 50Gi
   ```
   </TabItem>
   <TabItem label="--set">
   ```code
-  --set standalone.volumeSize=50Gi
+  --set persistence.volumeSize=50Gi
   ```
   </TabItem>
 </Tabs>
diff --git a/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/custom-customsize.yaml b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/custom-customsize.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..90579e01a0228
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/custom-customsize.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+clusterName: test-custom-cluster
+chartMode: custom
+persistence:
+  enabled: true
+  volumeSize: 50Gi
+acme: true
+acmeEmail: test@email.com
+labels:
+  env: custom
diff --git a/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/custom-existingpvc.yaml b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/custom-existingpvc.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..731ba719fff4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/custom-existingpvc.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+clusterName: test-custom-cluster
+chartMode: custom
+persistence:
+  enabled: true
+  existingClaimName: teleport-storage
+acme: true
+acmeEmail: test@email.com
+labels:
+  env: custom
diff --git a/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/persistence-legacy.yaml b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/persistence-legacy.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..0d9a124c524da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/persistence-legacy.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+clusterName: test-persistence-cluster
+standalone:
+  existingClaimName: ""
+  volumeSize: 10Gi
diff --git a/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/standalone-customsize.yaml b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/standalone-customsize.yaml
index e8acbe8cf9848..c994faa957b63 100644
--- a/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/standalone-customsize.yaml
+++ b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/standalone-customsize.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 clusterName: test-standalone-cluster
 chartMode: standalone
-standalone:
+persistence:
+  enabled: true
   volumeSize: 50Gi
 acme: true
 acmeEmail: test@email.com
diff --git a/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/standalone-existingpvc.yaml b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/standalone-existingpvc.yaml
index 345999323a716..89292ef56b656 100644
--- a/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/standalone-existingpvc.yaml
+++ b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/.lint/standalone-existingpvc.yaml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 clusterName: test-standalone-cluster
 chartMode: standalone
-standalone:
+persistence:
+  enabled: true
   existingClaimName: teleport-storage
 acme: true
 acmeEmail: test@email.com
diff --git a/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/templates/deployment.yaml b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/templates/deployment.yaml
index 8ab4edf61cd6f..3f4141adac664 100644
--- a/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/templates/deployment.yaml
+++ b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/templates/deployment.yaml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 {{- if and .Values.acme .Values.tls.existingSecretName }}
 {{- fail "Cannot set both acme.enabled and tls.existingSecretName, choose one or the other" }}
 {{- end }}
+  {{- $persistence := (coalesce .Values.standalone .Values.persistence) -}}
 apiVersion: apps/v1
 kind: Deployment
 metadata:
@@ -230,9 +231,9 @@ spec:
         configMap:
           name: {{ .Release.Name }}
       - name: "data"
-        {{- if eq .Values.chartMode "standalone" }}
+        {{- if and (.Values.persistence.enabled) (or (eq .Values.chartMode "standalone") (eq .Values.chartMode "custom")) }}
         persistentVolumeClaim:
-          claimName: {{ if .Values.standalone.existingClaimName }}{{ .Values.standalone.existingClaimName }}{{ else }}{{ .Release.Name }}{{ end }}
+          claimName: {{ if $persistence.existingClaimName }}{{ $persistence.existingClaimName }}{{ else }}{{ .Release.Name }}{{ end }}
         {{- else }}
         emptyDir: {}
         {{- end }}
diff --git a/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/templates/pvc.yaml b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/templates/pvc.yaml
index 7e01b3c36d12e..57df7e18fca2d 100644
--- a/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/templates/pvc.yaml
+++ b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/templates/pvc.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-{{- if and (eq .Values.chartMode "standalone") (not .Values.standalone.existingClaimName) }}
+{{- $persistence := (coalesce .Values.standalone .Values.persistence) -}}
+{{- if and (and (or (eq .Values.chartMode "standalone") (eq .Values.chartMode "custom")) (.Values.persistence.enabled)) (not $persistence.existingClaimName) }}
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
 metadata:
@@ -11,5 +12,5 @@ spec:
   - ReadWriteOnce
   resources:
     requests:
-      storage: {{ required "standalone.volumeSize is required in chart values" .Values.standalone.volumeSize }}
+      storage: {{ required "persistence.volumeSize is required in chart values" $persistence.volumeSize }}
 {{- end }}
diff --git a/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/values.schema.json b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/values.schema.json
index 5176a882edb10..cedfdf45f83da 100644
--- a/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/values.schema.json
+++ b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/values.schema.json
@@ -153,6 +153,31 @@
                 }
             }
         },
+        "persistence": {
+            "$id": "#/properties/persistence",
+            "type": "object",
+            "required": [
+                "enabled",
+                "volumeSize"
+            ],
+            "properties": {
+                "enabled": {
+                    "$id": "#/properties/persistence/properties/enabled",
+                    "type": "boolean",
+                    "default": "true"
+                },
+                "existingClaimName": {
+                    "$id": "#/properties/persistence/properties/existingClaimName",
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "default": ""
+                },
+                "volumeSize": {
+                    "$id": "#/properties/persistence/properties/volumeSize",
+                    "type": "string",
+                    "default": ""
+                }
+            }
+        },
         "aws": {
             "$id": "#/properties/aws",
             "type": "object",
diff --git a/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/values.yaml b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/values.yaml
index 317b51c4909b7..6e07f2b880659 100644
--- a/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/values.yaml
+++ b/examples/chart/teleport-cluster/values.yaml
@@ -74,10 +74,12 @@ labels: {}
 #     kubectl -n ${TELEPORT_NAMESPACE?} create configmap ${HELM_RELEASE_NAME?} --from-file=teleport.yaml
 chartMode: standalone
 
-################################################################
-# Standalone-specific settings (only used in "standalone" mode)
-################################################################
-standalone:
+######################################################################
+# Persistence settings (only used in "standalone" and "custom" modes)
+######################################################################
+persistence:
+  # Enable persistence using a PersistentVolumeClaim
+  enabled: true
   # Leave blank to automatically create a PersistentVolumeClaim for Teleport storage.
   # If you would like to use a pre-existing PersistentVolumeClaim, put its name here.
   existingClaimName: ""