diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 87680e86..22f45850 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -81,6 +81,14 @@ Add the `health_check` applications to your `INSTALLED_APPS`:
 
 **Note:** If using `boto 2.x.x` use `health_check.contrib.s3boto_storage`
 
+If you want to customize some settings, you can do so by adding a `HEALTH_CHECK` dictionary to your `settings.py` file:
+
+```python
+    HEALTH_CHECK = {
+        'STORAGE_DIR': 'another-dir-under-my-project/',  # needs to be in a permitted directory like MEDIA_ROOT
+    }
+```
+
 (Optional) If using the `psutil` app, you can configure disk and memory
 threshold settings; otherwise below defaults are assumed. If you want to disable
 one of these checks, set its value to `None`.
diff --git a/health_check/conf.py b/health_check/conf.py
index 10d0c48c..207be756 100644
--- a/health_check/conf.py
+++ b/health_check/conf.py
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@
 HEALTH_CHECK.setdefault("WARNINGS_AS_ERRORS", True)
 HEALTH_CHECK.setdefault("SUBSETS", {})
 HEALTH_CHECK.setdefault("DISABLE_THREADING", False)
+HEALTH_CHECK.setdefault("STORAGE_DIR", "")
diff --git a/health_check/storage/backends.py b/health_check/storage/backends.py
index 4c0e1cbc..25c23949 100644
--- a/health_check/storage/backends.py
+++ b/health_check/storage/backends.py
@@ -1,11 +1,17 @@
+import os
 import uuid
 
+from django.conf import settings
+
+from health_check.conf import HEALTH_CHECK
 from django.core.files.base import ContentFile
 from django.core.files.storage import InvalidStorageError, default_storage, storages
 
 from health_check.backends import BaseHealthCheckBackend
 from health_check.exceptions import ServiceUnavailable
 
+STORAGE_DIR = HEALTH_CHECK["STORAGE_DIR"]
+
 
 class StorageHealthCheck(BaseHealthCheckBackend):
     """
@@ -31,7 +37,14 @@ def get_storage(self):
             return None
 
     def get_file_name(self):
-        return f"health_check_storage_test/test-{uuid.uuid4()}.txt"
+        """Return a unique file name for the health check.
+
+        It needs to be a relative path to the storage directory to ensure
+        that the file can be created in the storage backend."""
+        relative_file_path = f"health_check_storage_test/test-{uuid.uuid4()}.txt"
+        if STORAGE_DIR:
+            return os.path.relpath(f"{STORAGE_DIR}/{relative_file_path}", settings.BASE_DIR)
+        return relative_file_path
 
     def get_file_content(self):
         return b"this is the healthtest file content"
diff --git a/tests/test_storage.py b/tests/test_storage.py
index 90142ba8..ee526b0d 100644
--- a/tests/test_storage.py
+++ b/tests/test_storage.py
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
+import tempfile
 import unittest
 from io import BytesIO
 from unittest import mock
 
 import django
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.files.base import File
 from django.core.files.storage import Storage
 from django.test import TestCase, override_settings
@@ -14,6 +16,8 @@
     StorageHealthCheck,
 )
 
+original_get_file_name = StorageHealthCheck.get_file_name
+
 
 class CustomStorage(Storage):
     pass
@@ -105,8 +109,7 @@ def exists(self, name):
         return name in self.files
 
 
-def get_file_name(*args, **kwargs):
-    return "mockfile.txt"
+get_file_name = mock.MagicMock(return_value="mockfile.txt")
 
 
 def get_file_content(*args, **kwargs):
@@ -167,6 +170,27 @@ def test_check_status_working(self):
         ):
             self.assertTrue(default_storage_health.check_status())
 
+    def test_check_status_working_with_custom_dir(self):
+        default_storage = DefaultFileStorageHealthCheck()
+        # restore the original get_file_name method
+        get_file_name.side_effect = lambda *args, **kwargs: original_get_file_name(default_storage, *args, **kwargs)
+
+        # check that it will be stored in the relative path
+        self.assertTrue(default_storage.check_status())
+        expected_pattern = r"health_check_storage_test\/test.*\.txt"
+        self.assertRegex(original_get_file_name(default_storage), expected_pattern)
+
+        tmp_dir = tempfile.mkdtemp(dir=settings.MEDIA_ROOT)
+        with mock.patch("health_check.storage.backends.STORAGE_DIR", tmp_dir):
+            # check that it will be stored in the custom path
+            default_storage = DefaultFileStorageHealthCheck()
+            get_file_name.side_effect = lambda *args, **kwargs: original_get_file_name(default_storage, *args, **kwargs)
+            self.assertTrue(default_storage.check_status())
+
+            # relative path in media directory
+            expected_pattern = r"media\/.*\/health_check_storage_test\/test.*\.txt"
+            self.assertRegex(original_get_file_name(default_storage), expected_pattern)
+
     @mock.patch(
         "health_check.storage.backends.storages",
         {"default": MockStorage(saves=False)},