diff --git a/clientconn.go b/clientconn.go
index 096d9434..64a7982f 100644
--- a/clientconn.go
+++ b/clientconn.go
@@ -487,7 +487,25 @@ func DialContext(ctx context.Context, target string, opts ...DialOption) (conn *
 	if cc.dopts.bs == nil {
 		cc.dopts.bs = DefaultBackoffConfig
 	}
-	cc.parsedTarget = parseTarget(cc.target)
+	if cc.dopts.resolverBuilder == nil {
+		// Only try to parse target when resolver builder is not already set.
+		cc.parsedTarget = parseTarget(cc.target)
+		grpclog.Infof("parsed scheme: %q", cc.parsedTarget.Scheme)
+		cc.dopts.resolverBuilder = resolver.Get(cc.parsedTarget.Scheme)
+		if cc.dopts.resolverBuilder == nil {
+			// If resolver builder is still nil, the parse target's scheme is
+			// not registered. Fallback to default resolver and set Endpoint to
+			// the original unparsed target.
+			grpclog.Infof("scheme %q not registered, fallback to default scheme", cc.parsedTarget.Scheme)
+			cc.parsedTarget = resolver.Target{
+				Scheme:   resolver.GetDefaultScheme(),
+				Endpoint: target,
+			}
+			cc.dopts.resolverBuilder = resolver.Get(cc.parsedTarget.Scheme)
+		}
+	} else {
+		cc.parsedTarget = resolver.Target{Endpoint: target}
+	}
 	creds := cc.dopts.copts.TransportCredentials
 	if creds != nil && creds.Info().ServerName != "" {
 		cc.authority = creds.Info().ServerName
diff --git a/resolver/resolver.go b/resolver/resolver.go
index 9efcffb3..775ee4d0 100644
--- a/resolver/resolver.go
+++ b/resolver/resolver.go
@@ -36,21 +36,12 @@ func Register(b Builder) {
 }
 
 // Get returns the resolver builder registered with the given scheme.
-// If no builder is register with the scheme, the default scheme will
-// be used.
-// If the default scheme is not modified, "passthrough" will be the default
-// scheme, and the preinstalled dns resolver will be used.
-// If the default scheme is modified, and a resolver is registered with
-// the scheme, that resolver will be returned.
-// If the default scheme is modified, and no resolver is registered with
-// the scheme, nil will be returned.
+//
+// If no builder is register with the scheme, nil will be returned.
 func Get(scheme string) Builder {
 	if b, ok := m[scheme]; ok {
 		return b
 	}
-	if b, ok := m[defaultScheme]; ok {
-		return b
-	}
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -60,6 +51,11 @@ func SetDefaultScheme(scheme string) {
 	defaultScheme = scheme
 }
 
+// GetDefaultScheme gets the default scheme that will be used.
+func GetDefaultScheme() string {
+	return defaultScheme
+}
+
 // AddressType indicates the address type returned by name resolution.
 type AddressType uint8
 
diff --git a/resolver_conn_wrapper.go b/resolver_conn_wrapper.go
index 3e9c7594..75b8ce1e 100644
--- a/resolver_conn_wrapper.go
+++ b/resolver_conn_wrapper.go
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ func split2(s, sep string) (string, string, bool) {
 
 // parseTarget splits target into a struct containing scheme, authority and
 // endpoint.
+//
+// If target is not a valid scheme://authority/endpoint, it returns {Endpoint:
+// target}.
 func parseTarget(target string) (ret resolver.Target) {
 	var ok bool
 	ret.Scheme, ret.Endpoint, ok = split2(target, "://")
@@ -68,14 +71,9 @@ func parseTarget(target string) (ret resolver.Target) {
 // If withResolverBuilder dial option is set, the specified resolver will be
 // used instead.
 func newCCResolverWrapper(cc *ClientConn) (*ccResolverWrapper, error) {
-	grpclog.Infof("dialing to target with scheme: %q", cc.parsedTarget.Scheme)
-
 	rb := cc.dopts.resolverBuilder
 	if rb == nil {
-		rb = resolver.Get(cc.parsedTarget.Scheme)
-		if rb == nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not get resolver for scheme: %q", cc.parsedTarget.Scheme)
-		}
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("could not get resolver for scheme: %q", cc.parsedTarget.Scheme)
 	}
 
 	ccr := &ccResolverWrapper{
diff --git a/resolver_conn_wrapper_test.go b/resolver_conn_wrapper_test.go
index 3752c420..1109804b 100644
--- a/resolver_conn_wrapper_test.go
+++ b/resolver_conn_wrapper_test.go
@@ -19,25 +19,20 @@
 package grpc
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+	"net"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/resolver"
 )
 
 func TestParseTarget(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, test := range []resolver.Target{
-		{"", "", ""},
-		{"a", "", ""},
-		{"", "a", ""},
-		{"", "", "a"},
-		{"a", "b", ""},
-		{"a", "", "b"},
-		{"", "a", "b"},
-		{"a", "b", "c"},
 		{"dns", "", "google.com"},
 		{"dns", "a.server.com", "google.com"},
 		{"dns", "a.server.com", "google.com/?a=b"},
-		{"", "", "/unix/socket/address"},
+		{"passthrough", "", "/unix/socket/address"},
 	} {
 		str := test.Scheme + "://" + test.Authority + "/" + test.Endpoint
 		got := parseTarget(str)
@@ -85,3 +80,34 @@ func TestParseTargetString(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// The target string with unknown scheme should be kept unchanged and passed to
+// the dialer.
+func TestDialParseTargetUnknownScheme(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, test := range []struct {
+		targetStr string
+		want      string
+	}{
+		{"/unix/socket/address", "/unix/socket/address"},
+
+		// Special test for "unix:///".
+		{"unix:///unix/socket/address", "unix:///unix/socket/address"},
+
+		// For known scheme.
+		{"passthrough://a.server.com/google.com", "google.com"},
+	} {
+		dialStrCh := make(chan string, 1)
+		cc, err := Dial(test.targetStr, WithInsecure(), WithDialer(func(t string, _ time.Duration) (net.Conn, error) {
+			dialStrCh <- t
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("test dialer, always error")
+		}))
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("Failed to create ClientConn: %v", err)
+		}
+		got := <-dialStrCh
+		cc.Close()
+		if got != test.want {
+			t.Errorf("Dial(%q), dialer got %q, want %q", test.targetStr, got, test.want)
+		}
+	}
+}