diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/streaming/state/StateSchemaCompatibilityChecker.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/streaming/state/StateSchemaCompatibilityChecker.scala
index 20625e10f321..0c8cabb75ed6 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/streaming/state/StateSchemaCompatibilityChecker.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/streaming/state/StateSchemaCompatibilityChecker.scala
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ class StateSchemaCompatibilityChecker(
   }
 
   private def schemasCompatible(storedSchema: StructType, schema: StructType): Boolean =
-    DataType.equalsIgnoreNameAndCompatibleNullability(storedSchema, schema)
+    DataType.equalsIgnoreNameAndCompatibleNullability(schema, storedSchema)
 
   // Visible for testing
   private[sql] def readSchemaFile(): (StructType, StructType) = {
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/streaming/state/StateSchemaCompatibilityCheckerSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/streaming/state/StateSchemaCompatibilityCheckerSuite.scala
index a9cc90ca45ce..153934135933 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/streaming/state/StateSchemaCompatibilityCheckerSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/streaming/state/StateSchemaCompatibilityCheckerSuite.scala
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ class StateSchemaCompatibilityCheckerSuite extends SharedSparkSession {
   private val valueSchema65535Bytes = new StructType()
     .add(StructField("v" * (65535 - 87), IntegerType, nullable = true))
 
+  // Checks on adding/removing (nested) field.
+
   test("adding field to key should fail") {
     val fieldAddedKeySchema = keySchema.add(StructField("newKey", IntegerType))
     verifyException(keySchema, valueSchema, fieldAddedKeySchema, valueSchema)
@@ -107,6 +109,8 @@ class StateSchemaCompatibilityCheckerSuite extends SharedSparkSession {
     verifyException(keySchema, valueSchema, keySchema, newValueSchema)
   }
 
+  // Checks on changing type of (nested) field.
+
   test("changing the type of field in key should fail") {
     val typeChangedKeySchema = StructType(keySchema.map(_.copy(dataType = TimestampType)))
     verifyException(keySchema, valueSchema, typeChangedKeySchema, valueSchema)
@@ -129,28 +133,59 @@ class StateSchemaCompatibilityCheckerSuite extends SharedSparkSession {
     verifyException(keySchema, valueSchema, keySchema, newValueSchema)
   }
 
-  test("changing the nullability of nullable to non-nullable in key should fail") {
+  // Checks on changing nullability of (nested) field.
+  // Note that these tests have different format of the test name compared to others, since it was
+  // misleading to understand the assignment as the opposite way.
+
+  test("storing non-nullable column into nullable column in key should be allowed") {
     val nonNullChangedKeySchema = StructType(keySchema.map(_.copy(nullable = false)))
-    verifyException(keySchema, valueSchema, nonNullChangedKeySchema, valueSchema)
+    verifySuccess(keySchema, valueSchema, nonNullChangedKeySchema, valueSchema)
   }
 
-  test("changing the nullability of nullable to non-nullable in value should fail") {
+  test("storing non-nullable column into nullable column in value schema should be allowed") {
     val nonNullChangedValueSchema = StructType(valueSchema.map(_.copy(nullable = false)))
-    verifyException(keySchema, valueSchema, keySchema, nonNullChangedValueSchema)
+    verifySuccess(keySchema, valueSchema, keySchema, nonNullChangedValueSchema)
   }
 
-  test("changing the nullability of nullable to nonnullable in nested field in key should fail") {
+  test("storing non-nullable into nullable in nested field in key should be allowed") {
     val typeChangedNestedSchema = StructType(structSchema.map(_.copy(nullable = false)))
     val newKeySchema = applyNewSchemaToNestedFieldInKey(typeChangedNestedSchema)
-    verifyException(keySchema, valueSchema, newKeySchema, valueSchema)
+    verifySuccess(keySchema, valueSchema, newKeySchema, valueSchema)
   }
 
-  test("changing the nullability of nullable to nonnullable in nested field in value should fail") {
+  test("storing non-nullable into nullable in nested field in value should be allowed") {
     val typeChangedNestedSchema = StructType(structSchema.map(_.copy(nullable = false)))
     val newValueSchema = applyNewSchemaToNestedFieldInValue(typeChangedNestedSchema)
-    verifyException(keySchema, valueSchema, keySchema, newValueSchema)
+    verifySuccess(keySchema, valueSchema, keySchema, newValueSchema)
+  }
+
+  test("storing nullable column into non-nullable column in key should fail") {
+    val nonNullChangedKeySchema = StructType(keySchema.map(_.copy(nullable = false)))
+    verifyException(nonNullChangedKeySchema, valueSchema, keySchema, valueSchema)
+  }
+
+  test("storing nullable column into non-nullable column in value schema should fail") {
+    val nonNullChangedValueSchema = StructType(valueSchema.map(_.copy(nullable = false)))
+    verifyException(keySchema, nonNullChangedValueSchema, keySchema, valueSchema)
+  }
+
+  test("storing nullable column into non-nullable column in nested field in key should fail") {
+    val typeChangedNestedSchema = StructType(structSchema.map(_.copy(nullable = false)))
+    val newKeySchema = applyNewSchemaToNestedFieldInKey(typeChangedNestedSchema)
+    verifyException(newKeySchema, valueSchema, keySchema, valueSchema)
   }
 
+  test("storing nullable column into non-nullable column in nested field in value should fail") {
+    val typeChangedNestedSchema = StructType(structSchema.map(_.copy(nullable = false)))
+    val newValueSchema = applyNewSchemaToNestedFieldInValue(typeChangedNestedSchema)
+    verifyException(keySchema, newValueSchema, keySchema, valueSchema)
+  }
+
+  // Checks on changing name of (nested) field.
+  // Changing the name is allowed since it may be possible Spark can make relevant changes from
+  // operators/functions by chance. This opens a risk that end users swap two fields having same
+  // data type, but there is no way to address both.
+
   test("changing the name of field in key should be allowed") {
     val newName: StructField => StructField = f => f.copy(name = f.name + "_new")
     val fieldNameChangedKeySchema = StructType(keySchema.map(newName))